CoinDCX’s Compliance Journey: The Foundation of a Resilient Future For the Community

A New Phase for CoinDCX in 2024 as Millions Return to Compliant Indian Exchanges to Ensure Their Funds Are Safe

Yesterday marked our first townhall of 2024, a moment to connect directly with our team, our colleagues. These quarterly gatherings serve as a formal platform, but beyond that, I cherish the informal catch-ups. CoinDCX has expanded its presence to more cities, making townhalls the thread that weaves us all together.

This townhall found me amidst emotions and gratitude. Over the last two weeks, our team has been working tirelessly day and night, helping  investors who have been on offshore non compliant exchanges  to transfer their assets safely to CoinDCX. We have always stood with the community when they needed us, but helping millions of those investors whose funds were stuck made me proud on a different level.

So, what exactly happened? We all know that the Government of India released guidelines under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) in March 2023. These guidelines mandated that Virtual Asset Service Providers should register with FIU-Ind, among other things. In the last week of December 2023, FIU India sent notices to offshore noncompliant exchanges and took swift actions that rippled through the crypto community. The noise on social media was loud, and anxiety crept in as the fear of blocked assets loomed. CoinDCX was the first FIU-registered exchange in India and supported the community to safely transfer their funds.

In the midst of this, the importance of compliance stood out for us at CoinDCX. Our journey was built on foreseeing these challenges and creating a compliant exchange.

Building Resilience in the Early Days

Sumit and I often share stories of the early days when challenges seemed overwhelming. The RBI order to banks to stop trading with crypto companies before our launch, the struggle for survival when investors backed out – these moments tested our resilience. Changing our strategy, working tirelessly, and persevering led us to emerge as India’s most-valued crypto exchange when the RBI reversed its order three years later.

Crypto exchanges serve as the initial entry point for beginners venturing into crypto investments. We created the CoinDCX app to simplify access to the crypto ecosystem for Indian users. Over time, it evolved into India’s most trusted and user-friendly crypto investment app, catering to investors of all levels, from beginners to experts. Our platform is trusted by over 1.4 crore Indians who have access to over 500+ crypto assets and is known for its fast, easy-to-use, and secure software.

The next logical step was to help users onboard the DeFi ecosystem. In 2022, we launched Okto, an innovative self-custodial wallet backed by multiple layers of security that allows native access to 100+ decentralized apps. I am quite bullish on the DeFi segment as I think that is the future of finance.

Choosing the Harder Road for Compliance

Wearing multiple hats in the early days, Sumit and I navigated challenges in tech, security, compliance, and operations. Compliance became a linchpin in our journey. In 2020, we laid the groundwork for our compliance team, choosing the harder road for integrity and doing the right thing. Building a compliant product was tough, but our team anticipated and adapted.

2022 brought unprecedented challenges, with an 80% business loss due to tax laws and a bear market. We adapted, understanding the importance of complying with new regulations. CoinDCX became the first exchange registered with FIU-IND in April 2023. 

Today, our journey enters a new phase as millions return to CoinDCX, finding safety in engagement with a compliant exchange.

Believing in Mass Adoption and the Future of Web3

As a techie at heart, I’m proud of India’s vibrant developer community. Okto is a testament to building in India for the global market. Sumit and I believe in the future of Web3. The bear run becomes a phase for building, preparing for the bull run. Our team continued building, creating Okto and later on Okto SDK – a state-of-the-art embedded wallet Software Development Kit (SDK). This powerful tool seamlessly integrates Web3 wallets within other applications, ensuring simple onboarding into the Web3 ecosystem, unlocking the full potential of Web3 interoperability, composability, and smart contracts while delivering an exceptional customer experience.

A team of 600 people building for Crypto. Building for the future. Building on Blockchain. Building for the People. Listen to the sound of building. pic.twitter.com/eW9ZvbOByr

— Neeraj Khandelwal (@nrjkhandelwal) April 19, 2023

CoinDCX’s mission remains unchanged: democratizing access to Web3 and crypto for the masses. The total number of investors in the crypto space is approximately 400 million. However, when you look at the users of blockchain for purposes beyond investment, the number comes down to just around 15 million unique users. So, while there are over 400 million investors in technology-associated tokens, only 15 million people have actively utilized blockchain. This calls for significant efforts to attract more users to the blockchain. With Okto, we aim to play our part in bridging this gap. Our strategic focus remains on empowering people with seamless solutions, making the decentralized future accessible to all, to build Web3 products that touch every segment of society, creating a more secure and decentralized internet.

CoinDCX has set forth an ambitious vision for the coming year — to emerge as a global leader in Web3 through pioneering advancements in Web3 Finance, with ‘Fi’ standing as a cornerstone and an enabler across the entire Web3 spectrum. CoinDCX’s strategic approach centers around establishing Web3 finance leadership by positioning ourselves as the gateway to both CeFi and DeFi.

Tapping into India’s Tech Talent

The potential of India’s tech talent to become a global Web3 powerhouse is immense. We’re hiring, improving our platform, and striving for excellence.

With the continued support of the entire CoinDCX,Okto team, our partners and the entire web3 community , CoinDCX will continue leading the charge in shaping India’s Web3 narrative.. India already contributes 11% of global Web3 developers. 

The path to mass adoption lies in a supportive ecosystem – starting with reducing tax and supporting the builders who will script the future of web3.