CoinSwitch’s scale dwindles 82% in FY23; posts Rs 385 Cr loss

The Indian authorities have always had an antagonistic  relationship with cryptocurrency. Following the imposition of a 30% tax on the gains from crypto exchanges, numerous companies operating in this space saw a major downturn. One startup affected by these changes is CoinSwitch, which posted Rs 45.6 crore in revenue during FY23.

CoinSwitch, which was valued at over $1 billion, saw its revenue from operations decline by 81.7% to Rs 45.6 crore in FY23 from Rs 248.6 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements filed by the group company in Singapore show.

CoinSwitch is a cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform. Its products include the Crypto Rupee Index (CRE8), a diversified virtual digital asset index denominated in the Indian Rupee, Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) for consistent crypto investment.

The commission earned from the sale and exchange of Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) is the sole source of income of Coinswitch. The company also earned Rs 50.76 crore from interest (non-operating) which tallied its total income to Rs 96.35 crore in FY23.

Employee benefits emerged as the largest cost center, accounting for 53.6% of the overall expenditure. This cost surged 2.15X to Rs 258.5 crore in FY23 from Rs 119.8 crore in FY22.

Its business promotion, information technology, legal cum professional fees, and other overheads took the overall expenditure to Rs 481.9 crore in FY23 from Rs 763.4 crore in FY22.

Check  TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup.

Expenses Breakdown

FY22

Total ₹ 763.4 Cr

FY23

Total ₹ 481.9 Cr

• Employee benefits

• Business promotion

• Information technology

• Legal professional

• Others

To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.comView full data

Evident from the numbers above, the company managed to control its costs though revenues declined significantly. This also led to a reduction in losses by 24.9% to Rs 385.4 crore in FY23 from Rs 513.1 crore in FY22. 

Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -24% and -396.3%, respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 10.57 to earn a rupee in FY23.

FY22-FY23

	FY22	FY23
EBITDA Margin	-204%	-396.3%
Expense/₹ of Op Revenue	₹3.07	₹10.57
ROCE	-25%	-24%

CoinSwitch has raised over $300 million across rounds, including a $260 million fundraise from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, and existing investors in October 2021 where it entered a coveted unicorn club. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak XV is the largest external stakeholder with 15.77% followed by Paradigm, Ribbit Cayman, and Coinbase Global Inc.

See the full shareholding below:

While the high income from interest indicates a firm that is well capitalised to survive, considering how Crypto boom and bust cycles have been following each other without fail, one has to wonder how many firms can outlast this period. The current resurgence in Bitcoin, the totem for the whole sector, must be giving hopes to many firms of a strong revival yet again, but the tax situation will continue to hurt, effectively capping any significant recovery. Coinswitch surely knows that, and it should be interesting to see them craft a survival strategy that can outlast these periods of gloom, and work around the noose of high taxes that seems permanent for now.