Coinbase Global Inc. has officially registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing the cryptocurrency exchange to provide trading services in the country. The U.S. firm plans to launch its retail trading platform in India later this year, with intentions to expand its investments and product offerings in the region, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
This marks Coinbase’s second attempt to enter the Indian market. In 2022, the company integrated with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to enable customers to buy cryptocurrencies using rupees. However, just three days after the launch, Coinbase had to disable the service when the organization overseeing UPI claimed it was “not aware” of any digital-asset exchanges utilizing the network.
“India represents one of the most exciting market opportunities in the world today, and we’re proud to deepen our investment here in full compliance with local regulations,” stated John O’Loghlen, Coinbase’s regional managing director for APAC. Coinbase highlighted that India’s share of global blockchain developers has surged from 3% in 2018 to 12% in 2023, making it the country with the highest concentration of such specialists among emerging markets and a strategic focus for the exchange. In 2022, India implemented a tax framework imposing a 30% levy on income derived from digital assets, along with a 1% tax deduction at source (TDS), as regulators became increasingly cautious about cryptocurrency. This led to a decline in domestic trading volumes as high-frequency traders and market makers left local exchanges.
Despite this challenging tax environment, Coinbase joins competitors such as Binance, Bybit, and KuCoin in registering with the FIU to offer trading services in India.
