Hardeep Singh
Cryptocurrency is slowly but steadily gaining traction among Indians as a secure investment option. Cryptocurrencies are primarily used by the younger generation. According to some estimates, the average age of bitcoin investors in India is around 24. However, there are still a lot of misconceptions about cryptocurrency trading, and a lot of people are frightened of it.
CoinSwitch Kuber, a Bangalore-based firm, was established in 2017 with the goal of making cryptocurrency trading more accessible to Indian investors. The company offers INR-based cryptocurrency trading, including Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, and many others. Simply download the CoinSwitch Kuber iOS or Android app to begin trading. We’ll learn more about CoinSwitch Kuber, its history, and what it has to offer in this post.
Cryptocurrencies are the hottest new financial topic on the planet. You can’t have a conversation these days without someone bringing up bitcoin investments. With over 11,000 coins exchanged internationally, the global cryptocurrency market is currently worth $2 trillion.
About the Company
CoinSwitch is one of India’s top five finance apps, as well as the largest cryptocurrency trading platform by market value. One of the key reasons for CoinSwitch Kuber’s success in India is the platform’s simplicity.
From registering a new account to transferring cryptocurrencies, everything happens seamlessly. As a result, tens of thousands of Indians utilize CoinSwitch Kuber for their daily bitcoin transactions. Thanks to the website, Indians may now buy and sell digital tokens known as cryptocurrencies from the comfort of their own homes. The web and mobile interfaces of the business are simple to use, secure, and lightning-fast.
The startup company immediately drew the attention of a number of well-known international investors. In a series of fundraising earlier this year, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Paradigm invested $15 million in CoinSwitch. In April of this year, CoinSwitch won a $25 million Series B funding round from Tiger Global Management, marking the investment firm’s first investment in an Indian cryptocurrency startup.
After raising $260 million in Series-C funding, the company was recently designated as a unicorn. Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), two global investing powerhouses, have invested in CoinSwitch Kuber. According to the firm, the cash would be used to raise awareness of cryptocurrencies as an asset class in India. Instead, the company has launched a series of commercials with the slogan “kuch toh badlega.” It has even chosen Ranveer Singh as the brand’s spokesperson.
Founders and Founding Stone
During the coronavirus outbreak, CoinSwitch Kuber was founded at a time when other businesses were stalling or shutting down as a result of the pandemic. COVID-19, according to its creators, has increased crypto investment by disrupting established markets. Ashish, Govind, and Vimal, who are all in their early thirties, have known each other for over a decade. They were also tech whizzes who competed in hackathons as a group.
They’ve won nearly every major hackathon in India, including ones hosted by Sequoia, Google, Amazon, and LinkedIn. CoinSwitch was motivated, predictably, by a hack, which the trio later exposed. Within a month of its launch, CoinSwitch Kuber had processed over $1 million in transactions and was later sponsored by Sequoia Capital. Every month, the corporation transacts around $300 million in business.
For the first 100 days, CoinSwitch Kuber provides its members with free trading, deposit, and withdrawal services. Following that, any transaction on the site will incur a fee. According to the company’s conditions, transferring digital assets to the CoinSwitch Kuber wallet is free; however, removing digital assets from the wallet may incur fees. Fees apply to fiat money transfers made with credit/debit cards or through online banking.
Aims and Ambitions of the Company
Due to its strong objective of promoting cryptocurrencies to millions of Indians, CoinSwitch Kuber has boarded over 1 crore Indian clients in just 15 months since its launch. On the platform, there are already over 7 million active users that trade cryptocurrencies on a regular basis.
Due to India’s 1.5 crore bitcoin investors, CoinSwitch appears to possess a significant percentage of the country’s cryptocurrency dealers. Over 3,200 cities and municipalities in the United States are served by CoinSwitch Kuber. India has one of the fastest-growing crypto acceptance rates in the world, and this trend is projected to continue.
CoinSwitch intends to use the funds it has raised in the near future to grow its technological, security, compliance, and product capabilities. The company’s goal is to become India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Based on acceptance rates, you may rely on CoinSwitch’s very accessible and user-friendly bitcoin trading platform. As the saying goes, “seeing is believing,” so open a CoinSwitch Kuber account right away to see how simple it is to begin trading cryptocurrencies in India.
Growth of the Company
CoinSwitch is India’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform in terms of valuation, as well as one of the top five finance apps in the country. The simplicity of CoinSwitch Kuber is one of the key reasons for its success in India. Everything is straightforward, from registering a new account to trading bitcoins. That is why tens of thousands of Indians utilize CoinSwitch Kuber for their daily bitcoin exchanges. Thanks to the website, Indians may now buy and exchange digital tokens, often known as cryptocurrencies, from the comfort of their own homes. The web and mobile interfaces of the organization are extremely user-friendly, secure, and speedy.
The company quickly drew the attention of a number of well-known overseas investors. Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Paradigm provided $15 million in series A funding to CoinSwitch earlier this year. In April of this year, CoinSwitch got a $25 million Series B investment from Tiger Global Management, marking the investment firm’s first in an Indian cryptocurrency startup.
The company has achieved unicorn status after obtaining $260 million in Series-C funding. CoinSwitch Kuber has received funding from Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), two global investment behemoths. The funds would be utilized to educate Indians about cryptocurrency as an asset class. Instead of making an attempt, the company has been airing commercials with the slogan “kuch toh badlega.” It has also enlisted Ranveer Singh to serve as the brand’s face, which is a positive move forward.
Merger and Acquisition
According to two Entrackr sources, CoinSwitch Kuber is in late-stage talks to purchase mutual fund platform Symbl. The transaction is expected to cost roughly Rs 35-40 crore, according to sources. Symbl claims to reduce the complexity of direct stock investing and the cost of fund management by providing customized and cost-effective index investment options. The business raised Rs 5 crore in an angel round in March.
Funding
CoinSwitch Kuber stated in October that it has raised $260 million from a consortium of investors in a Series C fundraising round, valuing the company at $1.9 billion. This increases the value of the Bengaluru-based company over CoinDCX, India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn, which received $90 million in August.
According to Tracxn data, Indian crypto start-ups attracted 73% more funding in the first six months of calendar 2021 than in the entire year of 2020. These investments have been made by some of the most well-known names in private equity and venture capital. CoinSwitch Kuber has recently received funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Tiger Global, among others. Despite the fact that the government has yet to declare cryptocurrencies legal, the investment has been made.
Challenges and Hurdles
Over 120 people work for CoinSwitch Kuber, which has over 4.5 million users. The app features a clean UI and UX design when compared to other apps on the market. However, it was later determined that the app does not support UPI payments. On April 21, 2021, the organization announced that INR deposits in the CoinSwitch Kuber App would be disabled across all of its official social media sites. Due to unanticipated complications with their banking partner, CoinSwitch Kuber has temporarily halted all INR deposits, the company said on Twitter.
In India, cryptocurrency is illegal as, despite the fact that cryptocurrency investments are legal in India, there are numerous questions and misgivings regarding the subject. When it comes to problems, Ashish believes that the company’s primary issue is teaching Indians about cryptocurrencies and the ecosystem.
Conclusion
Millions of Indians have dabbled with cryptocurrencies since 2020, and the number is growing by the day. India appears to be well-positioned to benefit from the bitcoin revolution. The government is also attempting to develop a regulatory framework to ensure the seamless operation of the system, with the recent MCA amendment serving as the first step in that regard.
CoinSwitch Kuber claims to keep improving its simplicity while offering excellent security, the best cryptocurrency rates, and the greatest user experience. The platform is used on a regular basis by a big number of first-time cryptocurrency investors, indicating how young Indians are gravitating toward cryptocurrencies as their first financial asset.
CoinSwitch Kuber has grown rapidly, with over 10 million subscribers on the network. The additional cash would be used to increase the company’s customer base in India to 50 million people. The CoinSwitch Kuber team intends to offer more investment alternatives to the site, in addition to cryptocurrency, but there is still work to be done. The company’s objective is to make cryptocurrency investments more accessible and India a more appealing investment location.
