Even with the Indian government reported to be mulling introduction of a law that could ban crypto currencies, some of the global digital currency exchanges are also mulling ways for setting up store in India following the entry in the market of the market leader Binance, said reports quoting industry sources.
The economic power of a tech-savvy, young nation of 1.35 billion people would be stifled, argue the opponents of the potential ban. While there are no official figures, it is estimated that there are 15 million crypto investors in India who together holding more than 100 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in crypto assets.
The Indian market is being actively scouted by United States based Kraken, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex and rival KuCoin, said reports quoting sources with knowledge of the matter. According to analysts this list of crypto exchanges would only grow if they were given a free rein.
"These companies have already begun talks to understand the Indian market and the entry points better," one of the sources directly involved with an exchange that had begun due diligence for an Indian firm it was considering acquiring reportedly told the news agency Reuters
Sources said that there were two other crypto exchanges that were currently in the initial stages of taking a decision on whether to enter the Indian market or not. The choice facing the exchanges are effectively deciding between setting up a subsidiary or acquiring an Indian company just as was done by the biggest crypto exchange of the world Binance two years ago.
There were no comments on the issue available from Bitfinex Kraken and KuCoin.
According to data platform CoinMarketCap, in terms of their traffic, liquidity and trustworthiness of their reported trading volumes, all the three exchanges are ranked in the top ten of the world.
"The Indian market is huge and it is only starting to grow, if there was more policy certainty by now Indian consumers would have been spoilt for choice in terms of exchanges, because everyone wants to be here," said Kumar Gaurav, founder of digital bank Cashaa.
The crypto exchanges would be the most cost-efficient way for Indians abroad to remit funds home, say proponents of crypto currencies.
However there are concerns among authorities of the wealth being hidden in the digital world by rich people and criminals and potential destabilization of the financial system of the country because of speculative flows of funds through digital channels that will largely remain ungoverned by India's strict exchange controls.
There are currently no fixed regulations directed specifically towards crypto currency exchanges that want to set up operations in India. Such exchanges could get themselves registered as tech companies to obtain a relatively easy entry path.
An Indian crypto currency startup WazirX was acquired by Binance in 2019 which has allowed Indian customers to buy and sell crypto with rupees on the Binance Fiat Gateway.
"It's clear that the rewards outweigh the perceived risks, which is luring these global firms to the Indian market," said Darshan Bathija, chief executive officer of Vauld, a foreign crypto exchange with a presence in India.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The economic power of a tech-savvy, young nation of 1.35 billion people would be stifled, argue the opponents of the potential ban. While there are no official figures, it is estimated that there are 15 million crypto investors in India who together holding more than 100 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in crypto assets.
The Indian market is being actively scouted by United States based Kraken, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex and rival KuCoin, said reports quoting sources with knowledge of the matter. According to analysts this list of crypto exchanges would only grow if they were given a free rein.
"These companies have already begun talks to understand the Indian market and the entry points better," one of the sources directly involved with an exchange that had begun due diligence for an Indian firm it was considering acquiring reportedly told the news agency Reuters
Sources said that there were two other crypto exchanges that were currently in the initial stages of taking a decision on whether to enter the Indian market or not. The choice facing the exchanges are effectively deciding between setting up a subsidiary or acquiring an Indian company just as was done by the biggest crypto exchange of the world Binance two years ago.
There were no comments on the issue available from Bitfinex Kraken and KuCoin.
According to data platform CoinMarketCap, in terms of their traffic, liquidity and trustworthiness of their reported trading volumes, all the three exchanges are ranked in the top ten of the world.
"The Indian market is huge and it is only starting to grow, if there was more policy certainty by now Indian consumers would have been spoilt for choice in terms of exchanges, because everyone wants to be here," said Kumar Gaurav, founder of digital bank Cashaa.
The crypto exchanges would be the most cost-efficient way for Indians abroad to remit funds home, say proponents of crypto currencies.
However there are concerns among authorities of the wealth being hidden in the digital world by rich people and criminals and potential destabilization of the financial system of the country because of speculative flows of funds through digital channels that will largely remain ungoverned by India's strict exchange controls.
There are currently no fixed regulations directed specifically towards crypto currency exchanges that want to set up operations in India. Such exchanges could get themselves registered as tech companies to obtain a relatively easy entry path.
An Indian crypto currency startup WazirX was acquired by Binance in 2019 which has allowed Indian customers to buy and sell crypto with rupees on the Binance Fiat Gateway.
"It's clear that the rewards outweigh the perceived risks, which is luring these global firms to the Indian market," said Darshan Bathija, chief executive officer of Vauld, a foreign crypto exchange with a presence in India.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
