Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Coinbase has reopened signups for Indian users, two years after halting services in the country.
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The cryptocurrency exchange intends to launch fiat on-ramp services in the country by next year.
Coinbase Now Allows New Users to Sign Up
Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has resumed onboarding new users in India. This latest development comes two years after Coinbase halted its services in the country following regulatory challenges over payment rails.
The crypto exchange’s APAC director, John O’Loghlen, stated that it is allowing new users to sign up on its platform and has also introduced crypto-to-crypto trading services. However, it intends to reintroduce a fiat on-ramp next year
Coinbase launched its services in India, using the country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). However, the crypto exchange withdrew the fiat option within days after the network operator publicly declined to acknowledge the exchange.
This resulted in Coinbase halting its services entirely in India, off-boarding millions of users, and shuttering local access while reassessing regulatory exposure.
According to O’Loghlen, Coinbase is now adopting a clean state approach in India, and is currently in talks with the Financial Intelligence Unit, the agency responsible for monitoring digital-asset transactions.
The cryptocurrency exchange completed FIU registration earlier this year and began admitting users through an early-access program in October.
The Coinbase app is now open to users, allowing them to trade crypto-to-crypto pairs as the exchange works on reintroducing fiat options.
While India remains one of the largest cryptocurrency markets in the world, it is tough for companies to operate in the country due to a 30% flat tax on crypto gains, a prohibition on loss offsets, and a 1% transaction levy that suppresses trading volumes. However, the challenges haven’t stopped exchanges from operating in the country.
