CrossTower, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, launched an official branch in India on Monday amid regulatory tussles concerning the industry. According to Reuters, CrossTower already hired 35 people for the office and plans to expand it further to 100 for the upcoming six months.
“India will play a pivotal role, and we plan to use the country as a hub to expand into other geographies,” Kapil Rathi, CrossTower’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, told Reuters in an interview. Additionally, he stated that the firm aims to strengthen its market share by bolstering technological resources to meet the high demand of the Indian crypto market.
In fact, figures from Chainalysis suggest that the virtual currency market in the country has skyrocketed from $923 million in April 2020 to $6.6 billion in May 2021, as India keeps being ranked in 11th place in terms of cryptocurrency adoption globally. “We believe we’re taking a calculated risk,” Rathi commented about how risky it is to open a crypto exchange branch in a country with unsolved issues surrounding regulatory affairs towards the cryptocurrency industry.
Crypto Regulatory Turmoil
The Indian government was scheduled to present a bill in March before the parliament definitely ban Cryptocurrencies , making trading and holding cryptocurrencies an illegal activity in the country. However, it was not on the discussion table, and the uncertainty remains alive, although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sought to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in December. Though, there are no major updates on the subject as of press time.
Early this year, as Finance Magnates reported, the crypto exchange announced that the company crossed $150 million in trading volumes during February, which is its highest level on record. The trading volumes have grown significantly since October 2020. In addition, CrossTower introduced a new Bitcoin Fund in February that offers accredited investors exposure to Bitcoin through standard privately placed security.
