Coinbase CEO blames RBI for informal pressure, exchange marks 35% drop in revenue 

US based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong blamed the Reserve Bank of India for informal pressure on the exchange during the recent earnings call. 

Talking about the launch of Coinbase in India and the subsequent disabling of UPI on their platform, the CEO said, “After launching, we ended up disabling UPI because of some informal pressure from the Reserve Bank of India, which is kind of the Treasury equivalent there.” 

The CEO further highlighted uncertainty around the legality of cryptocurrencies in India. He said, “There are elements in the government there (in India), including at the Reserve Bank of India, who don't seem to be as positive on it (cryptocurrency). And so it's been called a 'shadow ban.” 

Armstrong concluded by saying that the exchange is currently working with the Reserve Bank of India and expects to return to India with additional payment options in the near future. 

Moreover, NASDAQ listed exchange announced that they earned $1.17 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2022, marking a steep 35 per cent drop. It is interesting to note that they also marked a quarterly net loss of $430 million. 

Furthermore, the exchange announced that its trading volumes dropped 44 per cent from the previous quarter.

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