Coinbase in Talks for Re-Entry into India

Coinbase is reportedly in discussions with India’s financial regulator to seek a re-entry into the country. The crypto exchange is “engaging with various Indian authorities,” including the Financial Intelligence Unit, as reported by TechCrunch, citing two people familiar with the matter.

This news follows Coinbase’s decision to disable its support for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India in April 2022, shortly after launching in the Indian market. UPI is a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India for facilitating inter-bank transactions via mobile phones.

A Coinbase spokesperson stated, “Coinbase is excited by the opportunities in the Indian market and intends to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, but we have nothing to announce regarding a FIU registration at this time,” according to The Block.

Earlier this month, Ajay Seth, India’s economic affairs secretary, informed Reuters that the country is reassessing its stance on cryptocurrencies in light of global regulatory changes. He noted, “More than one or two jurisdictions have changed their stance towards cryptocurrency in terms of the usage, their acceptance, where do they see the importance of crypto assets. In that stride, we are having a look at the discussion paper once again.”

Some other global exchanges have recently re-entered the Indian market. Last week, Bybit announced its registration with the FIU after paying a penalty of 92.7 million rupees ($1 million). Binance also re-entered India last August following a $2.25 million penalty.

The FIU did not immediately respond to requests for comments from The Block.