CoinDCX acquires BitOasis in international expansion push

CoinDCX, India’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding internationally through the acquisition of BitOasis, a digital asset platform in the Middle East and North Africa, the companies said Wednesday.

The Bengaluru-based startup said BitOasis’s team is joining CoinDCX, with the original leadership continuing to manage the exchange, which offers trading in more than 60 tokens. BitOasis will also retain its branding, CoinDCX told TechCrunch.

Dubai-based BitOasis had secured over $40 million in funding during its eight-year history. The two firms didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal, but a CoinDCX spokesperson told TechCrunch that BitOasis investors would receive equity in CoinDCX, adding that the deal was profitable for BitOasis backers.

The expansion comes amid a prolonged period of regulatory hostility toward cryptocurrency in India, with the local central bank maintaining pressure on other lenders to avoid conducting business with crypto firms. India remains one of the least friendly jurisdictions for crypto traders, imposing a 30% tax on digital asset gains.

The regulatory environment, coupled with a downturn in the broader market, has forced top crypto companies in India to find other ways to maintain their growth. CoinDCX launched a decentralized exchange in 2022 and has been aggressively working to expand it.

The parent company of CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s other unicorn crypto exchange — and a key rival to CoinDCX — has diversified its offerings to include investments in stocks and mutual funds in the past year.

CoinDCX — which is backed by B Capital, Coinbase, Pantera and Steadview — was valued at $2.1 billion in a funding round in 2022.

Local exchanges benefited from India’s ban on Binance and more than half a dozen other international crypto exchanges this year for not complying with the local anti-money laundering rules. Several of these exchanges, including Binance, are now in touch with the Indian authority and working toward compliance. They are expected to resume their operations in India in the coming weeks.

CoinDCX, which processes trading volumes north of $800 million each quarter, aims to become the “go-to trading platform for crypto worldwide,” CoinDCX co-founder and chief executive Sumit Gupta said in a statement. “Our expansion strategy begins with the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region, capitalizing on its mature market and the population’s keen interest in crypto investment.”

BitOasis said it has processed $6 billion in trading volume since its founding in 2016.