India’s CoinDCX may be the newest crypto exchange to join the unicorn club: Report

• CoinDCX ranks amongst the top four crypto exchanges in India, alongside WazirX, Zebpay and CoinSwitch Kuber.
• The company saw trading worth $20-25 million during the fourth quarter of 2020.
• It has raised three funding rounds worth $19.4 million throughout 2020.

Indian cryptocurrency exchange, CoinDCX, raised ₹100 crore, which is around $13.9 million just seven months ago. Now, it's reportedly on track to bagging another $100 to $120 million in a new round of funding.

According to the Economic Times, this will give CoinDCX a $1 billion valuation making it the newest crypto exchange to join the unicorn club.

More importantly, this will provide the startup with enough funds to reach its goal of adding 50 million new users to its platform. Sources told ET that the new capital will most likely be used to boost customer acquisition.

The round will likely be led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group. Existing investors, Polychain Capital and US-based Coinbase Ventures, are also believed to be participating.

While crypto startups are an important part of India’s growing startup ecosystem, lack of regulatory clearances have made them an outlier of sorts. The country has produced over 50 billion dollar companies over the past two years, but crypto companies haven’t figured in the news as much as others.

Not the first crypto unicorn

CoinDCX won't be the first crypto exchange to join the unicorn club. Binance, Robinhood, Ripple, and others are already members. But, CoinDCX is the first Indian crypto company to step in.

Binance-owned WazirX's WRX token, which also powers its newly launched non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, hit a billion dollar valuation in April 2021. Along with WazirX, CoinDCX ranks amongst the top four crypto exchanges in the country, including CoinSwitch Kuber and Zebpay.

Including the $13 million raised in December last year, CoinDCX raised a total of $19.4 million in three funding rounds over 2020. Founded by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, the company has expanded its services beyond the crypto exchange, adding products like lending.

Ambitions to hit 50 million new users

CoinDCX told ET that it had 1.5 million registered users last month, after its user base grew 700% since March 2020.But that is a pebble in the ocean compared to the 50 million target the company has set for itself.

But, Khandelwal is hopeful. He told YourStory he is hoping that CoinDCX Go and the addition of new features will boost mass adoption among newbies.

The good news is that India’s crypto exchanges have grown rapidly over the past year, making them a profitable space for those looking to diversify how they invest their money. With the pandemic making the economy uncertain, there was a flurry of activity by people to diversify their savings.

WazirX and CoinDCX witnessed a growth of 125% and 85%, respectively during the three months of October to December, according to a report by Mint . At the time — before the price of Bitcoin plummeted and the crypto market entered its most recent slump — the platform saw $20 to $25 million worth of trading every day, and about 75% of it came from Indian investors.

According to data from analysis firm Venture Intelligence, investments in crypto firms more than quadrupled in 2020, growing from $5 million in 2019 to $24 million in 2020. CoinDCX seems to have accounted for most of that investment.

For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve.

UPDATE: The article incorrectly mentioned that WazirX has a one billion valuation. It has been updated to mention that not WarizX, but its token, hit one billion earlier this year.

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