By William Suberg,
Indian exchange Coinsecure has announced the release of India’s first simultaneous mobile trading app. It’s a bid to tap into the country’s almost 190 million smartphone users.
Coinsecure: Mobile ‘Next Step’ In Indian Bitcoin Transition
The app, hot on the heels of rival exchange Unocoin’s offering in August, seeks to woo more experienced traders. It offers open live order books and an integrated interface with other tools, such as merchant acceptance function.
CTO and co-founder Benson Samuel said in a press release: “Desktop web was our first build. A mobile app for multiple devices is the next step in bringing Bitcoin to India”.
Coinsecure has gone from strength to strength since its inauguration in January 2015. A $1.2million series A investment round in April this year was followed by partnerships with BitPay for merchant acceptance and OKLink for remittances.
Speaking about the investment, Samuel made it clear the goal was to make Coinsecure a universal service for the Indian market, beyond an exchange.
“The coming years are all about improving our products, building new ones, and providing enterprise Blockchain solutions, to address some key pain points in the crypto space,” he said.
Bitcoin In India: Partnerships and Patience
India is quickly progressing in Bitcoin adoption. It currently ranks among the top 20 nations for Bitcoin use.
Competition among local startups is heating up, too. The country’s considerable mobile penetration has given rise to tools such as mobile money services. These are similar to those ubiquitous in Kenya — even Visa is in on the trend.
Such a landscape provides fertile ground for Bitcoin to overtake more costly fiat-based alternatives, reflected in the swift advances made by businesses in the local space.
While Unocoin in September announced a partnership with Purse.io to offer discounts on India’s Amazon branch, Coinsecure’s BitPay deal has contributed to the latter’s market presence in Asia rocketing by 388%.
“With over 190 million smartphone users in India, putting a technology so disruptive like Bitcoin in their hands is a win – win situation,” Coinsecure CEO and Founder Mohit Kalra added.
Meanwhile, Coinsecure has designed to appeal to entry-level users. It offers basic functions to Bitcoin holders wanting to transact between the currency and INR. The exchange still holds the title of creating the first and only INR block explorer for Bitcoin.