In brief
- India’s Competition Commission has approved Coinbase’s bid to acquire a minority stake in CoinDCX, valuing the exchange at $2.45 billion.
- The latest development is a “big win for the Indian crypto ecosystem,” Coinbase CEO Sumit Gupta told Decrypt.
- The approval comes as Coinbase prepares a fuller return to the market, with plans for a rupee on-ramp in 2026 and expanded local operations.
India’s competition watchdog has cleared the way for Coinbase to deepen its presence on the country’s crypto market, approving the U.S. exchange’s acquisition of a minority stake in Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX.
The Competition Commission of India approved the transaction on Wednesday, allowing Coinbase to acquire a minority stake in DCX Global Limited, CoinDCX’s parent company.
The deal values CoinDCX at $2.45 billion, though Coinbase has not disclosed the size of its investment.
“Coinbase has been an investor in CoinDCX since 2020,” Coinbase CEO Sumit Gupta told Decrypt. “Its decision to infuse more capital is a strong validation of CoinDCX’s long-term vision and responsible growth strategy.”
“Getting the CCI approval is absolutely an important regulatory milestone and a big win for the Indian crypto ecosystem,” Gupta added. “This will go a long way in building trust in the Indian crypto space and unlocking access to global capital.”
The regulator’s green light trails Coinbase’s mid-October deal reveal and caps a turbulent year for CoinDCX, which earlier absorbed a $44.2 million attack on one of its wallets.
At the time of the hack, Gupta dismissed rumors that Coinbase was in talks to acquire CoinDCX, insisting the exchange was “not up for sale.”
“This order of the CCI strengthens confidence among global VASPs evaluating India as a market,” CA Sonu Jain, chief risk and compliance officer at 9Point Capital, told Decrypt.
“While tax and operational compliance challenges remain, CCI’s clearance shows that India is open to foreign participation in crypto infrastructure provided governance, ownership, and control structures are transparent,” Jain noted.
Just last week, Coinbase reopened user registrations after more than two years, allowing customers to conduct crypto-to-crypto trades.
Coinbase also plans to introduce a rupee on-ramp in 2026, according to its Asia-Pacific director John O’Loghlen.
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