Crypto exchange CoinDCX to raise $100-120M funding, says report

CoinDCX, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, reportedly planning to raise around $100-120 million (Rs 743-892 crores) in funding from Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's B Capital Group, ET reported.

Polychain Capital and Coinbase Ventures, both existing investors, will also participate in the round, which will value the company at more than $1 billion, making it the first crypto exchange to join India's growing unicorn club.

CoinDCX, founded in 2018 by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, facilitates the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency tokens. It also provides other cryptocurrency-based financial services like lending. Last month, the company had 1.5 million registered users, a 700 percent increase since March 2020.

The company is ISO certified and backed by well-known investors such as Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and HDR Group, the operator of BitMEX.

DCX Learn, their online academy, provides a platform for people to learn about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. It's part of their #TryCrypto initiative, which aims to build a 50 million-person Indian crypto community and has become India's largest crypto adoption movement.

Two months back in May, CoinDCX, and Solana, a high-performance blockchain protocol supporting builders, have jointly launched a Virtual Hackathon to encourage the crypto and blockchain community and expand the country’s DeFi ecosystem. It aimed at bringing out some of the best projects from India that will push the Solana DeFi ecosystem forward. 

Last December, CoinDCX raised Rs 100 crore from a group of investors that included Block.one, DG, Jump Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Mehta Ventures, and Alex Pack. In addition to this, it had raised nearly $19.4 million (Rs 144 crore) in three rounds in 2020.

Meanwhile, several notable people of this cryptocurrency space affirmed that cryptocurrency could be a profitable business and would back up the exchange in India's growing nonregulatory environment.

Furthermore, a new generation of Indian cryptocurrency investors has emerged. According to industry estimates, this group numbers around 15 million people, the vast majority of whom are under the age of 25.

“For crypto-focused foreign funds, the perceived upside from crypto becoming a mainstream asset class especially for a new generation of Indian investors can more than justify the downside from regulatory risks,” said Nitin Sharma, partner at Antler Global, a VC fund. “This is also a function of a lot of crypto wealth that has been generated globally and is now seeking new markets where the narrative of an alternate store of value or a hedge against inflation may appeal to certain consumers," he added.

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