Coinbase has opened direct rupee support in India, allowing retail customers to deposit and withdraw INR without relying on peer-to-peer transfers or intermediaries, the company said on Monday.
The move marks a return for the exchange, which abandoned an earlier India push in 2022 after the operator of the UPI payments network declined to support it, and offboarded local customers in 2023.
Indian users can now move funds via IMPS bank transfers and trade spot assets and perpetual futures, Coinbase said in a blog post by John O'Loghlen, Coinbase's head of Asia-Pacific. The exchange has built local INR order books while retaining access to its global liquidity.
Coinbase said it is registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit, complies with the country's tax rules and charges no INR deposit fees. The Nasdaq-listed firm, an investor in domestic exchange CoinDCX, said INR support is rolling out to existing users, while new customers can register at coinbase.com.
