India: Conducive Regulations Aid Crypto Firm CoinDCX Raises $2.5 Million from Polychain Capital
Indian cryptocurrency firms are leaving no stone unturned in recent times. The country’s government, which is rather slow in adopting technology, okayed cryptocurrency businesses to continue earlier this year, leading to a flurry of investment and technological activity. The latest to attract institutional investment is CoinDCX, a Mumbai-based crypto exchange that’s been in operation since 2018 and is among India’s most popular and liquid Bitcoin exchanges.
India an Untapped Country
As shared with The Block, CoinDCX, confirmed a $2.5 million from a group of investors, led by Polychain Capital and Coinbase Ventures. The firm had raised $3 million in March 2020, which included Polychain, Bain Capital, and BitMEX’s parent firm HDR Group.
CoinDCX is taking an education-first approach towards crypto-assets and blockchain technology development in the country. They want to encourage mass-adoption by running an extensive “TryCrypto” campaign, including all information that new traders would need.
The company states its goal is to have 50 million crypto users in India, a country of 1.4 billion people. Sumit Gupta, founder and CEO of CoinDCX said in that regard:
“This recent investment, coupled with the $3 million secured in March, would provide “a shot of confidence in our roadmap toward bringing the crypto asset class to a largely untapped Indian market.”
Gupta added the firm reached record training volumes in March, crossing, “$15 million” on some days. 50,000 new users have joined the platform, and the company is now looking to “hire aggressively.”
With the development, India’s crypto community can look forward to more investment in the region. The country’s young, tech-driven workforce and significant spending power among the middle-class positions India as a juicy sector for international crypto venture firms.
Judgement Opens Doors
Coinbase, in April 2020, opened its India-focussed branch to attract traders in the largely untapped market. The U.S.-based exchange is an existing investor in Matic Network, another Indian crypto project, and touts the CoinDCX investment to be its “first” blockchain-related effort in the country.
In March 2020, the Indian Supreme Court reversed a ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that disallowed services to crypto firms and traders in the country.
On May 24, Unocoin founder Harish BV revealed on Twitter his RTI application with the Indian police. He had questioned the RBI about bank transactions involving cryptocurrencies, to which the bank said: “not prohibited.”
