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BlocTrade
BlocTrade launched in 2017 under Vishal Gupta, an early entrant into institutional crypto trading in India at a time when the Reserve Bank of India...
BlocTrade
BlocTrade launched in 2017 under Vishal Gupta, an early entrant into institutional crypto trading in India at a time when the Reserve Bank of India maintained a hostile posture toward digital assets. The firm predates India's Supreme Court reversal of the RBI banking ban in 2020, operating through peer-to-peer and international settlement rails during the prohibition years. The firm runs quantitative market-making, arbitrage, and high-frequency trading strategies across spot and derivatives markets on major global exchanges. Active asset classes include large-cap spot pairs, perpetual futures, and options. BlocTrade's infrastructure connects to centralized venues such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit while also routing flow through decentralized exchanges and cross-chain liquidity protocols. Execution coverage spans Asian, European, and North American time zones, with a structural advantage in rupee-to-crypto on/off-ramp liquidity. Specific trading pairs and counterparty names remain undisclosed given the proprietary nature of the firm's market-making relationships. BlocTrade operates from Mumbai. The team size remains private, consistent with lean quantitative trading firms where headcount is not publicized. In May 2024, India's Financial Intelligence Unit continued its phased registration of offshore crypto exchanges under anti-money-laundering compliance, a regulatory development that shapes the operating environment for all domestic liquidity providers. No adjacent investment vehicles, philanthropic foundations, or club memberships are publicly tied to the firm. BlocTrade's genuine structural distinction is its longevity in Indian crypto markets. Very few quantitative trading outfits survived the 2018–2020 RBI banking ban and the subsequent 2022 tax regime that imposed a 30% flat rate on crypto income plus a 1% tax deducted at source on every transaction. Continuing to operate market-making infrastructure through both regulatory regimes required banking workarounds and compliance architecture that most early Indian entrants did not build.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2017
AUM
$10M – $50M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Asia
Country
India
City
Mumbai
Corporate office
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Principals
Vishal Gupta
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who founded BlocTrade and what was the firm's original mandate?
Vishal Gupta founded BlocTrade in 2017. The firm launched as a quantitative trading operation focused on digital-asset markets at a time when India lacked a clear regulatory framework for crypto. BlocTrade's early mandate centered on algorithmic market-making and arbitrage, operating through non-bank settlement channels during the Reserve Bank of India's 2018 banking ban on crypto-related accounts.
What trading strategies does BlocTrade deploy?
BlocTrade runs systematic market-making, arbitrage, and high-frequency trading strategies across spot, perpetual futures, and crypto options markets. The firm operates on both centralized exchanges and decentralized venues, with a particular focus on bridging rupee-denominated liquidity into global crypto order books. Strategy details and specific exchange partnerships are not disclosed publicly.
How did BlocTrade navigate India's changing crypto regulatory landscape?
BlocTrade operated during the 2018–2020 period when the Reserve Bank of India banned banks from servicing crypto businesses, using peer-to-peer rails and international settlement infrastructure. The firm continued trading after the Supreme Court lifted the ban in March 2020 and subsequently adapted to the 2022 tax framework that imposed a 30% tax on crypto income plus a 1% tax deducted at source on transactions. This three-regime track record is unusual among Indian crypto trading firms.
Does BlocTrade offer investment products or fund structures to external investors?
There is no public evidence that BlocTrade offers pooled investment vehicles, fund structures, or managed accounts to external investors. The firm appears to operate proprietary capital through its own trading infrastructure. The absence of a disclosed fund structure is consistent with a proprietary quantitative trading firm model rather than an asset management or multi-investor platform.
Where does BlocTrade source liquidity and what exchanges does it trade on?
BlocTrade routes flow through major centralized exchanges including Binance, OKX, and Bybit, and also accesses decentralized exchange liquidity and cross-chain protocols. The firm sources global crypto order-book depth and provides rupee-to-crypto on-ramp and off-ramp execution for Indian market participants. Specific counterparty names and liquidity-provider relationships remain confidential.
What is BlocTrade's known posture on decentralized finance (DeFi) integration?
BlocTrade incorporates decentralized exchange and cross-chain routing into its execution stack, indicating a hybrid exchange-connectivity model rather than a centralized-exchange-only approach. The firm does not publicly detail which specific DeFi protocols or automated market makers it integrates with. This hybrid posture reflects the broader trend among quantitative crypto firms that seek to capture fragmented liquidity across both CeFi and DeFi venues.
Is BlocTrade related to any other trading firms or family-office structures?
No public record links BlocTrade to a parent entity, family office, or affiliated trading group. The firm has not disclosed outside backing, joint ventures, or spinout relationships. It appears to be an independent quantitative trading operation established and led by Vishal Gupta.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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