Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: Disabled UPI because of informal pressure from the RBI

In its earnings call, Coinbase said that it suspended its UPI payment method due to 'informal pressure from RBI.' The exchange is now working with the RBI and plans its return to India with other payment systems in a relatively short time.

The US-based exchange launched its operations in India on April 7 through a mega event in Bengaluru. But, the same night, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) issued a statement saying it is 'not aware of any crypto exchange using UPI.'

“So a few days 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,” said Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase on its earnings call.

“India is a unique market in the sense that the Supreme Court has ruled that they can't ban crypto, but there are elements in the government there, including at the Reserve Bank of India, who don't seem to be as positive on it. And so it's been called a 'shadow ban'. Basically, they're applying soft pressure behind the scenes to try to disable some of these payments, which might be going through UPI,” he said.