Crypto Giant Coinbase (COIN) has made its crypto trading services available in the world’s second-largest internet market, India, for the first time by adding support for the popular UPI payment tool in the country. The announcement was made at an event in India’s tech hub, Bengaluru. Coinbase is the world’s second-largest exchange by trade volume.
The onboarding on Coinbase requires the setting up of a UPI payment method. UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is an instant real-time payments infrastructure that has been developed by a coalition of retail banks and allows for peer-to-peer and person to merchant transactions. It is the most popular way Indians make online transactions. According to a Coinbase executive, users in India will be able to add money to and withdraw from their accounts using the UPI network. As an initial incentive, the company is offering $2.65 to every Indian user who signs up on the Coinbase app.
The announcement comes at a time when the Indian government has announced new crypto taxes. The new regulations include a 30% tax on profits from crypto transactions that has come into effect on April 1, and a 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), which will be effective from July 1.
Coinbase is already an investor in two of the largest crypto exchanges in the country (CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber). The company officials claim that they are making a ‘long-term’ bet on India and said that they have already invested $150 million in Indian startups and are also planning to significantly increase their employee strength in the country.
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