Coinbase has begun rebuilding its presence in India after a prolonged retreat, outlining plans for a full rupee fiat on-ramp by 2026 as regulatory and payments conditions in the country slowly improve.
Coinbase Plans Gradual Return after 2022 Setback
The exchange scaled back Indian operations in 2022 after local banks and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) partners withdrew support for crypto transfers under informal regulatory pressure. Since then, Coinbase has limited Indian users largely to crypto-only trading with no direct rupee deposit channels, while focusing its regional efforts on engineering and back-office functions.
In recent briefings to partners, Coinbase has now signaled a phased return that starts with restoring clearer access for Indian residents to its global platform, alongside new compliance and reporting tools tailored to India’s 30% tax on crypto gains and 1% TDS on trades. The company frames India as a critical long-term market given the size of its developer base and retail user interest, even under a restrictive tax regime.
Roadmap to a Rupee On-Ramp by 2026
According to people familiar with the plan, Coinbase aims to restore a regulated rupee on-ramp by 2026 through partnerships with local payment aggregators and banks willing to support crypto-related flows under tighter AML and KYC controls. The roadmap centers on non-UPI payment rails at first, such as IMPS and NEFT transfers, with scope to revisit UPI if policy signals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) grow more permissive.
The exchange also explores a hybrid model that relies on licensed local intermediaries to manage rupee custody and settlement while Coinbase provides the trading interface, order book, and global liquidity. This structure would echo arrangements used in other markets where local currency rules require segregation between domestic payment entities and foreign crypto platforms.
India still has no dedicated crypto law, but exchanges operate under general financial regulations, strict tax rules, and evolving anti–money laundering obligations, including Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) registration for VASPs. Recent enforcement actions against some global platforms that did not meet local registration or reporting requirements have raised the premium on full compliance for any foreign exchange returning to the market.
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