Coinbase Prepares To Re-Enter India Market After Two-Year Pause

US-based crypto exchange Coinbase is set to re-open its app in India after exiting the market more than two years ago.

The exchange’s APAC director John O’Loghlen announced Coinbase’s re-launch in the Indian market while speaking at India Blockchain Week (IBW).

Traders Can Make Crypto-To-Crypto Trades, Fiat On-Ramp To Follow

Coinbase had launched its services in India in 2022 after adding support for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment network. However, it had to terminate its support for the payment railway just days later, after UPI operator National Payments Corporation (NPCI) refused to acknowledge Coinbase’s presence in the country. 

That led to Coinbase shutting down its services to Indian traders in 2023. 

Since leaving the market, Coinbase has been actively working to rebuild its presence in India. The company started engaging with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a government agency that oversees transactions and fraud, and earlier this year registered with it.

That paved the way for the exchange to start onboarding users through early access in October. Now, the exchange’s app is open to all users. 

Users can currently perform crypto-to-crypto trades using the Coinbase app and O’Loghlen said fiat on-ramp will follow soon, allowing users to load fiat currency and perform fiat-to-crypto trades on the app. 

India A Tough Crypto Market To Operate In 

India is one of the toughest markets for a crypto exchange to operate, mainly because it levies a 30% tax on crypto income without any loss offset. Regulators also charge a flat 1% deduction on each transaction, undermining higher-frequency trading on exchange platforms.

Commenting on the current tax policies in India, O’Loghlen said that Coinbase hopes the government will relax the taxation to make it easier for investors to hold crypto.

Despite the regulatory and tax challenges, Coinbase remains hopeful about India. Its venture arm has recently injected over $2.45 billion into the local platform CoinDCX at an equivalent post-money valuation. 

Coinbase has also expressed plans to bolster its team in India, which is already around 500 people strong. 

India Ranks High Terms Of Crypto Adoption

The Indian market is ranked first in global crypto adoption ahead of places including the US, Pakistan, the Philippines and Brazil, according to an October report from TRM Labs. 

Top countries by crypto adoption (Source: TRM Labs)

India has ranked number one for the past three years. 

Kraken And Binance Also Re-Enter The Indian Market

Coinbase is not the only crypto exchange attempting to build its share of the large Indian market, with Kraken, Binance and Bybit also making recent moves. 

In early 2025, Kraken started making moves towards re-entering the market. Among these moves is the appointment of Indian entrepreneur Vinesh Khurana as an advisor to lead its India operations. 

Kraken has also engaged with local regulators, and is in the process of applying for the necessary license to be a fully-compliant business. 

Meanwhile, Binance re-entered the market back in August 2024 after it registered with FIU-IND as a “reporting entity,” fulfilling the necessary regulatory requirements. The exchange had also paid a $2.25 million penalty to regulators. 

Bybit said in September that it has restored full access to its app on both the App Store and Google Play for users in India as well.