Coinbase has registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to legally trade in the country. The main regulatory body supports Coinbase and adheres to rules to limit money laundering on the platform when trading in India. The FIU approval is a significant step for Coinbase and the crypto community because Indian traders can now access one of the most reliable exchanges on the market, a possible gateway for new retail traders. Binance and other exchanges, like CoinDCX, already operate in the country with regulatory approval. The FIU is India’s anti-money laundering watchdog and oversees all crypto approvals in the country. In 2022, Coinbase ceased operations in India due to unfavourable regulatory conditions, a trend at the time, with many exchanges facing extreme pressure from regulatory bodies. At the time, Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, said that the exchange had to exit the country because of pressure exerted by the Indian central bank. “India represents one of the most exciting market opportunities in the world today”, wrote John O’Loghlen, Coinbase Asia Pacific director, “and we’re proud to deepen our investment here in full compliance with local regulations”. Competition will benefit in India, extending to the digital asset industry. Coinbase, Binance, KuCoin, and CoinDCX, all approved by the FIU, can now focus on customer satisfaction rather than operating in an anti-competitive environment. “India represents”, wrote Coinbase official blog, “one of the most exciting market opportunities in the world today. The country has rapidly grown into an on-chain development hub, with its share of global developers increasing from 3% in 2018 to 12% in 2023. Among emerging markets, India now boasts the highest concentration of talent in the on-chain space”. Younger investors are particularly interested in crypto, which is part of the impetus for approving the exchange. Many Indian youths are looking to crypto as an alternate financial system that offers the opportunity for investment and monetary freedom. The debate continues regarding the regulatory framework of crypto in India, yet the use and development of crypto technology continue to become a growth area for the country’s economy. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) exerted a lot of pressure on the crypto market, especially international companies, to encourage locally run businesses to thrive and prevent international rackets from conducting money laundering operations. A debate started about the strict measures the Indian Reserve Bank took, as international exchanges like Binance and KuCoin were banned, to ascertain a fine balance between monetary freedom and regulatory safety. In 2024, Chainalysis concluded, after extensive analysis, that India had the highest crypto adoption rate globally, with millions of people participating in the market. Therefore, overcoming this regulatory hurdle would be essential to extending Bitcoin’s influence worldwide. According to a 2024 study by Chainalysis, India has the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate globally, with millions of individual investors participating in the market. Coinbase’s return to India expands its presence in Asia and paves the way for crypto legalization in an up-and-coming market. FIU approval, therefore, is not just an essential step for Coinbase extending its base in India, but also, an important step for cryptocurrency adoption worldwide.
