Leading Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX is expanding internationally through the acquisition of Middle East and North Africa digital asset platform BitOasis, the companies announced on Wednesday.
The Bengaluru-based startup announced that the BitOasis team will join CoinDCX, with the original management team continuing to manage the exchange and offering trading for more than 60 tokens. CoinDCX told TechCrunch that BitOasis will also retain its brand.
Dubai-based BitOasis has secured more than $40 million in funding over its eight-year history. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, but a CoinDCX spokesperson told TechCrunch that BitOasis investors will receive shares in CoinDCX, adding that the deal will be beneficial for BitOasis backers.
The expansion comes amid lingering regulatory hostility towards cryptocurrencies in India, where the local central bank continues to pressure other lenders to avoid doing business with crypto companies. India remains one of the least friendly jurisdictions for crypto traders, levying a 30% tax on gains on digital assets.
The regulatory environment, combined with an overall market downturn, has forced major Indian crypto companies to find other ways to maintain growth, with CoinDCX launching a decentralized exchange in 2022 and working to expand aggressively.
The parent company of India's other unicorn crypto exchange, CoinSwitch Kuber, has diversified its offerings over the past year to include investments in stocks and mutual funds. CoinDCX, backed by Steadview, Pantera, B Capital and Coinbase, was valued at $2.1 billion in a funding round in 2022.
The Indian government banned Binance and more than half of other international crypto exchanges this year for failing to comply with the country's anti-money laundering rules, but local exchanges have benefited from the move. Several of these exchanges, including Binance, are currently in contact with Indian authorities and working towards compliance and are expected to resume operations in India within the next few weeks.
CoinDCX, which processes more than $800 million in trading volume each quarter, aims to become “the go-to trading platform for cryptocurrencies around the world,” Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, said in a statement. “Our expansion strategy begins in the MENA region to leverage its mature market and people's strong interest in cryptocurrency investments.”
BitOasis said it has processed $6 billion in transaction volume since its launch in 2016.