Unicorns are becoming commonplace. But when CoinDCX joined the $1 billion club last week after it raised $90 million in its Series C funding round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, it made news because this is India’s first crypto unicorn. It is also a signal that investors are pretty gung-ho about this asset form, intangible and illiquid though it may be. The latest round of fund infusion has surged the three-year old start-up’s valuation to $1.1 billion.
“We believe 2021 will be the year where India will be a leader to lead the crypto revolution,” posted a euphoric Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CoinDCX on LinkedIn.
Gupta and his mate, Neeraj Khandelwal, CTO and co-founder of CoinDCX — both IIT Bombay alumni and both 30 — are digital natives and evangelists of blockchain, AI and online marketplaces. Gupta has made no bones about his ambition of making cryptocurrency accessible to the common man. CoinDCX currently has 3.5 million users.
The duo plan to use the recently obtained funds to push their newly launched app CoinDCXGo, a Crypto investment platform that aims to get 50 million Indians into the crypto space. From launching a #TryCrypto movement to a learning platform called DCXLearn which addresses misinformation about crypto and block-chain, they are determined to make this asset form a common currency.