Coinbase to Discontinue Crypto Trading Services in India
Crypto exchange Coinbase is set to end its crypto trading services in India by the end of the month, citing regulatory challenges as the reason. Users in India have already been disabled from signing on to the exchange and are being advised to download the Coinbase Wallet instead. From September 25 onwards, Coinbase plans to discontinue its services in India and has urged its Indian customers to withdraw any funds they have in their accounts.
Despite efforts to gain approval from local authorities, Coinbase has faced significant challenges in reintroducing its services in India. This struggle has led to the departure of at least two executives, including Durgesh Kaushik, who joined as Senior Director for Market Expansion. While Coinbase is looking for an exit from India, the exchange continues to work on expanding its services.
Coinbase’s Challenges in India
Last year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong traveled to India to launch the crypto exchange and announced support for India’s popular payments platform, Unified Payments Interface (UPI). However, the payment body, NPCI, refused to acknowledge Coinbase’s India launch, causing the integration to be suspended. Coinbase expressed commitment to working with NPCI and other relevant authorities, but progress was not made.
In 2022, Coinbase had to discontinue its trading service in India due to “informal pressure” from the Reserve Bank of India. While cryptocurrency trading is not illegal in India, there were individuals within the government who held a negative view of cryptocurrencies. Reports of a “shadow ban” suggested that soft pressure was applied to restrict certain cryptocurrency-related payments.
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