OKX Eyes Indian Market

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is studying ways to enter the Indian market as part of its plan to expand its services. CoinDesk.

The company’s Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafiq noted that there are currently 200,000 wallet users of the platform in the country — this accounts for just 5% of participants in the local Web3-sector.

“We are going to study the community. We will work with residents. We will find out where we can add value,” said an OKX spokesperson.

According to him, the company has no plans to open an office in India for now. However, the exchange is seeking local staff to implement its plans.

“As soon as India establishes a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, we would like to become leaders,” added Rafiq.

In early 2021, India reported a possible ban on cryptocurrencies, with talk even of criminal liability for owners. In the middle of the year there was information that authorities would legalise digital currencies as an asset class.

However in November again they talked about government intends to ban most “private currencies”. This sparked panic in the local market, which led to a short-term local drop in Bitcoin’s price by 15%.

Despite the absence of a legal framework, in 2022 India tightened fees on traders and investors. At the same time, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das warned investors against investing in cryptocurrency.

In July 2023, India’s Supreme Court rebuked the government for the delay in developing the regulatory framework for digital assets.

In August, OKX changed its KYC-policy, requiring users to undergo enhanced verification with document verification and facial recognition by September 21.

In June, the exchange restricted Russian citizens’ access to a range of services, and later — closed ruble-denominated trades.