India’s Crypto market has entered its next chapter

Year on year, we are witnessing the evolution of crypto as an asset class. Investors are becoming more sophisticated, portfolios are becoming more diversified, and the conversation around digital assets is steadily moving from speculation to utility and long-term participation.

For founders like us, who began our crypto journey in 2018 when the ecosystem was still nascent and the environment far less favourable, this evolution is deeply encouraging.

In 2018, the fundamental challenge was access. Today, the opportunity is infrastructure, trust, and scale.

That evolution matters.

Indian users have demonstrated extraordinary resilience, continuing to participate despite fragmented access, evolving regulations, and a complex taxation environment. The emergence of compliant INR on- and off-ramps is another important step in making digital assets more accessible, transparent, and integrated into the broader financial system.

Coinbase’s return to India is significant in that context. It is not simply about another global exchange entering the market. It signals something much larger: Global capital, technology, and operating expertise increasingly recognise India as a market.

And the opportunity extends well beyond trading.

Family offices, professional investors, entrepreneurs, fintech users and a digitally native generation are increasingly exploring digital assets alongside traditional financial instruments. Stablecoins have the potential to transform cross-border payments and remittances. Tokenisation can expand access to global assets. Onchain infrastructure can create entirely new financial and commercial rails.

As the industry matures and an increasingly sophisticated and diverse set of investors enters the ecosystem, the need for strong guardrails becomes more important than ever.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance’s recommendation for an interim self-regulatory framework for virtual digital assets is therefore a timely and important step. We are at a pivotal moment for the industry. Over the years, many crypto exchanges in India have been working to build compliance frameworks, strengthen consumer protection and put in place measures that create greater trust in the ecosystem.

An effective Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) can build on these efforts. It can bring greater consistency across the industry by establishing common standards and encouraging the adoption of best practices. More importantly, it can help create a more structured environment for responsible innovation while the broader regulatory framework continues to take shape.

From a founder’s perspective, this is important. The future of digital assets in India will not be built by innovation alone. It will be built by combining innovation with trust, accountability, and the right guardrails, giving investors greater confidence to participate and giving the industry the legitimacy and foundation it needs to grow for the long term.

The article has been contributed by Sumit Gupta, Co-founder, CoinDCX.

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