India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has gained direct access to the Middle East and North Africa digital asset market by acquiring virtual asset trading platform BitOasis.

The acquisition of a popular Middle Eastern platform for trading virtual assets will allow the Indian trading platform to gain an advantage in this region (MENA), the CoinDCX administration believes.

CoinDCX expects the deal to add $50 million to the cryptocurrency exchange’s annual revenue, while rival crypto exchanges in India are losing revenue due to onerous tax rules.

The BitOasis trading platform, in addition to the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VARA) license in Dubai, has a similar permit to provide cryptocurrency services in Bahrain. In total, the BitOasis platform services are available in 15 countries in the region.

Earlier, Reuters, citing an anonymous source at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reported a catastrophic drop in demand for the digital rupee. It is reported that the number of daily transactions with the local central bank’s digital currency has decreased tenfold compared to December 2023, to about 100,000.