India’s CoinSwitch Exchange Rolls Out Rupee-based Altcoin Index

A16z-backed Indian crypto exchange launches the first rupee-based crypto benchmark index, which lists eight of the top assets by market cap

article-image

Gateway of India, Mumbai; Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The CRE8 index measures the performance of the Indian crypto market in rupees, rather than US dollars
  • Dollar-denominated crypto indexes aren’t accurate representations for Indian investors, CoinSwitch’s CEO said

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch on Thursday launched the country’s maiden benchmark altcoin index to track the performance of the rupee-based crypto market.

Based on real-time transactions on the CoinSwitch app, CRE8 — the Crypto Rupee Index — tracks eight of the most highly-traded cryptocurrencies in the Indian market: bitcoin, ether, BNB, XRP, cardano, solana, polkadot and dogecoin. 

“The index addresses a gap in the market. Until now, Indian users had to rely on international [indexes] denominated mostly in US dollars to assess the market,” Ashish Singhal, co-founder and CEO of CoinSwitch, told Blockworks.

“These [dollar indexes], however, do not provide a true picture of the Indian market as they do not take into account the demand and supply specific to the Indian rupee-based market, nor the INR exchange rate.”

The index represents the total market value of all cryptoassets traded in the Indian market relative to a base date of October 1, 2020, and a base value of 1,000 Indian rupees ($12.90), rather than in US dollars. Data will be refreshed 1,400 times a day to ensure the latest updates for observers and will be amended to include new constituents each quarter. 

The CRE8 index was last up 0.88% at press time, but is down 44% in the past 12 months.

In the US, investors can track various similar benchmarks, such as the S&P Cryptocurrency Index and the Nasdaq Crypto Index. Digital-asset investing firm CoinShares also maintains several indexes that track cryptoassets, designed to suit investors with distinct exposures.

Valued at nearly $2 billion, CoinSwitch is a prominent crypto exchange in India that is backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. It has 18 million registered users, according to company-provided figures.

Trading volumes in India plummeted as much as 60% in April after the government imposed a 30% tax on crypto earnings, which some criticized as a drastic move that crushes the digital asset economy of the country.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

Former IRS agent and Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan will remain imprisoned in Nigeria’s Kuje prison

article-image

When Permissionless III wraps on Friday, there will be 26 days left until the 2024 presidential election

article-image

Plus, an update from the ground in Salt Lake City at Permissionless III

article-image

The US regulator accused the crypto market-making firm of acting as an unregistered dealer

article-image

Customers can pay merchants in USDC or USDP on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, while US-based merchants are paid in dollars