Zebpay, the popular crypto exchange which had shut down its business operations in India, announces relaunch decision which wasn't well-received by the Indian crypto community. The crux of the matter is that they announced to re-enter the Indian crypto market ahead of the Supreme Court decision on the RBI banking ban. 

Although, the exchange officially revealed that the new team will spearhead the operation following new services, yet they failed to convince several prospects. While the crypto community continued criticizing the re-launch decision of Zebpay amidst the on-going Crypto vs RBI case, Bit2Buzz interviewed Zebpay's new CEO 'Rahul Pagidipati' who addressed several questions enquired by the members of Indian crypto community. 

Tabassum -  Can you brief me about you, your role in bringing back Zebpay to the Indian crypto community?

Rahul Pagidipati - I invested in Zebpay in 2017 as a minority shareholder. I’d been a Bitcoin hodler since 2013. It was a roller-coaster ride, being #1 with about 70% of the Indian market and then closing down trading after the RBI circular. In 2019 I faced a choice and I realized I believe deeply in the ZebPay team and in the potential of blockchain to help ordinary Indians, particularly women and others who are underserved and underestimated. So I invested even more, took over as CEO, and now basically, other than my family, ZebPay will be my life’s work for, I hope, decades to come.

2. Why is Zebpay relaunching in India despite the existence of a crypto banking ban?

Rahul Pagidipati - Ah, the ban! Even the RBI just said last month that crypto itself was never banned and they just wanted to protect banks. We take the RBI at its word and we’re confident India will soon have effective regulations for fiat-to-crypto trading and conversion. In the meantime, crypto-to-crypto trading has no legal barriers and it’s solidly regulated in Singapore, our legal headquarters. So we will offer crypto-crypto to Indian and global customers starting in March.

3. How is the mechanism of new Zebpay differ from the old one? (if any) and with the existing platforms available in the crypto market? 

Rahul Pagidipati - We plan to have more of a membership model, rather than focusing just on trading fees. Long-term, we want to create a community that shares a certain attitude towards finance, blockchain, and equal opportunity, and provide investment and other services, particularly healthcare-related services.

4. It seems that the community members are criticizing Zebpay's new launch decision, naming it as "Bitcoin diggers" who betrayed the Indian crypto community. As this has resulted in a "credibility issue", what's your plan to regain the credibility and users that it has lost?

Rahul Pagidipati - We fully understand and sympathize with the frustration and—let’s be honest—anger of some of our customers. Frankly, it was a mistake. I was just a minority investor at the time, but I am 100% responsible now for earning back the trust of our members and the community. I took on this role so we could do that. We’re committed to being transparent and humble and focused on customers, offering them great service and value.

5. What will be Zebpay's new listing procedure of existing and new projects on its platform?

Rahul Pagidipati - Again, we’ll do our best to practice transparency across the board and share what we’re working on as openly as possible. We prefer collaboration to competition.

6. How is/will Zebpay benefit the adoption of crypto or enhancement of the crypto ecosystem in India?

Rahul Pagidipati - We still have millions of customers and unique experience in areas like law enforcement and wallet security. So we recognize our responsibility to lead.

We’re moving, as I said, to a low-cost, long-term membership model, not just short-term trading. We want members buying small amounts of Bitcoin and Ether every month and hodling it for their grandkids.

We want to be a welcome part of their lives for years to come. One particular focus is expanding opportunity for women and girls. One of our role models is Grameen Bank, which created a profitable, multi-billion dollar enterprise on the simple idea that poor women, given a chance, are among the best investments in the world.

Blockchain has enormous potential in helping give access and dignity to the underbanked, underserved, and undervalued. We’re also working to make ZebPay a truly equal workplace. We may not get to 50/50 gender representation right away, but we’re working on it and things like equal pay, parental leave, flexible hours, wellness. Basically, we aim to be the happiest workplace in India for men and women.

7. Please clear the air about Zebpay's acquisition (if any).! Will the previous management or the lead executives continue to participate in the new Zebpay system?

Rahul Pagidipati - Ajeet and the three founders, Sandeep, Saurabh, and Mahin, are all friends of mine, still connected to ZebPay, and we talk regularly. So we get the benefit of their wisdom. But the new team is in charge and let me say, I’ve had the privilege of working with phenomenal people for over 20 years and I’ve never been more excited about a leadership team than I am about the new ZebPay execs. I get inspired by them every day.

8. Brief about the trading fees, withdrawal fee, maintenance fee in the new system of Zebpay crypto exchange.

Rahul Pagidipati - We trust that our members see the common sense in paying a fair, low price for the best quality service in a way that’s sustainable over the long-term. Wallet maintenance costs money. W

e have been paying that cost out of our reserves since trading (and trading fees) stopped in 2018. The wallet fee will cover a fraction of that cost and we’ll continue to pay the rest. However, and this is the good part, you don’t pay the wallet fee if you trade. If you do even a modest amount of trading (we’ll announce the exact volume soon) we’ll waive the wallet fee. But there’s a way to avoid both the wallet fee and the trading fee. Each month we’ll offer no-fee trading on one pair, starting with BTC-ETH (which we think everyone should be trading in 2020. It’s a beast.)

So you’ll be able to trade that pair all month for free and pay no fees whatsoever. Our withdrawal fees were calculated to cover the cost and be sustainable. It’s more than some charge, less than others, but it’s fair. You get a timely, secure transfer without worry.

So to be clear, after March, the wallet fee will only apply to members who choose not to trade at all that month. I

t’s like the inactivity fee charged by most brokers. But all you have to do to waive the fee is trade or deposit, which is kind of why you joined ZebPay in the first place, right? We hate it when companies surprise us with hidden charges, too. That’s why we announced this well in advance. We’ll continue to be open about what we charge and why. 

Image Credit - Zebpay

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