Success Story of CoinDCX: India’s First Crypto Unicorn

The term cryptocurrency, which was unheard of until a few years ago, has now become a buzz in the Indian market. Today, Crypto has become a vital and growing aspect of the digital economy. Having said that, in this blog we will discuss India’s one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges – CoinDCX.

Touted as the largest and safest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the country, CoinDCX was founded by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal. Want to know more about this startup? Let’s delve into the success story of CoinDCX. 

How Did It Begin? 

It all started in 2018 when two IIT-Bombay graduates Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal launched CoinDCX to build a centralized platform from which users can easily trade. The two men had known each other since 2007. They first met in Kota, Rajasthan, during their preparations for IIT entrance exams and became good friends gradually.

After his graduation Neeraj joined his family business to understand the challenges of being an entrepreneur. Meanwhile, Sumit started working in a multinational company in Tokyo, which he feels helped him a lot to understand the technicalities and culture in the corporate world.

In 2014, when Bitcoin was gaining the attention of several investors and big companies across the globe, Sumit Gupta learned about the distributed ledger technology for the first time. He found out that the blockchain traders have to keep up with hundreds of crypto trades in seconds and there was no centralized platform to trade from in India.

Therefore, Sumit came up with an idea of bringing together multiple decentralised marketplaces and cryptocurrencies, which are the medium of transaction in these markets. In order to follow his dream of starting his own venture, Sumit needed some help and so, he reached out to an old friend – Neeraj Khandelwal.

Both the men worked together to bridge the gap between this emerging technology and global users, eventually launching CoinDCX.

Obstacles In The Road

Sumit and Neeraj founded CoinDCX in 2018, the same year when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a ban on the transactions of cryptocurrencies. This resulted in the shutdown of various crypto-related startups in several parts of India.

However, CoinDCX was one of the very few players in the market who challenged the ban, which was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court of India in March 2020. The lifting of the ban allowed CoinDCX to increase its user base from 150K to 400K investors.

Moreover, building trust and credibility in an industry plagued by security concerns and volatility posed significant hurdles for an emerging startup. 

Growth Of CoinDCX

Despite the regulatory difficulties in the Indian cryptocurrency market over the last three years, CoinDCX has expanded by leaps and bounds, and what helped the company get on track was a focus on building the product from the start.

With its strategic partnerships, relentless focus on product development, and a deep understanding of user needs, the platform began to gain traction, attracting a rapidly growing consumer base of crypto enthusiasts and traders.

The company now claims to have had a daily trading volume of more than $10M and on the monthly basis, it records over $400M since its inception in the market. Today, CoinDCX is known as the powerhouse in the cryptocurrency space, with a presence in over 150 countries and a user base of millions.

Not only this, within just three years of its launch, the startup entered the unicorn club, reaching a valuation of $1.1 billion in 2021.