Indian crypto trading platform banks $3m from Bain, Polychain, others

Crypto exchanges in India are expecting a surge in trading after the country’s Supreme Court lifted the central bank’s ban, which prohibited financial institutions from facilitating any service relating to virtual currencies.

To capitalize on the opportunity, local crypto exchange aggregator CoinDCX has raised US$3 million in a series A round led by Polychain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and BitMEX operator HDR Group, alongside other VCs.

It plans to promote crypto adoption in India and ramp up product development, service, marketing activities, research and development, and human resources.

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Founded in 2017, CoinDCX uses a liquidity aggregation model integrated with global exchanges like Binance, Huobi Global, and OKEx, eliminating the hassle for traders that deal with multiple platforms. Its suite of products includes a fiat-to-crypto service, spot trading, margin trading, and futures trading.

With the ban lifted, CoinDCX also becomes the first crypto exchange in India to integrate bank account transfers, according to a statement.

The startup will use the fresh capital for market expansion and the addition of new trading pairs to its platform. It will also co-develop a fiat onboarding solution with major crypto projects, implement algorithm-based trading, and launch a crypto-to-crypto trading product this year.

Just last week, the company launched a campaign called TryCrypto, pledging US$1.3 million to bring the total number of crypto users in India to 50 million.

“The recent developments in the cryptocurrency regulatory landscape in India are very encouraging and are likely to accelerate adoption and innovation in this sector,” said HDR Group CEO and co-founder Arthur Hayes.

HDR and Polychain are no strangers to the crypto industry. Their other portfolio companies include stablecoin MakerDAO, blockchain-based cloud computing firm DFinity, and Rain, the Middle East’s first licensed crypto exchange.

Meanwhile, Bain Capital has made more than 940 investments in numerous industries, including LinkedIn, Jet.com, and DocusSign.