Global cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase has officially launched in India with direct Indian Rupee rails, thereby allowing Indian retail traders to deposit and withdraw INR directly on the platform for the first time. It also ends the need for peer-to-peer workarounds that have characterised crypto access in India.
Indian customers can now deposit and withdraw INR via IMPS, access spot trading across a range of crypto assets, and trade perpetual futures contracts on major cryptocurrencies. Coinbase has also built local INR order books to provide dedicated liquidity for Indian customers, while retaining access to its global exchange infrastructure.
Coinbase said it is registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit — FIU-IND — and is fully compliant with Indian taxation laws, including TDS requirements applicable to virtual digital asset transactions. "We registered with FIU-IND and comply with all Indian taxation law requirements, because we're here for the long term," the company said.
The launch is not a cold entry into the Indian market. Coinbase has invested in CoinDCX and has put over $1 million into the Indian builder community through its Base Ethereum Layer 2 network via hackathons, grants and fellowships, with over 4,000 Indian builders having built on Base, and around 150 projects having grown into startups.
For advanced users, Coinbase Advanced offers professional-grade tools including institutional-standard APIs, WebSocket order book streaming and TradingView charting integration. The company noted that taker fees on Coinbase Advanced are competitive against local platforms, with no deposit fees on INR.
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