Coinbase has made an official launch in India, supporting the UPI payment instrument in the country

Global crypto exchange Coinbase has debuted crypto trading in India. It has been adding support from the homegrown digital payment instrument UPI. Coinbase has made an official launch in India in its maiden event on April 7, 2022. Nasdaq-listed Coinbase started testing UPI payments a few weeks ago, indicating that it is working to broaden its product offerings in the country. 

India is a huge market for crypto exchanges. According to several reports and Industry estimates, there are 15-20 Mn crypto investors in the country, with total crypto holdings of around US$5.37 Bn. But complicated Indian tax policies could prove to be a damper on fundraising by the industry as TDS compliance and a high tax rate will make it difficult for multinational entities and exchanges to set up shop in the country. But Coinbase made an exception by supporting the popular UPI payment instrument in India, making its eponymous cryptocurrency exchange functional in the world’s second-largest internet market for the first time.

The company notably did not disclose the names of its banking partners for the UPI payments rollout. The vast majority of banks in India continue to scoff at crypto-related transactions, following the local central bank’s longstanding views on virtual digital assets.

Even as India’s Supreme Court overturned the RBI’s ban on crypto two years ago and the nation recently started to tax crypto transactions, banks are largely still following the central bank’s earlier direction. RBI officials have publicly called for more scrutiny of crypto.

The onboarding on Coinbase would require setting up a UPI payment method. UPI (unified payments interface) is an instant real-time payment system allowing peer-to-peer and person to merchant transactions, which is regulated by the Indian central bank.

Also, Coinbase said it’s making a “long-term” bet on India. Brian Armstrong, co-founder, and chief executive of Coinbase, said the firm has already invested US$150 million in Indian startups and is planning to more than triple its headcount in the country to 1,000 this year. 

Its corporate venture arm Coinbase Ventures has backed crypto unicorns – CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber.

“Coinbase’s Indian tech hub was launched last year and already has over 300 full-time employees across India’s states and regions. We are excited to tap into the dynamic Indian software talent to build out our products and will continue to invest heavily in our India hub. We have ambitious plans for India and seek to hire over 1,000 people in our India hub this year alone,” added Brian Armstrong- Coinbase founder in a report.