Indian Crypto Exchange BuyUCoin Gets License to Go Abroad

Indian crypto exchange BuyUCoin has sealed regulatory approval from Estonia’s financial watchdog to expand its services abroad. 

Speaking to Cointelegraph, the exchange’s CEO Shivam Thakral revealed that the platform had received its crypto-fiat license in late 2019, followed by a crypto wallet license this year. 

In tandem, BuyUCoin also announced its partnership on March 31 with Indian mobile-based payments system and digital wallet provider Mobikwik, which has a reported reach of 107 million users and 3 million merchants.

Estonia’s compliance requirements

Securing the licenses required to offer a full scope of fiat-crypto and custodial services in Estonia posed a challenge for the Delhi-based exchange, Thakral said, noting that the process there “is now getting complicated” due to recent changes in Estonian law. He said:

“According to new regulations we would need to have a local compliance officer who must prove an impeccable business reputation — i.e. provide supporting documents regarding education, skills [...] The local management board must [also] have a good reputation.”

These new requirements, he said, proved somewhat tricky, but the exchange was able to hire an appropriate compliance officer, as well as to establish a physical office in Estonia — a “mandatory part of the new compliance process.”

BuyUCoin now reportedly plans to extend its platform to foreign jurisdictions with an existing legal and regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

A positive climate for crypto 

News of BuyUcoin’s regulatory approval and partnership with Mobikwik comes amid renewed optimism in India’s crypto industry, following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a longstanding and controversial ban on domestic banks’ dealings with cryptocurrency businesses.

Earlier this month, Mobikwik had made its mobile payment gateway open to all domestic crypto exchanges in response to positive developments at the Supreme Court. BuyUcoin has said its partnership with the firm will offer users more accessible, smartphone-based transactions for the buying and selling of crypto assets.

Amid the global public health crisis — which has seen India’s 1.4 billion population placed under government-enforced lockdown — the exchange is also donating 15% of exchange fees to a national COVID-19 relief fund for the next three months.

International ties

Cross-border collaborations involving crypto in India have taken on fresh impetus during what some dub the industry’s current “renaissance.” 

Earlier this month, major global crypto exchange Binance and Indian platform WazirX — which Binance acquired in November 2019 — announced a fund aimed at fostering blockchain development in the country.

Estonia’s regulator, the Financial Intelligence Unit, has previously extended licenses to non-European exchanges, including Chile’s crypto trading platform CryptoMarket in early March.