Despite regulatory uncertainty around cryptocurrency trading in India, B Capital Group has led a USD 90 million Series C round in Mumbai-based cryptocurrency startup CoinDCX. This round of funding valued the company at USD 1.1 billion, making it India’s 21st unicorn company this year and the first cryptocurrency startup to get a seat in the much-coveted club.
Other investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, and Jump Capital also participated in this round.
The three-year-old company, started by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, claims to have over 3.5 million users. It will utilize the most recent funding to increase awareness of cryptocurrencies to onboard 50 million users in the next few years.
“The funds raised will be allocated to make crypto a popular investment asset class in India and strengthen our workforce, which will cater to our growth story. We will hire talent across multiple functions and focus on new business initiatives,” Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, said in a statement.
CoinDCX will explore partnerships with fintech startups to expand its user base. In the coming months, the startup will launch a prime feature to enable high net-worth individuals and enterprises to invest in legally vetted investments.
The funding comes at a time when India’s apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, said it was working on its own digital currency. In the recent past, the Indian government has raised concerns over the trading of cryptocurrencies and has even called for a ban. The hopes of crypto traders and exchanges are hanging on the cryptocurrency bill, which the government is working on and is expected to be introduced soon. Gupta said the company is in discussions with the authorities to ensure regulations are favorable to all stakeholders.
CoinDCX competes with a handful of other exchanges such as CoinSwitch Kuber, Unocoin, ZebPay, and Binance-owned WazirX. In April this year, Tiger Global invested USD 25 million in CoinSwitch Kuber. Another crypto startup, Mudrex, raised USD 2.5 million in a seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners.