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Coinbase is a major listed crypto exchange.
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
Coinbase Global
’s
push into one of the world’s most important cryptocurrency markets is not off to a good start.
Just three days after launching in India, Coinbase (ticker: COIN) reportedly has suspended purchases of cryptocurrency with the country’s ubiquitous government-regulated payments system. It would effectively grind to a halt the ability of users to buy digital assets in India through Coinbase’s platform.
Coinbase stock was down 2.5% in premarket trading Monday, having closed 3.5% lower on Friday.
Customers in India attempting to buy crypto on Coinbase are being told that payment with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is unavailable, according to multiple media reports and reports of users on Twitter. Coinbase didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron’s.
UPI is run through the National Payments Corporation of India, an arm of the country’s central bank. Coinbase officially launched in the country last Thursday, and continues to list UPI on its website as the only option for buying digital assets. Users wishing to sell crypto must use the Immediate Payment Service, also run by the NPCI.
On the same day as Coinbase’s launch in India, the NPCI released a tweet noting that it was “not aware of any crypto exchange using UPI.”
Cryptocurrency is not illegal in India, though the status of digital assets remains under intense scrutiny in the country. The Reserve Bank of India has advocated banning crypto — which it did in 2018, before the decision was overturned by the courts — while lawmakers have pushed for regulation. Under new tax laws, profit from crypto trading will be taxed at 30%.
India is one of the world’s most important markets for digital assets, ranked behind only Vietnam in crypto data group Chainalysis’ 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index. And the country is home to the most crypto users of any country— more than 100 million — according to estimates from Singaporean crypto fintech TripleA.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com
