Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch Kuber raises $260 million at $1.9B evaluation

Credit: CoinSwitch Kuber

Key Takeaways

Indian crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber raised $260M from the likes of Coinbase Ventures and Andressen Howits
The Series C funding makes the exchange the youngest crypto unicorn in the country
India’s cryptocurrency market rose by nearly 650% in one year

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch Kuber announced on October 6 that it has raised over $260 million in Seris C funding.

Led by Coinbase Ventures and American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the round takes the company’s overall evaluation to $1.9 billion.

The Series C funding makes CoinSwitch Kuber the largest crypto unicorn in India.

An impressive list of investors behind the cryptocurrency exchange

Besides Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Coinbase Ventures backing the round, existing investors Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Tiger Global also took part in the funding round.

The cryptocurrency investment in India is a first for Andreessen Horowitz. Before this, the venture capital firm had not made any investments in the country.

David George, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz could not contain his excitement.

“We are incredibly excited about the crypto market opportunity in India, and with its breakout growth, CoinSwitch has emerged as the leading retail platform in the country,”
he said

CoinSwitch eyes big in crypto space

CoinSwitch Kuber is one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Founded in 2017 but launched in India in 2020, the exchange boasts of having 10 million users. According to the company, its monthly active user base is over 7 million.

The fresh funds will help the company hire an additional 250 people and will increase its user-base by 50 million. Institutional clients are also high on CoinSwitch’s priority.

“CoinSwitch Kuber is on a mission to build wealth for Indians by making crypto more accessible. We wanted to remove all the complexities in crypto trading, educate consumers and give them a simplified experience of one-click buy and sell in crypto,”
CEO Ashish Singhal said.

However, CoinSwitch is not the only Indian cryptocurrency exchange. It faces competition from the likes of WazirX and CoinDCX.

While Binance acquired WazirX in 2019, CoinDCX is not staying behind the competition.

Two days back the first Indian crypto Unicorn roped in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachan to be its brand Ambassador. According to the company, the celebrated actor will help increase awareness around cryptocurrencies and popularize them among Indians as an emerging asset class.

Indian cryptocurrency market grew by 641% in one year

Over the past year alone, the cryptocurrency market in India has grown close to 650%, according to data from Chainalysis.

India ranks second on the Global Crypto Adoption Index and is responsible for 59% of all DeFi activity.

“Large institutional-sized transfers above $10 million worth of cryptocurrency represent 42% of transactions sent from India-based addresses,”
according to the blockchain data platform Chainalysis.

Meanwhile, it is still unclear what the Indian Government will decide on cryptos when the Parliament meets for its winter session in November.

According to local sources, the Ministry of Finance is contemplating taxing gains from cryptocurrencies, after revisiting its decision to ban them altogether.