The Japanese e-commerce giant Mircari has announced that it has opened a subsidiary in India and acquired a crypto-asset exchange license from the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The new subsidiary, Mercari India Payments Private Limited, will be based in Mumbai and be responsible for managing the company’s operations in India. It will also provide payment services to Indian users, allowing them to both buy and sell digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.
Mercari’s acquisition of a crypto-asset exchange license from the RBI is a also major step forward for the company as it expands into the world of crypto. It provides the online firm with a legal framework to operate in the Indian market and to offer its services to customers.
The move is also very likely to benefit the Indian crypto market as it will bring more liquidity to the space as it grows exponentially. Mircari already had a large user base in the country, with over 20 million registered users on its platform. The company also has an established presence in the region with offices both in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The move is part of Mercari’s wider strategy to expand into emerging markets in large scale. The company has already established subsidiaries in the United States, Brazil, as well as the United Kingdom.
Commenting on the move, Mircari CEO Shintaro Yamada said: “Our entry into the Indian market is a major milestone for Mercari. We are very excited to partner with the RBI to provide a secure and reliable crypto-asset exchange service to our users in India. We look forward to further expanding our presence in the country in the near future.”
Mercari’s entry into the Indian market represents a significant boost for the local crypto industry and is very likely to further accelerate its growth quickly. It is also a positive sign for the rest of the global crypto market, as it indicates that traditional financial institutions are becoming increasingly open to the idea of digital assets and using them to process payments.
