TL;DR:
- India’s competition regulator cleared Coinbase’s minority investment in CoinDCX parent DCX Global, pegging the deal at a $2.45 billion valuation after months of review.
- Coinbase says the partnership started in 2020; CoinDCX reports 20.4 million users across India and the UAE and $1.2 billion in custody.
- Approval follows CoinDCX’s July $44 million breach; Coinbase is restarting India operations with crypto-to-crypto trading and targeting rupee deposits in 2026 for market re-entry.
Coinbase has secured clearance in India after the Competition Commission approved its plan to buy a minority stake in DCX Global, the holding company behind CoinDCX, at a reported $2.45 billion valuation. The decision reopens a high-priority growth lane for a global exchange as it deepens exposure to a market where adoption remains high, but operating conditions can shift quickly. The approval followed months of review and comes as institutions favor regulated access points. Coinbase described the clearance as an important milestone for its commitment to India’s established trusted digital asset platforms.
We appreciate the Competition Commission of India approval of our proposal to acquire a minority stake in @CoinDCX, marking an important regulatory milestone and deepening Coinbase’s long-term partnership with one of India’s most established and trusted digital asset platforms. pic.twitter.com/IzTmJkyO7u
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) December 17, 2025
Why this matters
The chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, called the approval an “important regulatory milestone,” framing it as reinforcement of a partnership that began with Coinbase’s initial backing of CoinDCX in 2020. CoinDCX’s operating footprint anchors the strategic rationale: the exchange serves over 20.4 million users across India and the UAE and reports more than $1.2 billion in assets under custody. Coinbase is reopening direct operations in India after a two-year hiatus, starting with crypto-to-crypto trading and planning to integrate rupee deposits in 2026. The return requires full regulatory compliance after services were suspended.
That re-entry is shadowed by CoinDCX’s July incident, when $44 million was compromised from a liquidity account, even as the CEO said customer funds remained secure. Security posture is now part of the investment narrative, not a sidebar. Reporting cited Cyvers linking the breach to the Lazarus Group and noting a similar pattern to a $234 million WazirX hack one year earlier. Investigators said the theft unfolded in five minutes across seven transactions after test transfers beforehand. Police arrested a CoinDCX software engineer whose compromised credentials enabled access, though he disputed intent.
C-2025/10/1342: Commission approves the proposed combination involving acquisition of minority shareholding in DCX Global Limited by Coinbase Global Inc. pic.twitter.com/IG6phSKsfq
— CCI (@CCI_India) December 16, 2025
CoinDCX said its remediation program includes a recovery bounty offering up to 25% of retrieved assets, potentially worth $11 million, while Coinbase wrote that the response to challenges strengthened conviction in the team. The deal is positioned as capital plus operating leverage across two regions. CoinDCX has been expanding beyond India, including last year’s acquisition of Dubai-based BitOasis, and leadership said funding will accelerate product launches while upgrading security infrastructure. Coinbase linked the push to its restart after payment processors blocked access to India’s Unified Payments Interface, prompting a 2023 service suspension.
