Coinbase is set to return to the Indian market after a year of absence

The exchange was launched in the country in April 2022 but was quickly shut down due to pressure from the RBI

13.02.2025 - 09:15

2 min

What’s new? US-based crypto exchange Coinbase plans to come back to India after more than a year’s hiatus. The platform’s team is working with several Indian bodies, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), TechCrunch reported, citing sources.

Coinbase launched services in India in April 2022. It soon faced regulatory hurdles that disrupted operations. Just days after the launch, the company suspended UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payments. By June 2022, Coinbase stopped conducting user registrations on its Indian exchange. Although it officially stopped serving Indian users on September 25, 2023, Coinbase later explained that the measure was aimed at accounts that did not meet the new standards rather than signaling a complete exit from the market.

What else is known? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has long expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies, raising concerns about macroeconomic risks, money laundering, and financial stability. In 2023, the FIU issued notices to several offshore exchanges, including Binance, Kucoin, OKX, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex, for failing to comply with India’s anti-money laundering laws under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As a result, these exchanges faced URL blocking and were removed from app stores such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play. However, some exchanges, such as Binance and Kucoin, managed to resume operations after registering with the FIU and paying fines.

High tax rates, including 30% capital gains tax and 1% TDS on transactions, have forced many Indian traders to shift to offshore platforms, which has significantly reduced domestic trading volumes. In contrast, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has proposed multilateral oversight of cryptocurrencies, signaling a potential policy shift.

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