Coinbase has rolled out direct Indian rupee deposit and withdrawal rails for users in India, the exchange announced today. The move gives Indian customers a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp through the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), bypassing the peer-to-peer trading workarounds many had been using. It marks a key expansion for Coinbase as it rebuilds its India presence after a rocky entry earlier this decade.
What the new rails offer
Indian users can now deposit and withdraw INR directly into their Coinbase accounts without needing an intermediary. The exchange has built local INR order books, which means dedicated liquidity for Indian customers. Alongside spot trading across a range of assets, Coinbase is also offering perpetual futures contracts. The company says it's using IMPS, a real-time interbank system, for the transactions.
Coinbase's India comeback
This isn't Coinbase's first attempt at India. It entered in 2022 but quickly suspended UPI-based transactions after pushback from the National Payments Corporation of India. By 2023 it had discontinued services entirely. The exchange returned in 2025 after securing approval from India's Financial Intelligence Unit, and it fully relaunched in December of that year — but without a fiat on-ramp. That gap is now closed.
Coinbase is also an investor in CoinDCX, one of India's largest exchanges. And it's been putting money into the local developer ecosystem: over $1 million in Base network hackathons, grants, and fellowships. The new INR rails tie those efforts together, giving builders a way to move money in and out.
Timing and the premium gap
The rollout comes at a tricky moment for Bitcoin. The spot price on Coinbase has been trading lower than on Binance, with the Coinbase Premium Gap widening since mid-May. At writing, Bitcoin is around $72,600, down more than 6% over the past week. That discount means Indian users who deposit INR and buy BTC on Coinbase might get a slightly worse rate compared to other platforms — a factor that could slow early adoption of the new fiat rails.
Still, having a direct fiat channel removes a major friction point. For now Coinbase's Indian users can finally deposit and withdraw rupees without jumping through P2P loops. The next test: whether the liquidity on those INR order books holds up once volume picks up.
