SUMMARY
CoinDCX Cofounder Neeraj Khandelwal told Bloomberg that as soon as the government or the situation allows us, the platform will try for an IPO
It became a unicorn in August as it raised $90 Mn (INR 670 Cr) in its Series C funding round
The government is set to table the cryptocurrency bill in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament
As cryptocurrency exchanges and other stakeholders await regulatory clarity with the government set to table the crypto bill in the Parliament, crypto unicorn CoinDCX has said that it aims to go public in times ahead, but there is no immediate plan to announce an initial public offering (IPO).
The company came up with a clarificatory statement today (November 29) after its cofounder Neeraj Khandelwal during an interaction with Bloomberg Television, said that as soon as it is permitted, the bourse would try for an IPO.
“As soon as the government or the situation allows us, we will try for an IPO. An IPO gives legitimacy to the industry, just like the Coinbase IPO gave a lot of confidence in the crypto markets. Similarly, we want to instil a similar level of confidence with an IPO of CoinDCX,” he was quoted saying.
He further said that the company will decide on a “precise timeline” depending on incoming government regulations, Khandelwal said. “We certainly will look at that in order to grow the industry further,” he added.
A company statement later said that as any growing company aspires to take an IPO route in due course, CoinDCX also has similar aspirations.
“Having said that, there is no definitive route or clause as to when we would go ahead with this plan. Of course, a well-defined regulatory process will benefit not only us but the entire ecosystem in their growth strategy. As an official clarification, we would like to reiterate that there is no immediate plan in the foreseeable future to announce an IPO,” the statement said.
The crypto exchange turned a unicorn in August, as it raised $90 Mn (INR 670 Cr) in its Series C funding round, led by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group as well as Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, Jump Capital among others, alongside and returning other unnamed investors.
Regulatory Issues & Crypto Bill
The cryptocurrency space in India has been marred with regulatory uncertainties as there is no regulatory framework on the segment in the country.
The government is set to table the much-anticipated cryptocurrency bill in the winter session of the parliament, which started today. The bill seeks to ban all private cryptocurrencies while allowing a few exceptions.
Apart from seeking to bank private cryptocurrencies, “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021″ will also pave the way for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) or fiat cryptocurrency project.
Today (November 29), the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said that the government does not collect data on cryptocurrency transactions.
Growing Crypto Market
India has more than one crore crypto investors, and the number is significantly growing every day, with several domestic and global crypto exchanges operating in the country.
The investment in cryptocurrencies grew from nearly $923 Mn in April last year to $6.6 Bn in May this year in India. According to a report released in August by blockchain data platform Chainalysis, India ranks second out of 154 nations in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.
