India's first Bitcoin exchange was Unocoin. We launched it in Bangalore in December 2013, at a Bitcoin conference our meetup group organised, and it has operated ever since. Before that, Indians who wanted Bitcoin mostly had to wire money to platforms abroad or use very basic local sites.
Being first meant we met every obstacle first, too: a tax department visit in our first week, RBI warnings, a banking ban in 2018 that nearly killed the company, a Supreme Court case we were part of and won in 2020, and then the tax and anti-money-laundering rules that shape the industry today. I'm one of the four co-founders. These are the lessons I'd pass on.
The short answer
- First: Unocoin, launched December 2013 in Bangalore.
- Still operating: yes, continuously since 2013. The site states 2.26M+ verified users.
- Registered: with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the PMLA.
- Through: the 2018 banking ban, the 2020 Supreme Court judgment, the 2022 tax rules and 2023 PMLA coverage.
2013: first, and immediately watched
The idea came from our Bitcoin meetups in Bangalore, where the most common question was "can I buy some bitcoin?" There was no good answer in India, so we built one.
We launched in December 2013. Within a week, about 30 people from the tax department showed up at our office. We were a tiny team, a handful of people. A couple of weeks after that, the RBI posted a notice on its website warning the public about the risks of virtual currencies. It effectively shuttered the industry for a while, and we had to fight our way back and reopen.
People sometimes ask me what it felt like to be India's exchange in that era. It felt amazing. It was also scary. There was no rulebook, no precedent, and nobody to call who had done it before. Every decision, from how to verify a customer to how to talk to a bank, we were making for the first time in this country.
Before Unocoin, the realistic options for an Indian who wanted Bitcoin were Mt. Gox or Bitstamp abroad, both hard to fund from India, or one very basic local site. In a conversation one day, David Johnston asked me whether there was anything like Coinbase in India. There wasn't. That gap was the whole reason we existed, and it's why "first" was never a marketing line for us. It was just the situation.
Lesson one: if you're first in a new kind of financial business in India, expect to be watched from day one. That's not a complaint. It's how it should be when you're handling people's money. Build as if every regulator will read every line of your records, because eventually someone will.
2018: the year we almost died
The RBI's warning came once after our launch, again a few years later, and a third time in 2018. That last one was different. On 6 April 2018, the RBI directed the banks and other entities it regulates not to deal in virtual currencies or serve anyone who does, with three months to exit existing relationships.
For an exchange, banking is oxygen. Without it, customers can't deposit or withdraw rupees. We had to lay off about a hundred people that year just to survive.
Most of the industry left, pivoted or shut. My co-founders Harish and Sathvik decided to fight instead.
Lesson two: survival is a strategy. The companies that are still here are the ones that cut deep enough, early enough, to see the other side.
2020: the judgment
The Internet and Mobile Association of India challenged the circular in the Supreme Court, and Unocoin was part of the case. On 4 March 2020, in Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India, a three-judge bench set the circular aside. The Court accepted that the RBI has power to regulate in this area, but held that the measure was disproportionate because harm to the entities it regulates hadn't been shown.
Be precise about what the judgment did. It reopened banking for crypto businesses. It did not make crypto official currency, and it did not create a regulatory framework. Our Supreme Court page has the full sequence with the documents.
Lesson three: fight in public, with documents, through proper channels. That's the only kind of fight that leaves you stronger when it ends.
2022 to 2023: rules arrive
The rules came next, through tax and anti-money-laundering law rather than a single crypto law. The Finance Act 2022 brought a flat 30% tax on gains from virtual digital assets, plus cess, a 1% TDS on transfers, and no set-off of losses. In March 2023, VDA service providers were brought under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and had to register with FIU-IND. Unocoin is registered with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the PMLA.
Some people in the industry saw those rules as a threat. I see them as the price of being taken seriously. For a customer, a platform that deducts TDS, files reports and runs proper KYC is one that expects to be around for a long time.
Lesson four: rules are a moat for the companies willing to follow them.
What staying small taught us
Here's a part of the story people don't expect. In thirteen years, we've raised maybe $6 million in total. Other Indian platforms raised hundreds of millions.
After Tim Draper backed us, we didn't keep raising through the bull run, and I'll be honest: that was a mistake. Better-funded competitors grew faster and pushed us out of the spotlight almost overnight. We spent years in something close to survival mode.
But staying small also taught us discipline. We make more money than we spend. We didn't build a thousand-person company that had to be cut in half the next time the cycle turned. And the things a small team can't afford to get wrong, keeping customer assets in cold storage, doing compliance properly, answering to the rules, became the things we cared about most.
Lesson five: raise when you can, not only when you must. And whatever you raise, never let size become a substitute for trust.
What "first" is worth to a customer
Being first doesn't make any platform the right choice for you, and a track record promises nothing about the future. Crypto products are unregulated in India and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss.
What a long history does give you is evidence. You can check that Unocoin operated in 2013, kept going through 2018, took part in the case that overturned the banking ban, and is registered with FIU-IND today. Our page on what you can check about Unocoin lists each fact with its source, and the same checklist works for any platform.
If, after reading all that, you want to start, you can buy Bitcoin on Unocoin from ₹10 through a Systematic Buying Plan, with ₹0 SBP fees. Start small, learn as you go, and never share your OTP, password or recovery phrase with anyone.
Common questions
Which was India's first Bitcoin exchange?
Unocoin, launched in Bangalore in December 2013, was India's first Bitcoin platform. Before it, Indians who wanted Bitcoin mostly had to fund accounts on platforms abroad or use very basic local sites.
Is Unocoin still operating?
Yes. Unocoin has operated continuously since 2013, through the 2018 RBI banking ban, and the site states 2.26M+ verified users.
Is Unocoin FIU registered?
Yes. Unocoin is registered with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, as virtual digital asset service providers in India must be since March 2023.
What happened to exchanges in 2018?
On 6 April 2018 the RBI directed the banks and entities it regulates to stop serving anyone dealing in virtual currencies, with three months to exit. Exchanges lost access to banking. Many shut, pivoted or left India. The Supreme Court set the circular aside on 4 March 2020.