Bitcoin trading above Rs 32.27 lakh

Cryptocurrencies traded in the green early on April 19. The global crypto market cap is $1.89 trillion, a 2.21 percent increase over the last day. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $95.69 billion, a 58.86 percent increase. The total volume in DeFi is currently $11.81 billion, 12.34 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins is now $80.79 billion, which is 84.43 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. Bitcoin's price is currently Rs 32.27 lakh with a dominance of 41.01 percent. This was a 0.11 percent increase over the day. Read full here

CoinDCX tops $2 billion in valuation as investors pump in $135 million

CoinDCX has raised $135.9 million (about Rs 1,000 crore) from investors led by Pantera Capital and Steadview Capital, doubling its valuation to $2.15 billion in just eight months to become the most valued crypto trading platform in India. Pantera and Steadview infused about half of the funds in the latest Series D financing round which also saw participation from Kingsway Capital, DraperDragon, Republic, and Kindred Ventures, the report said. So far, CoinDCX has raised over $245 million. The trading exchange will use the funds to increase its headcount to over 1,000 by the end of next year from 400 now. It plans to hire across functions including engineering, product and compliance. Read details here

Why banks are playing hard to get with crypto exchanges

Over the last few weeks, crypto exchanges have been facing multi-faceted challenges as trading volumes continue to drop and UPI and other major payment methods have been frozen across top crypto exchanges. In the last few days, banks including Kotak Mahindra have withdrawn support from exchanges in what can be seen as a domino effect after US crypto exchange Coinbase was forced to pause UPI on its platform. According to industry experts, the very public announcement by Coinbase led to banks becoming more cautious in partnering with crypto exchanges. One industry source says that the key concerns of banks around cryptos is that they still do not fall under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Take a look

CBDCs can power the next generation of cross-border payment solutions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in the process of designing a framework for the launch of a central bank digital currency in 2023. A CBDC is essentially legal tender issued in a digital form distinct from a private cryptocurrency which does not have sovereign legal backing. Many jurisdictions are driven by financial inclusion and digital payments goals to launch a CBDC. Notably, the United Payments Interface (UPI) -- India’s digital payments architecture -- is viewed as one of the global best. One area where a CBDC in India can power the next generation of innovation is cross-border payments. Read more here