OKX Targets Indian Web3 Market

Table of Contents

• OKX’s India Foray
• Web3 In India Presents Great Opportunity
• India’s Crypto And Web3 Challenges

The crypto exchange OKX is planning to enter India for its next Web3 initiative by hiring local developers and talent to expand its team. 

OKX’s India Foray

The chief marketing officer of the OKX crypto exchange, Haider Rafique, has revealed that the company is planning an expansion in the much-hyped Indian market. In an interview with CoinDesk, Rafique spoke about how the company is looking to expand its team and explore more avenues of Web3 applications with hires from the Indian developer community. 

Web3 In India Presents Great Opportunity

The crypto exchange’s high trading volumes have firmly planted it in the top 10 list. Even without a global headquarters, the company has already successfully branched out through regional hubs in leading economic markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, and the Bahamas. 

Thanks to the 200,000-strong OKX wallet user base in India, the firm is considering setting up another regional hub in the country. The CMO has stated that OKX’s India numbers comprise of only 5% of its Web3 users and, therefore, present a significant growth opportunity for the exchange. 

Rafique said, 

"We're trying to identify who's who in the zoo and what is their contribution. There's a large developer community. How do we help them, build a relationship with them. How do we first let them know what we're about. And then work with these communities to figure out what is the right way in.”

India’s Crypto And Web3 Challenges

Crypto in India has not had the easiest run so far. No outright ban on the industry or legislation limiting its scope has been filed in parliament. Its biggest challenge, however, in the country is the high rate of taxation imposed on trading and the inclusion of crypto in the anti-money laundering rulebook.

 The RBI has also not been conducive to the idea of legalizing cryptocurrency despite launching its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). As a result, many global crypto exchanges have kept their distance from the Indian market. There has been a call for separating the country’s Web3 industry from crypto. 

Rafique addressed this concern as well, saying,

"You have to kind of separate Web3 from CeFi [centralized finance] and I think regulators are starting to do that too. They're more concerned about venues that have fiat on-ramps, which we do but we don't offer it in India. Once India comes up with a regulatory framework for crypto then we would like to be the front runners."

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.