CoinSwitch To Launch Crypto Exchange Platform For Indian Users

Bengaluru-based crypto exchange startup CoinSwitch, on Wednesday (May 6), announced that it will be launching a new cryptocurrency exchange platform called ‘CoinSwitch Kuber’ for Indian users on June 1, 2020. The users can now trade, deposit and withdraw in Indian rupees (INR) for free.

The platform claims to ensure best rates by aggregating liquidity across all Indian exchanges and will support over 100 cryptocurrencies for Indian users, where they can buy and sell using INR.

“We are in the business of simplifying crypto,” said Ashish Singhal, cofounder and CEO at CoinSwitch.co. Speaking to Inc42, he said CoinSwitch’s aim was to simplify things for users, and involve them in the crypto ecosystem with better understanding and reliability. “For us, how we measure success of this platform depends on whether my father would be able to use this,” he added.

Founded in 2017, CryptoSwitch was started by Singhal, Vimal Sagar Tiwari and Govind Soni, who worked together for over 13 years. Prior to this, the three were part of companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Zinga, where they led the product development and tech team.

Another interesting fact about the cofounders is that they are also ethical hackers, who have won several hackathons, including Sequoia:Hack, Linkedin Hack, Google Code and Amazon Hack among others. “The idea of starting CoinSwitch also began with a hack itself,” shared Singhal, “to be able to build a safe and secure platform for our users to do crypto exchanges.”

Simplifying Crypto Trading For Indian Users 

In an attempt to remove intricacies associated with crypto, CoinSwitch said that it plans to create a user-friendly platform in the form of a mobile application. It will be launched as CoinSwitch Kuber app on Android and will be available on Apple’s iOS, next month. “Our experience is very different from the normal crypto exchanges in India which primarily focus on trading. We, on the other hand, are simply focusing on acquiring users on buying and selling cryptocurrencies,” said Singhal.

The app is planned to work quite similar to payments wallets such as Paytm, AmazonPay. Singhal said that a user can recharge their wallet to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum.

Crypto Exchanges Seeks Clarity From RBI For GST, Banking Options  

The launch of CoinSwitch Kuber comes at a time where crypto exchanges recently sought clarity from RBI as lack of clear directions is limiting their banking options, along with the clear resolution related to GST. Speaking to Inc42,  Rashmi Deshpande, partner at Khaitan & Co said that the representations made by these companies are at a very nascent level, and they haven’t gone all the way up to the ministry. Nonetheless, what matters is that we need clarity, she affirmed.

“On the service aspect, there is clarity. However, what about the value at which the currency is brought and sold, whether that is liable to tax or not is a big question,” said Deshpande

“This is a very important thing which needs to be cleared by the government so that companies and users feel free to start trading. A lot of people don’t know how to get started with crypto, as they are unfamiliar with how the tech implications would work. This clarity would not only help the crypto companies, but also for the users,” said Singhal.

CoinSwitch said that it has collaborated with a few banks to process the transactions for their users in a seamless manner. Sharing the experience, Singhal said that some banks were still waiting for the RBI circular to support crypto startups. However, a few banks are proactive and after the Supreme Court verdict are readily available to help crypto startups and crypto users, said Singhal.