Coinbase has increased its investment in the Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX. This new funding values CoinDCX at 2.45 billion dollars after the investment. The move signals that the United States crypto giant is making a significant bet on India’s digital asset potential, even though the country’s regulatory environment remains uncertain.
This investment is an extension of CoinDCX’s previous funding round. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other standard closing conditions. The companies did not reveal the specific amount invested or the size of Coinbase’s stake. They did confirm that this new round increases the Indian exchange’s valuation from its previous level of 2.15 billion dollars, which was set in April 2022.
CoinDCX confirmed that this latest funding involves new capital from Coinbase. Coinbase has been an investor in CoinDCX since 2020 and last provided funding in 2022 during the Indian exchange’s Series D round through its venture capital arm, Coinbase Ventures.
Notably, this funding arrives just months after CoinDCX experienced a security breach in July. That incident led to the theft of approximately 44 million dollars worth of assets. It also comes amid reports from earlier this year that suggested Coinbase was in talks to acquire CoinDCX. The Indian exchange’s chief executive officer denied those claims at the time.
Coinbase’s chief business officer, Shan Aggarwal, stated in a blog post that this investment adds to the company’s growing presence in the region, where it also maintains local operations and other important local partners. He said that these steps reflect a clear commitment and that they believe India and its neighbors will help shape the future of the global onchain economy.
More than a year after it stopped operating in India, Coinbase re-entered the market earlier this year by registering with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The United States exchange is also an investor in CoinSwitch, which is another leading Indian crypto platform.
India is the world’s most populous country and is home to more than a billion internet subscribers, making it a key market for United States tech giants. However, the South Asian nation remains a relatively small market for cryptocurrency. This is partly due to regulatory uncertainty and the government’s flat thirty percent tax on digital asset gains, along with a one percent levy on each transaction. New Delhi also restricts offshore crypto exchanges unless they register with its financial watchdog. Recently, twenty-five global platforms came under government scrutiny for failing to register and comply with anti-money laundering rules.
Coinbase’s decision to double down on CoinDCX to expand its presence in India is a strategic one. CoinDCX has a strong local footprint with more than 20.4 million users. In July, CoinDCX reported customer assets exceeding 100 billion Indian rupees, which is about 1.12 billion dollars. It also reported annualized group revenue of 11.79 billion Indian rupees, around 133 million dollars, and annualized transaction volumes across products totaling 13.7 trillion Indian rupees, roughly 154.6 billion dollars.
Beyond India, CoinDCX expanded into the Middle East and North Africa region last year by acquiring BitOasis. Coinbase could leverage that footprint to strengthen its own presence in that area, which is one of the fastest-growing crypto markets globally.
CoinDCX stated that the new capital will be used to enhance its products, drive user growth, expand into new geographies, and deepen its educational initiatives.
Sumit Gupta, the co-founder and chief executive officer of CoinDCX, said that they see strong synergies with Coinbase in building a compliant and regulatory-friendly crypto ecosystem in India, the Middle East and North Africa region, and beyond.