CoinDCX, the leading cryptocurrency exchange in India, has made a significant move by acquiring BitOasis, a well-known digital asset platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This strategic decision marks CoinDCX’s first step into international expansion and allows them to utilize BitOasis’s established presence and regulatory licenses in the region to expand their global reach.
Based in Bengaluru, CoinDCX has announced that the team from BitOasis will join their company while still maintaining their own branding and leadership. This acquisition enables CoinDCX to take advantage of BitOasis’s licenses to operate across the MENA region, where BitOasis currently offers trading in over 60 tokens. BitOasis, headquartered in Dubai, has successfully raised over $40 million in funding over the course of its eight-year history.
While the financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, a spokesperson from CoinDCX has mentioned that BitOasis investors will receive equity in CoinDCX, ensuring a profitable deal for them. This expansion comes at a time when the regulatory conditions for cryptocurrency in India are challenging. The country’s central bank has urged lenders to avoid engaging with crypto firms, and the government has imposed a 30% tax on gains from digital assets. In response to these obstacles, Indian crypto companies like CoinDCX are looking to expand beyond their domestic borders.
CoinDCX, valued at $2.1 billion in a funding round in 2022, launched a decentralized exchange in the same year and has been actively expanding its operations. The company has processed over $800 million in quarterly trading volumes and aims to become the leading trading platform for cryptocurrencies worldwide, according to its co-founder and CEO, Sumit Gupta.
One notable advantage for CoinDCX in this expansion is the ban on Binance and other international exchanges in India. While these exchanges are working towards complying with Indian regulations to resume their operations, CoinDCX benefits from their absence in the market.
CoinDCX’s expansion strategy now focuses on the MENA region, which is a mature market with a strong interest in crypto investments. This aligns with the company’s vision of global growth. BitOasis, being a regional player in the MENA market since its establishment in 2016, has processed a total of $6 billion in trading volume, indicating the significant potential in this market.
BitOasis has recently acquired a broker-dealer license in Bahrain and is already licensed in the UAE. Ola Doudin, the co-founder and CEO of BitOasis, expressed her excitement about the acquisition, emphasizing the regulatory milestones that BitOasis has achieved, such as being the first platform registered with the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit and securing a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Doudin further highlighted that the acquisition will allow BitOasis to offer a wider range of products, enhanced crypto services, increased liquidity, improved trading options, and an enhanced user experience. Regulatory compliance and exceptional service are at the core of BitOasis’s operations.
According to a Q1 report, CoinDCX has experienced a 2000% increase in customer deposits since the finance ministry issued show cause notices to nine major offshore exchanges, including Binance, on December 28 for non-compliance with local money laundering laws. Since the implementation of a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on crypto exchanges in India in July 2022, domestic trading volumes have dropped by approximately 90%. Many Indian users have shifted to offshore platforms that do not comply with the TDS rule, resulting in a significant loss in tax revenue. The recent show cause notices require foreign exchanges to implement the TDS or face a ban from operating in India, with a deadline to respond by January 11.
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