Since its founding, PeepalCo has planned to diversify

Ashish Singhal, co-founder and group CEO of PeepalCo, said that the firm has intentions to expand into several asset classes from the beginning. PeepalCo just started trading stocks. Lemonn, an app for stock trading, and CoinSwitch are owned by PeepalCo.

 

One of the top cryptocurrency platforms in India, CoinSwitch, announced in December of last year that PeepalCo, an umbrella brand, would be launching to contain all of its business sectors. The business released “Lemonn,” an internal stock broking app, earlier this month. “We began developing cryptocurrency products four years ago, and at a very early stage of our business,” Singhal said.

The firm did not encounter any regulatory obstacles from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) when it entered the brokerage sector, despite having previously operated in an unregulated cryptocurrency market.

Prior to applying for a brokerage license from the markets watchdog, Singhal said the business made sure that sufficient safeguards were in place to guarantee the segregation of data, persons, and entities between CoinSwitch and Lemonn.

When asked whether the company’s move into a new asset class indicated a lesser level of dedication to the cryptocurrency platform, Singhal said, “We planned to expand both of these businesses through one of the largest rounds of investment that we obtained in 2021, which was over $250 million. To be able to take that targeted approach and address the more fundamental issues in both of these ecosystems, obviously, money and human resources are needed.

After the financing winters of the previous two years, Singhal predicted that the general climate for startup funding will improve this year. Nevertheless, capital allocation by investors has become much more prudent, and firms with stronger underlying values—rather than merely theoretical values—are now receiving investment.

“I believe that 2022 and 2023 were among the worst years, but the market is improving right now, and many businesses are raising capital.” In 2023, CoinSwitch Ventures, our fund, made investments in more than 15 businesses. Thus, the market’s transaction share is increasing really well,” he said.

Regarding the recent April 20 Bitcoin halving event, he thinks that although its total effects won’t be known for some six months, it may result in a little increase in cryptocurrency prices. He said that other nations need to follow the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lead in permitting Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“I think [permission of crypto ETFs/ETNs] will apply to every nation on the planet. It is clear that the US has taken the lead, and many other nations will follow suit,” he said. According to reports, the Hong Kong SEC approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF approval, while the UK SEC allegedly permitted professional traders to invest in cryptocurrency ETNs.

Regulating cryptocurrencies is still a long way off in India, however, since the Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly said that they represent a serious danger to the stability of the nation’s financial and monetary policies.