Coinbase is adding support for the popular UPI payment instrument in India, making its eponymous cryptocurrency exchange functional in the world’s second largest internet market for the first time.
The publicly listed firm, which began testing UPI payments a few weeks ago, made the official launch at its maiden event in India on Thursday, saying that it is working to broaden its product offerings in the country.
UPI, a payments infrastructure developed by a coalition of retail banks, has become the most popular way Indians transact online. Coinbase users in India will be able to top money to — and withdraw from — their accounts by using the UPI network, a company executive said. To incentivize customers to try the Coinbase app, the company said it is offering $2.65 to everyone who signs up.
The company notably did not disclose the names of its banking partners for the UPI payments rollout. The vast majority of banks in India continue to scoff at crypto-related transactions, following the local central bank’s longstanding views on virtual digital assets.
Even as India’s Supreme Court overturned the RBI’s ban on crypto two years ago and the nation recently started to tax crypto transactions, banks are largely still following the central bank’s earlier direction. RBI officials have publicly called for more scrutiny of crypto.
T. Rabi Sankar, deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, alleged to an audience at a banking conference in…
