CoinDCX, a leading Indian cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding its operations internationally with the acquisition of BitOasis, a digital asset platform operating in the Middle East and North Africa, the two corporations announced on Wednesday.
The Bengaluru-based startup said the BitOasis team is joining CoinDCX, with the original management still running the exchange, which offers trading in greater than 60 tokens. BitOasis will even retain its branding, CoinDCX told TechCrunch.
Dubai-based BitOasis has secured over $40 million in funding over its eight-year history. The two corporations didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal, but a CoinDCX spokesperson told TechCrunch that BitOasis investors will receive equity in CoinDCX, adding that the deal was profitable for BitOasis backers.
The expansion comes amid a prolonged period of regulatory hostility toward cryptocurrencies in India, with the country’s central bank maintaining pressure on other lenders to avoid doing business with cryptocurrency firms. India stays one of the least welcoming jurisdictions for crypto traders, imposing a 30% tax on gains from digital assets.
The regulatory environment, coupled with a decline in the broader market, has forced India’s leading cryptocurrency firms to seek out other ways to sustain growth. CoinDCX launched a decentralized exchange in 2022 and is aggressively working to expand it.
The parent company of CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s second unicorn cryptocurrency exchange, has diversified its offerings to incorporate stock and mutual fund investments over the past yr. CoinDCX — backed by Steadview, Pantera, B Capital, and Coinbase — was valued at $2.1 billion in a funding round in 2022.
Local exchanges have benefited from India’s ban on Binance and greater than half of other international cryptocurrency exchanges this yr for failing to comply with local anti-money laundering regulations. Several of these exchanges, including Binance, are now in touch with the Indian regulator and are working on compliance. They are expected to resume operations in India in the coming weeks.
CoinDCX, which processes trading volumes exceeding $800 million each quarter, goals to turn out to be “the go-to trading platform for cryptocurrencies worldwide,” CoinDCX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta said in a statement. “Our expansion strategy starts with the MENA region, leveraging its mature market and the strong interest of the population in cryptocurrency investments.”
BitOasis says it has processed $6 billion in transactions since its founding in 2016.