CoinDCX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding internationally by acquiring BitOasis, a digital asset platform in the Middle East and North Africa, the companies announced on Wednesday.
The Bengaluru-based startup said the BitOasis team is joining CoinDCX, with the original leadership continuing to run the exchange, which offers trading in more than 60 tokens. BitOasis will also retain its branding, CoinDCX told JS.
Dubai-based BitOasis has secured more than $40 million in funding in its eight-year history. The two companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, but a CoinDCX spokesperson told JS that BitOasis investors would receive equity in CoinDCX, adding that the deal was profitable for BitOasis backers.
The expansion comes amid a prolonged period of regulatory hostility towards cryptocurrency in India, with the local central bank pressuring other lenders not to do business with crypto firms. India remains one of the least friendly jurisdictions for crypto traders, with a 30% tax on profits from digital assets.
The regulation, coupled with a broader market downturn, has forced India’s top crypto companies to find other ways to maintain their growth. CoinDCX launched a decentralized exchange in 2022 and is aggressively working to expand it.
The parent company of CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s other unicorn crypto exchange, has been diversifying its offerings over the past year with investments in stocks and mutual funds. CoinDCX — backed by Steadview, Pantera, B Capital and Coinbase — was valued at $2.1 billion in a 2022 funding round.
Local exchanges have taken advantage of India’s ban on Binance and more than half of other international crypto exchanges this year, as they failed to comply with local anti-money laundering regulations. Several of these exchanges, including Binance, are now in contact with the Indian authority and are working on compliance. They are expected to resume operations in India in the coming weeks.
CoinDCX, which processes trading volumes of over $800 million per quarter, aims to become the “go-to crypto trading platform globally,” CoinDCX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta said in a statement. “Our expansion strategy starts with the MENA region, capitalizing on the mature market and the population’s strong interest in crypto investing.”
BitOasis says it has processed $6 billion in trading volume since its inception in 2016.
