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On Thursday, Coinbase officially activated its crypto trading services in India, marking a new geographical chapter for the US company.
However, hours after Coinbase launched its service with unified payments interface (UPI) support, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in a statement that it is not aware of any crypto exchange using any UPI.
The government body operates as a special division of India’s central bank that oversees UPI in the country. The Reserve Bank of India is seeking more scrutiny on digital assets.
Coinbase said it is committed to working with NPCI and support for UPI is one of the only instruments it is experimenting with.
“One of these methods is UPI, a simple to use and rapid payment system. We are aware of the recent statement published by NPCI regarding the use of UPI by cryptocurrency exchanges,” Coinbase said in a statement. “We are committed to working with NPCI and other relevant authorities to ensure we are aligned with local expectations and industry norms.”
Coinbase is also hiring aggressively in India, opening up 1,000 new jobs, which would triple its headcount. New job vacancies include engineering, design and development.
The move comes as India recently imposed a 30% tax on bitcoin earnings from 1 April 2022. Another 1% tax will be deducted at source (TDS) on transactions of such assets will be enforced on 1 July 2022.
Blockhead previously reported that Coinbase is actively recruiting for numerous roles to drive its market expansion across key APAC markets and support the execution of its expansion strategy in the region. The bourse is among the 170+ applicants for a digital payments token (DPT) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
