Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, has invested an undisclosed amount in Indian cryptocurrency platform CoinDCX.
Coinbase’s announcement on Wednesday said the placement was made through Coinbase Ventures, the exchange’s investment arm. CoinDCX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta wrote on XPost that the investment was made at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion.
In a separate announcement, CoinDCX claimed to serve more than 20 million customers in India and the United Arab Emirates after acquiring local crypto exchange BitOasis in late 2024.
Coinbase noted in the announcement that as of July, CoinDCX had annual revenue of approximately $141 million, with annual trading volume across all products reaching $165 billion. Assets held by Indian exchanges reportedly amounted to $1.2 billion at the time.
Coinbase declined to respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment, and CoinDCX did not respond by the time of publication.
Related: Coinbase decides to acquire Deribit in sixth transaction in 2025
India and the Middle East are the main markets
Coinbase claimed that “India and the Middle East will play a major role in the future of cryptocurrencies.” According to the exchange, the region is home to 1.4 billion people, and in late August estimates there were about 115 million crypto users in India alone. This investment follows hackers stealing $44 million from CoinDCX in July.
The comments come amid continued hostility from Indian authorities towards the crypto industry. Earlier this month, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), claiming that they “do not have a backend that guarantees their value.”
The comments came as India prepares to launch a new digital currency initiative with support from its central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. The administration is more open to blockchain technology than cryptocurrencies.
In early August, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal met with the IT Minister of the Indian state of Karnataka. The executive publicly thanked state officials and said the company would look into ways the company could “further support Karnataka’s technology leadership.”
Related: Ubyx raises $10 million to standardize stablecoin redemption and increase adoption
Coinbase continues to invest
This is the latest in a series of recent investments by Coinbase. Also this week, it was revealed that the cryptocurrency exchange had participated in an $8.1 million funding round for Crown, a São Paulo-based fintech company that aims to issue a stablecoin denominated in Brazilian reals.
Stablecore, a stablecoin infrastructure platform serving credit unions and local banks, also recently raised a $20 million seed round with participation from Coinbase Ventures. Coinbase Ventures also led a $47 million strategic investment round in stablecoin payments company RedotPay at the end of September.
Also in September, Coinbase Ventures led a $14.6 million round in Bastion, a startup offering white-label stablecoin issuance backed by Sony, Samsung, A16z and others.
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