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India’s First Crypto Unicorn Battles for Tax Reform

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The cryptocurrency landscape in India has undergone a seismic transformation since the contentious introduction of the Tax Deducted at Source [TDS] in 2022. In the wake of dwindling digital asset transactions, prominent figures within the industry have raised concerns. Sumit Gupta, the CEO of CoinDCX, India’s first crypto unicorn, has emerged as a leading advocate for lobbying the government for a reduction in the TDS rate from 1% to a mere 0.01%.

The previous year witnessed the implementation of a flat 30% tax on all crypto income in the nation, coupled with the imposition of a 1% TDS on crypto trades exceeding 10,000 Indian rupees [approximately $122]. Shockwaves from these tax measures were felt across the cryptocurrency landscape, prompting an estimated $3.85 billion in capital to migrate from domestic centralized crypto exchanges to foreign counterparts between February and October 2022, all in an effort to evade the tax burden, as reported by the Indian think tank, Esya Centre.

India

In a previous interview, Sumit Gupta argued that reducing the TDS rate to 0.01% could yield a win-win scenario. Firstly, it might entice traders back to Indian exchanges, aligning with the government’s objective of tracking virtual digital asset [VDA] transactions to combat money laundering. Secondly, it would contribute to the country’s tax revenue. Gupta further advocated for the tax treatment of crypto trading on par with other asset classes, such as equities.

Indian Crypto Exchanges: The Future

CoinDCX, valued at over $2 billion, plays a pivotal role as a founding member of the Bharat Web3 Association, an industry lobbying group. This collective has been actively advocating for clarification of the legal status of digital assets and the allowance of crypto traders to offset losses against other investment gains for tax purposes.

Despite these efforts, Nischal Shetty, the CEO of the WazirX exchange, cautioned that a transition to a more lenient crypto tax regime in India might still be a couple of years away. Shetty explained, “I don’t think we’ll see any immediate reduction in TDS since there have been no formal discussions between the industry and lawmakers specifically around it.”

India’s stance on cryptocurrency appears to be poised for transformation, as articulated by the Finance Minister. Ajay Seth, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, announced during the recently concluded G20 leaders’ summit that “India’s approach to crypto will be determined in the coming months.”

He underscored that the G20 had established a framework for assessing risks, and India would base its policy decisions on the global consensus forged by world leaders. The crypto landscape in India stands at a crossroads, with the future direction hanging on the balance between taxation and industry growth.

CoinDCX’s valuation doubles following $135M Funding

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India’s leading trading platform CoinDCX has doubled its valuation to $2.15 billion after a fresh $135 million capital injection, with an aim to spread its footprint in the web3 and the crypto industry in general co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal tweeted today.

The Series D financing round was spearheaded by Steadview and Pantera Capital. Others who backed the funding exercise were Coinbase Ventures, Kingsway, DraperDragon, Republic, and Kindred Ventures also participated in the Mumbai-headquartered startup’s new funding. To date, CoinDCX has raised more than $245 million.

In an interview with a local news outlet, Sumit Gupta CEO of CoinDCX told that the recent funding exercise demonstrates the bullish sentiments of global investors in the Indian crypto ecosystem despite domestic regulatory challenges.

The news also comes weeks after India’s crypto taxation rule came into effect. The rule imposed 30% on income generated on digital assets and also includes a 1% tax deduction at source for each trade. This resulted in a drastic reduction in the daily trading volumes across crypto exchanges as many investors and traders continue shunning crypto assets.

Admitted to being hit by the move, Gupta noted that the 1% TDS has made it somewhat less feasible for some High-Frequency Trading [HFT] to perform normally. “We continue to see new users come to the platform, but the growth is not as high as it used to be, say, two months ago,” he added.

CoinDCX to double down on its compliance efforts

The startup plans to double down on its compliance efforts, he said. “We will do whatever it takes to give more comfort to the regulators,” he said.

The crypto trading platform became the first Indian crypto firm to attain the unicorn status last year having amassed over 10 million users. Besides enabling users to purchase tokens for as low as 100 Indian rupees [$1.3], CoinDCX also provides margin trading and the option to stake digital assets.

CoinDCX, in collaboration with Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, is also working to educate the retail investors and help contribute to expanding the local ecosystem, the exec said. The startup plans to introduce educational content and byte-sized videos in its app, Gupta said.

India’s first crypto-unicorn ramps up hiring program after crossing 10M users

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India’s foremost crypto-unicorn CoinDCX has accelerated its pace of hiring to meet the growing demand of its rapidly expanding user base. Last month, the platform achieved a new milestone when the number of users crossed more than 10 million [1 crore] from 140k at the end of 2020.

Mudita Chauhan, head, of human resources at CoinDCX, said that there has been a significant increase in the number of people being onboarded within a year. “As the business scales up, we shall see a significant rise in headcount. Next year we should be more than double where we are today and the trend should continue over a period of time,” said Chauhan.

“The huge visibility around crypto trading is pulling a lot of young people into the industry. But the underlying potential of blockchain technology and its use case not just for cryptocurrency trading and in the financial industry, but across other industries is also contributing to the heightened interest in the sector.”

As a matter of fact, hiring particularly in crypto exchanges has been focused on areas such as developers, trade operations, customer service, risk, compliance, and engineering.

Crypto firms on a massive hiring spree

Despite the current market upheaval, cryptocurrency exchange sees “enormous product opportunities ahead for the future of Web 3.” U.S. biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Coinbase is looking to take in up to 2,000 people this year as it seeks to take advantage of opportunities in the development of Web 3 and other areas, Chief People Officer L.J. Brock said in a blog post on Feb.15.

The platform, as per the announcement post, is working to expand its product, engineering, and design teams

Just a month ago, leading crypto exchange Kraken’s chief legal officer Marco Santori via Twitter set an ambitious goal of doubling the size of his team- to hire 30 lawyers in three months. Santori said he already ‘raided Wall Street’ for regulatory talent and now wants to onboard lawyers.

The competition is not only fierce but historically fierce. I don’t think the lawyer market has ever been this tight, period, full stop,” he said.

Floki Inu available to millions through CoinDCX listing

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Floki Inu has been added to CoinDCX Pro, yet another Indian cryptocurrency exchange platform. CoinDCX had declared that the altcoin would be listed at 8.30 p.m. on 2 March 2022.

Floki Inu (FLOKI) is a meme coin that is dog-themed. This altcoin calls itself “a movement” rather than a meme coin. This cryptocurrency was created by Shiba Inu (SHIB) fans and the SHIB community members. Elon Musk’s Shiba Inu inspired the coin’s form.

Floki Inu and Indian Soccer club, Kerala Blasters FC, partnership

Not very long ago, FLOKI had announced its partnership with the Indian football club. On 19 November 2022, the meme coin took to its Twitter handle to announce its collaboration with Kerala Blasters FC, one of the top football clubs in India, as a sleeve sponsorship deal.

Kerala Blasters are one of the best teams in the category, having won second place in two championships. In the then-new Indian Super League season, the meme coin’s logo and website were to be displayed on Kerala Blasters’ kit sleeves.

The ISL, which began in 2013, is India’s elite soccer league, with 11 teams competing in the 2021-2022 season. With over 130 million global fans, the league is the fifth most renowned in the world.

The agreement, which took effect immediately, also included Floki Inu’s logo being displayed on LED screens during home games at the team’s 41k accommodation stadium.

Kerala Blaster’s new kit with FLOKI as sponsor

The goal of the collaboration for meme coin was to help crypto become ubiquitous in India and get access to the large market there. Due to the soccer league’s global popularity, Floki Inu has also garnered more global recognition with the sponsorship.

However, this wasn’t the first time a sports team has teamed up with a cryptocurrency company. For a long time, crypto-related businesses have been establishing sponsorship agreements with teams from all over the world.

Sports appeal to a wide range of audiences, thus crypto organizations find them to be an excellent way to sell to a large audience. Elon Musk’s favorite crypto, Dogecoin, also signed a kit agreement with English Premier League club Watford FC earlier in 2021. At the time of writing, Floki Inu was priced at $0.00003614 with a daily plunge of 8.9%.

CoinDCX exchange aims for IPO amidst the regulatory prevailing strictness

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Despite regulatory uncertainty, the Indian crypto ecosystem is flying high, as evidenced by the number of crypto companies achieving unicorn status in the last two years.

CoinDCX, one of India’s most popular crypto exchanges and the country’s first crypto unicorn, has announced plans to go public through an initial public offering (IPO). The crypto exchange’s co-founder, Neeraj Khandelwal, disclosed that the company is eagerly waiting for clarification over the government’s crypto law.

The cryptocurrency industry is eyeing the Indian market, which is scheduled to present its cryptocurrency bill in parliament today. The law will be presented before for discussion and vote during the ongoing winter session, and every crypto platform is hoping for a favorable outcome. 

CoinDCX awaiting government’s approval

“As soon as the government or the situation allows us, we will try for an IPO. An IPO gives legitimacy to the industry, just like the Coinbase IPO gave a lot of confidence in the crypto markets. Similarly, we want to instill a similar level of confidence with an IPO of CoinDCX.”

The co-founder further added

After a $90 million Series C investment in August, CoinDCX, with a $1.1 billion valuation, became India’s first crypto exchange Unicorn. Major venture capital firms have made significant investments in the Indian crypto ecosystem, with plans to continue doing so in light of the market’s immense potential.

Where is India in the Web 3.0 Crypto Race?

The Indian crypto market is known to be highly enthusiastic, and the country has the largest number of crypto investors in the world. 

Positive rules and regulations would pave the way for India to become a global force to be reckoned with in a decentralized environment, and it may be a significant player in the Web 3.0 race.

Khandelwal said that the bill coming out at this point signifies development and acknowledgment from the government side to solidify the crypto investment base.

India is already the world’s biggest cryptocurrency market with more than 100 million investors but the regulatory clearance is still missing from the nation. As the government aims at banning “private cryptocurrencies,” a clarity is missing.

Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange CoinDCX Raises Millions in Latest Investment Round

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Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market have tried their best to become mainstream after a decade of their inception. This growing financial sector has become so important that regions around the world have begun to rethink their applications.

India was one of the few countries vehemently opposed to cryptocurrencies. The ban on cryptocurrency has been so effective that digital asset companies have been brought to the ground while many have relocated. Following the recent withdrawal of the ban by the Supreme Court of India, the country has seen a dramatic increase in the number of crypto investors.

CoinDCX was one of the few Indian cryptocurrency exchanges that were ramping up efforts to expand Indian cryptocurrency space. According to new reports, the exchange raised more than $3 million from investors in its most recent funding round. CoinDCX claimed that the new space investors were excited to form an ecosystem of change, innovation, and rapid progress.

According to sources, CoinDCX raised more than $3 million from investors like Bain Capital Ventures, Polychain Capital and HDR Global Trading. HDR Global Trading sounds familiar because it is involved in operating cryptocurrency exchanges like the popular BitMEX.

The sudden surge in investments started right after the Indian Supreme Court adjudged that the 2018 ban on crypto was unjust. According to the premier court in the country, the RBI’s stance on digital assets would hamper growth and development in the country. Sumit Gupta, the CEO and Co-founder of CoinDCX stated:

“As the country’s largest exchange, we are in a position to drive national crypto adoption forward responsibly. This successful investment round will go a long way in funding our vision of accelerating India’s growth into a US$5 trillion economy. With a slew of exciting projects in the pipeline, the closure of our Series A is the first step in a new chapter in the CoinDCX story as we continue to drive the mass adoption of crypto assets in India.”

CoinDCX stated that it would use the capital to revamp its marketing aspects as well as boost its product developments. Sumit Gupta added that cryptocurrency as an asset was just about to take off in the country. India stands in the perfect position to leverage the current market and draw attention to the changes in the space, said Sumit Gupta. CoinDCX was one of three Indian cryptocurrency exchanges that remained open during the ban and it looks like it paid dividends.

The exchange will allow more users to get on board by buying cryptocurrencies with fiat. One of the USP’s of CoinDCX has been its algorithm-based trading that has enabled users to make seamless transactions. The good news was in complete contrast to the situation in 2018 when the industry crumbled in India after RBI’s decision. CoinDCX has also pledged $1.3 million for a campaign called ‘TryCrypto’. The aim of the program is to increase the number of crypto users in India to 50 million.

The CoinDCX development came right after Tim Draper made glowing comments about the Supreme Court’s decision. The serial investor admitted that he would be interested in contributing to some of the great projects in India and boost the cryptocurrency space.

CoinDCX CEO Pens Letter To India’s Finance Minister About Crypto; Reiterates The Fantastic Opportunities

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India’s tryst with cryptocurrencies has been ongoing for a long time now and the negative stance perpetuated in the country has also become a big issue. This has not stopped cryptocurrency organizations and proponents from clearing the air about the industry.

In a recent letter to the Financial Minister of India, the CEO of the cryptocurrency trading platform CoinDCX spoke about how the digital assets industry can become a major part of the country’s next Union budget. 

Sumit Gupta, the chief executive of CoinDCX urged FM Nirmala Sitharaman to keep an open mind about digital assets and look at it as an opportunity. Gupta added that the goal was to create a dynamic industry that would run parallel to the traditional economy. He reassured the minister that cryptocurrencies were not planning to usurp the position held by fiat currencies but rather complement it. In his words:

“India has been presented with the chance to be a part of a new wave of innovation, which is a tremendous opportunity to bolster the strength of our future economy. Just as the internet fundamentally altered the way we live and work, cryptocurrencies have the potential to change the way we participate in the global financial system.”

The CoinDCX official opined that at a time when other countries were receiving billions of dollars in fintech investments, India was barely scratching the surface. He took the example of Singapore, a burgeoning economy that received $53 billion just in the fintech industry. Looking at the numbers, India only received a mere 0.02 percent of Singapore’s total holdings.

In the letter, Gupta tried to convince Nirmala Sitharaman about the socio-economic advantages of crypto in India. He claimed that the agricultural sector in India can greatly benefit from microfinance portals and smart contract-based supply chains. The implementation of such models is expected to lead to greater traceability and convenience during transfers.

According to Gupta, the implementation of blockchain technology will result in greater collaboration between the public and private sectors. He reiterated that the opportunity presented by crypto should not be passed upon by a growing economy like India. The country is still in the midst of figuring out how to deal with digital assets, with the Supreme Court overseeing the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has directed all the banks to not deal with cryptocurrencies. The main reasons cited for this ban was that cryptocurrencies could be used for ‘terror financing’ and blatant money laundering. To counter this notion, the CoinDCX CEO suggested measures such as penal frameworks and KYC implementation across the fintech industry. The Finance Minister was told that clear guidelines were imperative for the industry to thrive, guidelines created on proper facts and information.

Nirmala Sitharaman has not responded to the letter yet but crypto proponents were anxious to see what her reply might be. At a time when tensions were high in the country, a public letter from a crypto personality is seen as a step in the right direction for the industry.