CoinDCX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has managed to raise a total of US$3 million [AU$5 million] in an effort to promote cryptocurrency. With the country’s supreme court lifting the central bank’s ban on virtual currencies, they used this opportunity to push on with promoting its platform through a trading contest.

Recently this month, the Supreme Court in India lifted the ban on cryptocurrency trading in the Indian Central Bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

CoinDCX has since been working behind the scenes to advocate crypto. Just three weeks after the announcement, they have managed to raise over $3 million in a Series A funding, with major backers coming from Bain Capital Ventures, Polychain, and HDR Group.

Thread on #TryCrypto Movement 1/ On 4th March 2020, the Indian crypto community achieved its first victory. Now, our goal is to get every single Indian into crypto. @CoinDCX has started the #TryCrypto initiative to make the community bigger and stronger. — Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) March 17, 2020

Established in 2017, CoinDCX operates as a virtual currency exchange aggregator. Their aggregation model is integrated with global exchanges like OKEx, Binance, and Huobi Global, allowing traders the benefits of leveraging a single account and offering the “highest liquidity.”

#TryCrypto to promote Indian crypto trading

According to Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, the #TryCrypto Movement will bridge the gap between crypto and non-crypto users and will further spur the adoption of crypto trading in the country.

Gupta adds:

“As the country’s largest exchange, we are in a position to drive national crypto adoption forward responsibly. This successful investment round will go a long way in funding our vision of accelerating India’s growth into a US$5 trillion economy. With a slew of exciting projects in the pipeline, the closure of our Series A is the first step in a new chapter in the CoinDCX story as we continue to drive the mass adoption of crypto assets in India.”

The referral program works as thus:

A user refers someone to CoinDCX using a referral link

Once the referred user signs up and completes their order, the referrer and the referred users both will receive Bitcoin worth Rs.500 [US$6] each.

Gupta emphasized that while the program drives crypto movement in India, it is the users who will ultimately drive success.

@CoinDCX has started the movement, but users will drive this movement and will bring 50 million Indians into #crypto. Want to lead the #TryCrypto Movement, visit our referral page – https://t.co/8AviqZOcwN — Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) March 17, 2020

Investors optimistic about crypto ecosystem in India

One of the backers, Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder of Polychain Capital, has been optimistic about the investment.

“We have chosen to partner with CoinDCX to build out a superior trading product that is fit for the region […] The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the banking ban is an encouraging sign for the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem in India and we are confident that there is huge potential growth in this market.”

Arthur Hayes, co-founder and CEO of the HDR group, also said:

“The recent developments in the cryptocurrency regulatory landscape in India are very encouraging and are likely to accelerate adoption and innovation in this sector.”

Gupta further views India as a country with a huge potential for cryptocurrencies, seeing that there is a staggering 5 million Indians who “believe in crypto.”

3/ Today, there are 5 million Indians in #crypto who believe in crypto and want to spread the word to larger audiences about its benefits and importance of owning a powerful asset like crypto. With this program, we are bridging the gap between two(crypto and non-crypto users) — Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) March 17, 2020

Meanwhile, CoinDCX has been considered as the pioneer crypto exchange in India to integrate bank account transfers.

CoinDCX integrates with a Bank! CoinDCX becomes the first cryptocurrency exchange in India to integrate Bank Account transfers. Make a deposit now! Click here: https://t.co/40IPvIJnat#TryCrypto pic.twitter.com/yGsDgeWSgD — CoinDCX: India’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange (@coindcx) March 4, 2020

Moving forward, CoinDCX will use its raised capital for market expansion, as well as adding more trading pairs to its platform. They are also pushing to implement a program that will involve algorithmic trading and to launch a new crypto product this year.

CoinDCX has also allocated $1.3 million for its #TryCrypto campaign, which will gear towards crypto education.

US Congress, crypto evangelists joining the action

Other crypto exchanges such as CoinRecoil are also looking into potential investors following the lifted ban. American investor Tim Draper also expressed interest in funding crypto startups in the country.

Global blockchain player Binance Holdings Ltd., together with Indian crypto exchange WazirX, also announced a $50 million fund to strengthen its support for blockchain and cryptocurrency startups.

Facebook’s Libra, which has faced resistance from regulators and governments around the world, could look to enter and prove its versatility in an emerging market like India.

The U.S. Democrats recently announced that they have drafted a bill that would create a “digital dollar” to alleviate the coronavirus crisis. Although it did not mention any cryptocurrency involvement, it might point in the right direction for virtual currencies around the world.