Ali Hasan
Why Zebpay faces an Uncertain Future
Introduction – Zebpay is a crypto exchange with the wallet that serves customers across the globe. Zebpay is available on Web, Android and iOS for trading bitcoin, ether, ripple, and various other popular cryptocurrencies.
Zebpay for Android and iOS offers a seamless mobile trading experience to everyone, everywhere. They have more than 3 million consumers trading crypto worldwide. It is one of the first major exchanges to integrate Lightning Network transactions.
Early Days – Zebpay was launched in 2012 and was previously known as BuySellBitco.in which was renamed in 2014 and its app name is Zebpay. Thus Zebpay was officially started in 2014 by co-founders Sandeep Goenka, Saurabh Agrawal and Mahin Gupta.
You can use the platform by creating an account with Zebpay to buy/sell bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. This means that you need to complete KYC by uploading documents and deposit money into your Zebpay account. Zebpay allows you to deposit and withdraw rupees from the linked bank account.
Marketing Strategy – Their marketing strategy is quite simple, they encourage people to buy & sell bitcoin as well as various other cryptocurrencies. They encourage people to trade in crypto as they believe that crypto is the future of all transactions.
They market themselves as a trusted and secure crypto exchange with the wallet that serves customers across the globe. They want more & more people to join their platform and start their financial journey with crypto, thus ending the stigma that bitcoin and crypto is some sort of scam.
They also market themselves to be India’s top choice for Bitcoin trading. About two-thirds of Indian cryptocurrency investors bought their first Bitcoin on our platform. Zebpay says that they’re committed to bringing the power of decentralized digital finance to everybody.
At ZebPay, security is everything. With more than 98% coin storage in cold wallets, robust internal controls, third-party security testing and more, their battle-tested security measures are designed to keep your cryptos safe.
Their intuitive app design is clutter-free and easy to use, whether you’re a seasoned trader or just getting started. They also market themselves as India’s most loved Bitcoin ki Dukaan.
User Base – Available in 162 countries, ZebPay has served over 3 million users since their founding in 2014 they have processed $3 billion in transactions. Their android app on Google play store has more than 1 million downloads.
Funding – Zebpay has raised a total of $1.1 million in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jan 6, 2016 from a Series A round. Zebpay is funded by 2 investors. Arjun Handa and Nagendra Chaudhary are the most recent investors to invest in the company.
Revenues – Zebpay earned estimated revenue of $22.5 million.
Acquisitions – Since their launch in 2014, they haven’t acquired any other startup so they have zero acquisitions.
Controversies – In 2018, Zebpay decided to shut down their services in India and wrap up their business operations. On September 28, 2018, Zebpay said that it’s shutting down from 4 pm. That move came after RBI’s ban to all government foundations, including banks from giving any services in relation to cryptocurrencies.
For those who may not be aware, India’s central banking authority, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular directing all regulated financial institutions to stop providing services to those businesses and individuals who are dealing in cryptocurrencies over three months.
The company quoted in a tweet that: “We are stopping our exchange. At 4 PM today, we will cancel unexecuted orders & credit your coins to your Zebpay wallet. No new orders will be accepted. The Zebpay wallet will work even after the exchange stops.”
The company did shut down their operations but they made a comeback in India later to resume their operations. As of now, they are currently in operations and still working.
Future Plans – Just like other companies launch an IPO, Zebpay could launch an ICO in the future when they actually become profitable. ICO or Initial Coin Offering is pretty close to the well-established IPO or Initial Public Offering with two major differences:
- It is connected to blockchain technology.
- It does not entail owning a stock/share in a future company.
In an IPO, an investor receives stocks/shares in exchange of an investment. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) is a well defined and documented process initiated by a private company in order to expand and become publicly traded.
It involves some formalities in the duration of the process. IPO refers to the public sale of the shares of a company, with the goal of collecting funds for development.
In the case of an ICO, there are no shares, but instead companies raising funds via ICO provide a blockchain equivalent to that (a cryptocurrency asset). In most cases, investors pay in a popular existing token such as Bitcoin or Ethereum and in return receive ‘n’ number of new tokens in exchange.
Conclusion – Zebpay is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in India but they face an uncertain future as it’s still unclear how the Indian Government will react to crypto.
But they not only have the problem of regulations from the government but also they face a stiff competition from their close rivals like Unocoin, WazirX, Coindcx & Coinswitch, all of whom are trying to close in on the crypto boom and make the most of it.
Hence, it’s quite difficult to say whether they will remain as the front runner in the crypto race because on one side, the government can ban bitcoin and all the other cryptocurrencies in the future and on the other side also due to the stiff competition that they face.
It’s highly unclear what future holds for Zebpay. But, what do you think? Do comment down below and tell us about what you think. We appreciate your comments and will reply to the ones which we find valuable enough.
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