Coinbase Returns to India—Pushing Back Against the 30% Crypto Tax

Coinbase is back in the Indian market, but its comeback tour comes with a major caveat: a direct challenge to the country's steep crypto tax regime.

The 30% Question

The exchange isn't just reopening shop—it's lobbying for a rethink of the headline-grabbing 30% tax on virtual digital asset profits. That rate, one of the highest globally, has chilled trading volumes and pushed activity offshore since its 2022 introduction. Coinbase's re-entry signals a bet that dialogue, not an exodus, is the better path forward.

A Strategic Pivot

This isn't a simple relaunch. It's a calculated move in a massive, tech-savvy market where regulatory winds are shifting. The push for tax reconsideration is a core part of the strategy, aiming to align policy with the industry's growth potential rather than stifling it. Think of it as a high-stakes negotiation where market access is the prize.

The Finance Jab

Because nothing says 'welcoming investment environment' like taxing a nascent asset class at a rate that would make a legacy banker blush—all while wondering why innovation goes elsewhere.

The bottom line? Coinbase is placing a bold wager on India's future crypto landscape, betting that its presence and advocacy can help reshape the rules of the game.

Coinbase Has Returned To India For The First Time Since 2023

As reported by TechCrunch, Coinbase has resumed user onboarding in India for the first time since pulling out of the country back in 2023, more than two years ago. The American crypto exchange ranks as the largest public digital asset company in the world, hosting around $516 billion in assets on its platform.

Initially, the exchange first entered India in 2022, but only a few days after beginning services, it had to suspend UPI payments. UPI, short for Unified Payments Interface, is the most widely adopted real-time digital payments instrument in India. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had said shortly after Coinbase’s launch that it wasn’t aware of any crypto exchange using UPI.

With UPI access gone, Coinbase users no longer had a way to purchase digital assets on the platform using fiat. The exchange stopped new user signups in June 2023, with a complete discontinuation of services happening in September 2023.

“We had millions of customers in India, historically, and we took a very clear stance to off-board those customers entirely from overseas entities, where they were domiciled and regulated,” said Coinbase’s APAC director, John O’Loghlen, at India Blockchain Week (IBW). O’Loghlen added that the decision to pull out didn’t come without hesitation.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Coinbase announced in March that it had registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to provide crypto services in the country. The platform opened in early access in October, and now, it has seen a full public launch. So far, users can only access crypto-to-crypto trading, but according to O’Loghlen, a fiat on-ramp is planned to become available next year. This WOULD allow users to buy digital assets using the Indian Rupee (INR).

While India isn’t closed off to cryptocurrencies like its northern neighbor, China, it still has a relatively strict digital-asset regulation regime. The nation collects a 30% tax on investor crypto profits and allows for no offsets against losses. Additionally, it charges a 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on all transactions, as a method of tracking digital asset activity.

Naturally, this taxation regime isn’t ideal for crypto companies, as it directly affects adoption. O’Loghlen said that Coinbase is hoping the Indian government will relax the tax to make it more convenient for investors to hold digital assets.

Reopening its exchange isn’t the only MOVE that Coinbase has made in the subcontinent recently. As announced on its blog, the platform has made an investment in Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX. “Taken together, these steps reflect a clear commitment: we believe India and its neighbors will help shape the future of the global onchain economy,” noted the post.

Bitcoin Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $91,800, up more than 7% over the last week.