Key Highlights:
- CoinDCX becomes India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn after raising 6.70 billion rupees in funding from investors.
- The investment comes as officials in India continue to dispute the status of digital currencies.
- In the next months, the business intends to launch more goods, including those aimed at rich customers.
First Crypto Unicorn
The crypto exchange acquired $90 million in funding, notably from Facebook’s Saverin, and plans to more than quadruple its staff in India to 400 employees.
CoinDCX became India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn after raising 6.70 billion rupees ($90 million) in funding from investors led by Facebook Inc co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group, despite local regulators’ opposition to crypto assets.
The current financing round valued the company at $1.1 billion, according to Sumit Gupta, CEO, and co-founder, in an interview. Existing investors include Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block. One, and Jump Capital.
Industry expected to be regulated
According to Chainalysis, Gupta intends to utilize the cash to more than quadruple his staff in India to around 400 employees over the next six months, where crypto investments have increased from approximately $6.6 billion in May to nearly $6 billion in April 2020. The figure is 923 million. The investment comes as officials in India continue to dispute the status of digital currencies – only last week, the central bank stated that there are “major concerns” regarding private virtual currencies and the government’s eventual stance on the subject. I intend to adopt
“I am sure the industry will be regulated at the right time,” Gupta said. “We’ve chosen to put our money and careers at stake because we think it’s going to be a really great wealth creation opportunity for people.”
Before launching CoinDCX in 2018, the 30-year-old engineer from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology spent countless hours researching blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It is registered in Singapore as Primestack Pte and wants to grow its user base from 3.5 million to 50 million. Millions more will be spent in the coming years to educate people about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
India capable of producing more Crypto Unicorns
Investments skyrocketed last year after the Supreme Court barred banks from facilitating cryptocurrency exchanges. According to CoinGecko, daily trade on India’s four major cryptocurrency exchanges surged from $28.6 million to $159 million.
The volatile nature of the asset has been a source of worry for authorities. Bitcoin dropped more than half of its value after reaching a peak of $64,870 in April, falling to $28,824 in June. The Reserve Bank of India intends to launch its own digital currency. Gupta thinks that India possesses all of the necessary resources to attain space domination.
In the next months, the business intends to launch more goods, including those aimed at rich customers. “We have a very tech-savvy population, good mobile access, a large base of engineers and developers who can leverage blockchain technology,” Gupta said. He believes that once the law is in place, India would generate more than 100 crypto unicorn start-ups in the next years.
