While many top-tier crypto exchanges have given up on India given the regulatory uncertainty and bear market, KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu is bullish on the local market for the long run. In a recent interview, he talked about “a welcoming market” and the availability of “expertise” as the two key reasons for his optimism for the Indian cryptocurrency landscape.
“No matter what the present situation is, as a trading platform which is about to be 5 years old, we’re looking for the future. I imagine that via the long run funding and infrastructure development of KuCoin within the Indian market the expansion of the Indian market is worth looking forward to,” he told indianexpress.com.
KuCoin counts India as a key market accounting for an “enormous quantity” of 5.6 million new customers it added in the first half of 2022. Indian customers grew by a hefty 1,251% compared to the same period last year. Besides, the crypto trading platform has recruited local talents and has been engaged with initiatives such as Chingari.
Also, Lyu thinks the introduction of tax deduction at source (TDS) on crypto transactions by the Indian government is a move towards regulating the digital asset space.
KuCoin also faced speculations on social media that it might go insolvent – the way Celsius and 3AC, for example, have gone. After the rumors began on July 2, KuCoin witnessed high levels of withdrawals, Lyu admitted.
On July 2, CryptoPotato reported that the KuCoin CEO denied that the exchange was going insolvent. He also refuted that the platform had any exposure to Terra or 3AC. Later, the crypto trading platform dismissed the rumors that it was following other platforms such as Coinbase and Gemini in laying off staff. On the contrary, it said KuCoin was planning to increase the workforce by 30%.
“But after discovering out that all the pieces was running as regular, they deposited their belongings again,” Lyu explained.
However, he has a strong message for those who indulge in spreading such rumors. Lyu said that such elements should be held accountable for inflicting havoc out there.
“The accountability mechanism within the Web 2.0 period isn’t mature enough and the costs of spreading rumors is very low,” he said, adding that traceability of rumors and due punishment for such acts will increase in the Web 3.0 environment.