Coinbase is concentrating its efforts in India on developing the crypto and Web3 ecosystems. “We believe that crypto and web3 technology, when combined with India’s world-class software talent, can assist expedite India’s economic and financial inclusion ambitions,” stated CEO Brian Armstrong.
With Web3 and a Crypto Push, Coinbase is expanding in India:
Coinbase, a Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange, announced its plans for India on Monday. CEO Brian Armstrong explained, “India has established a robust identity and digital payments infrastructure and applied it at a high scale and speed.”
He also said that we believe that crypto and web3 technology, combined with India’s world-class IT expertise, can help India achieve its economic and financial inclusion goals faster.
“Coinbase Ventures has already invested $150 million in home-grown Indian technology firms in the crypto and web3 space, and it is always exploring new possibilities to assist Indian innovators scale,” the CEO stated.
He went on to say that Coinbase’s Indian tech hub, which opened last year, now has over 300 full-time staff spread around the country. Armstrong also stated that Coinbase would “continue to spend aggressively” in its Indian hub, adding: We have big aspirations for India, and this year we want to hire over 1,000 people in our India centre.
In Bangalore on Thursday, Coinbase will conduct a “crypto community gathering” to “debate the future of crypto and web3 in India,” according to Armstrong.
The Indian government is actively working on a crypto policy for the country. Officials from India’s finance ministry are working on a crypto framework with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the country’s central bank.
In addition, on April 1, India began taxing bitcoin income at a rate of 30%, with no loss offsets or deductions. Crypto trading volumes on exchanges have dropped since then. Crypto transactions will be subject to a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) in a few months.
