Coinbase has started accepting new app registrations in India again. They hope to add local fiat on-ramps in 2026, after a bumpy exit more than two years ago. Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is returning to India after a two-year absence.
TechCrunch reported on Sunday that Coinbase has resumed accepting app registrations in India. This is because the company is getting ready to launch local fiat on-ramps in 2026, as Coinbase APAC director John O’Loghlen said during India Blockchain Week (IBW).
Strengthening presence and partnerships in India
Coinbase is coming back to India more than two years after it stopped doing business there in September 2023. This was after a rocky start for its local exchange in 2022.
The company had millions of Indian customers and made it clear that they couldn’t do business with foreign companies, no matter where they were based.
You can trade cryptocurrencies right away. TechCrunch says that Coinbase is starting to onboard customers in India again, and users may immediately start trading bitcoin for crypto.
In October, around the time the exchange hired Karan Malik as its India marketing lead, it started letting people sign up through an early-access program. Malik was in charge of marketing for last year’s IBW event, where Coinbase was a platinum sponsor this year.
Source: Coinbase India marketing lead Karan Malik
Regulatory approvals and future plans
Coinbase has been working hard to repair its relationship with the Indian government. Katie Mitch, Coinbase’s international policy adviser, spoke for the exchange in front of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in early December.
The IT minister for Karnataka inked a memorandum of understanding with Coinbase India to make the state a leader in blockchain innovation and cybersecurity.
The Karnataka government would work with the exchange on business incubation using the Coinbase-backed Base protocol to speed up the use of blockchain technology in the real world, the minister added.
As previously stated, Coinbase received a licence from India’s Financial Intelligence Unit in March 2025. This prepared the exchange for a potential launch in the country. In August, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal also met with Karnataka’s IT minister Kharge to talk about working together on developer tools, cybersecurity, and using blockchain in government.