CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $90 million (approximately Rs 668 crore) in a Series C round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's B Capital.

The funding values the company at $1.1 billion, making it the newest member of the unicorn club, which includes startups valued at $1 billion or more. So far this year, India has added 21 startups to the coveted list.

CoinDCX is also the first crypto company in India to achieve unicorn status.
Existing investors Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, Jump Capital, and other angel investors joined the round as well, according to a senior company executive.

On July 28, ET was the first to report on the capital raising deal.
Including the most recent round, the company has raised a total of $110 million from Investors.
According to Sumit Gupta, cofounder and CEO of CoinDCX, the funds will be used for marketing, team strengthening, and new business initiatives.

The company has set aside Rs 10 crore for educational initiatives across multiple platforms. Over the next six months, it plans to more than double its current 180-person team.

CoinDCX, founded in 2018 by Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, facilitates the purchase and sale of crypto tokens. It also provides other cryptocurrency-based financial services, such as lending.

“In the coming months, CoinDCX will also be launching the CoinDCX Prime initiative, its latest offering in the HNI and Enterprise space, providing legally vetted and safe investments, as well as Cosmex, CoinDCX's global trading product,” Gupta added.

The exchange has 3.5 million users, which has more than doubled in the last two months.

CoinDCX competes with WazirX, which is owned by Binance and has over 7 million users, as well as a few other cryptocurrency exchanges such as ZebPay.
This year has seen an increase in mainstream interest in cryptocurrency platforms in India.

CoinDCX's announcement follows the recent funding of crypto platform Vauld by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and CoinSwitch Kuber by Tiger Global.

According to investors, cryptocurrency exchanges are a profitable investment due to the highly profitable nature of the business.

International investors who have dealt with an uncertain regulatory environment in other countries and industries are not afraid to invest in the cryptocurrency business in India, despite the fact that most Indian funds are cautious.

“Most new markets have regulatory uncertainty,” a senior executive at a blue-chip VC fund said.

“GPS was a regulated industry a few decades ago. Taxis and hotels were as well (and still are) in many parts of the world. Health and space tech are other examples. Investors that have seen the journeys of previously regulated industries that were opened up by resilient and thoughtful founders are willing to back best-in-class teams they feel will find a path. Because if you do, the upside is immense,” the person said on condition of anonymity.

Despite talk of a proposed ban and major banks cutting access to Indian crypto exchanges, the nascent industry is experiencing hyper-growth and investor interest.

Previously the Income-Tax department sent notices to at least three exchanges, requesting that they share all ledger entries in order to determine the price, time, and number of coins sold by a trader.