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- Coinbase reopens operations in India after overcoming regulatory hurdles.
- Indian users can now register, but crypto-to-crypto trades only.
- Full fiat transactions planned for 2026, following regulatory compliance.
Coinbase has resumed its operations in India after over two years. The U.S.-based exchange made its services available again through an early-access program in October. Now, Indian users can fully register on the platform. Coinbase’s re-entry into the Indian cryptocurrency market follows the completion of regulatory compliance with Indian regulators due to previously challenging issues that significantly limited operations in India. TechCrunch has reported on Coinbase’s return after all regulatory obstacles were removed.
Several challenges had arisen for Coinbase on April 7th, 2022, as it entered the market with its launch in India. Coinbase ceased operating with UPI, thus eliminating the ability to receive immediate bank-to-bank funds within a matter of minutes. By the end of September 2023, Coinbase had to suspend services for all Indian customers as a result of regulatory hurdles it faced.
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Strategic Partnerships and Regulatory Alignment Pave the Way for Resumption
The Financial Intelligence Unit of India registered Coinbase to be in compliance with the laws of Anti-Money laundering in India, a significant move that enabled it to relaunch Coinbase in India.
Coinbase India currently provides its customers with only the services and activities available in Indian currency of the Indians through the platform, and hopes to add complete fiat on-ramps in 2026. When Coinbase is going slow in incorporation, it is fulfilling its responsibility of complete incorporation with the current regulatory transformation of India.
The cryptocurrency market is still alive in India.
India has been among the most aggressive to crypto innovation in the world and is currently leading the list of the previous three years with total crypto adoption as of the October 2023 TRM Labs report, by far, compared to the United States, Pakistan, and Brazil. Such strong growth generates a positive landscape for exchanges such as Coinbase.
Numerous other international exchanges have also recently begun reestablishing operations in India. In late September, Bybit reinstated full app access to Indian customers. Binance, on the other hand, returned to the country in August 2024 with a one-time penalty payment of $2,25 million. As such, these actions show that there is renewed trust in the Indian cryptocurrency market despite the regulatory obstacles.
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