- The Deal: Coinbase signed a strategic MoU with the Karnataka government to train 10,000 students on the Base Layer-2 network.
- The Strategy: The partnership targets the human capital supply chain, incubating 25 startups to lock India’s tech talent into the Coinbase ecosystem.
- The Context: India leads global crypto adoption; Coinbase is pivoting from pure trading to infrastructure dominance in the region.
Coinbase India is now a key link between the United States and the Karnataka government, creating a formal on-chain channel between U.S. crypto infrastructure and India’s tech hub.
Indian state of Karnataka has signed an MoU with Coinbase to upgrade the state’s Web3 market through the Base network, a move framed as a long-term partnership rather than a short pilot. Coinbase products, led by the Base network, stand to benefit as more local developers learn to ship tokenized and on-chain applications, giving Base a direct path into India’s retail and startup market.
Related: India’s Crypto Shift: ‘Bharat’ and Women Drive Shift to Long-Term Wealth Creation
Coinbase And Karnataka Map Out A Base-First Web3 Program
On December 3, the Karnataka government, at the 8th ASSOCHAM Smart Datacenters and Cloud Infrastructure Conclave, agreed to collaborate to catalyze growth in the local economy. The two agreed to support web3 developer education, accelerate early stage startup incubation and get involved with public awareness programs.
Priyank Kharge, the States’ Minister for IT and Biotechnology, agreed to lend Coinbase with its local infrastructure to educate the young population on how to build and use its Base network. Essentially, 10,000 students of Karnataka colleges, and polytechnics will learn how to use base products within the first year of this collaboration.
Coinbase will fast-track the incubation of more than 25 new onchain startups in Karnataka. As such the Base network, the Ethereum L2 backed by Coinbase, will benefit from enhanced retail adoption. Moreover, Base network offers fast, cheap, and secure transactions backed by Ethereum to multi-chain DeFi products such as AAVE lending.
The collaboration will also see Coinbase equip the local population with the latest cybersecurity readiness skills. More than 1000 individuals in the state of Karnataka will be educated by Coinbase in Cybersecurity, while over 100 startups will be given access to cyber-readiness toolkits.
Lifeline support: the MoU revives hope for the crypto bull market in 2026?
The MoU between Coinbase and the Karnataka government is a potential catalyst for the forecasted 2026 crypto bull market. Furthermore, crypto analysts, led by Benjamin Cowen, have argued that the parabolic bull rally has not happened due to lack of retail adoption.
Karnataka India, which has an estimated population of over 60 million people, has one of the fastest growing crypto enthusiasts in the country fueled by supportive clear regulations. According to the 2025 Chainalysis’ report, India was the top globally in annual crypto adoption rate fueled by strong retail, institutional adoption, and robust use of decentralized protocols.
As such, the adoption of tokenized products on Base network will increase the initiative by global investors, more so in the United States seeking to invest in India’s economy. Moreover, the Minister also signed an MoU with Refroid Technologies to establish the first Made-In-India liquid cooling artificial intelligence project.
Ultimately, enhanced retail adoption in India will propel blockchain activity to the roof as macro indicators point to a crypto bull market during the first quarter of 2026.
Related: Rupee-Backed ARC Token to Debut in Q1 2026 to Strengthen India’s Digital Economy
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Source: https://coinedition.com/indian-state-karnataka-partners-with-coinbase-to-back-base-startups/
