Interview Pitch: Indian Crypto App Developers React to Apple‑CCI Standoff and Global Policy Waves

Why Indian crypto founders are rethinking product, payments and fundraising after the Apple‑CCI standoff and new U.S. policy waves

Hook: Indian crypto app teams already juggle rapid price moves, tax uncertainty and security threats — now two powerful policy storms are forcing concrete product and fundraising choices. Apple’s high‑stakes fight with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over App Store payments and a wave of U.S. crypto rulemaking announced in early 2026 are rewriting the playbook for startups building payments rails, custody flows and investor decks.

Executive snapshot (most important takeaways)

• Product design: Founders are prioritizing web‑first architectures, modular payment adapters and non‑Apple device experiences to avoid App Store friction.
• Payments strategy: Teams are adopting a multi‑rail approach (UPI + stablecoins + card rails) and pursuing local PSP and bank partnerships to ensure continuity.
• Fundraising: With U.S. draft legislation clarifying token status and stablecoin rules maturing, founders report shifting toward equity + compliant token issuance and better legal packaging for U.S. investors.
• Risk management: Startups are implementing contingency plans — from App Store delists to cross‑jurisdiction compliance — and communicating them to investors.

Context: What changed in late 2025–early 2026

Two developments accelerated founder decision cycles. First, India’s Competition Commission (CCI) publicly warned Apple in January 2026 after years of a probe into App Store payment restrictions and Apple’s attempts to delay the investigation. The standoff reopened questions about Apple’s in‑app payment rules, commission levels and whether apps can direct users to alternative payment methods without penalties.

Second, U.S. senators unveiled draft legislation in January 2026 that, if enacted, would define how tokens are treated (securities vs commodities), place spot market oversight with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and clarify aspects of the 2025 federal stablecoin framework. For startups courting U.S. capital or planning cross‑border token offerings, this is a material shift toward regulatory certainty — and new compliance costs.

What Indian founders told us: five interviews

We interviewed five founders from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai between December 2025 and January 2026. Their startups range from wallets and exchanges to payments middleware and NFT marketplaces. Quotes are edited for clarity.

1) Aditi Rao — CEO, Aarus Wallet (Bengaluru)

"Apple's showdown with the CCI is a wake‑up call. For months we assumed ‘App Store first’ was the cheapest path to acquisition. Now we build for the web first and treat native apps as an overlay — important for retention, not acquisition."

Aarus shifted new user onboarding flows to a Progressive Web App (PWA) and reduced critical payment dependencies inside iOS native flows. Aditi said this change lowered their App Store friction and allowed them to integrate direct UPI and bank links without confronting Apple’s in‑app payment policy.

2) Vikram Mehta — Founder, BharatDEX (Mumbai)

"Investors now ask for a clear payments matrix — what rails you support if Apple blocks a feature, how you will preserve liquidity, and who holds custody. That's becoming a board‑level risk item."

BharatDEX built a payments abstraction layer that can route orders across UPI, IMPS, card rails and on/offramps into two separate custodians. Vikram emphasized that having multiple liquidity partners reduced downtime in prior test scenarios when a PSP rate‑limited them.

3) Neha Gupta — Co‑founder, Vistara Pay (Delhi)

"The U.S. draft bill clarifying token classes changed our fundraising model. We paused exploratory token sales until we negotiated legal certainty — instead we closed a larger equity round with convertible notes for U.S. investors and launched a compliant utility token program in India."

Neha’s team worked with counsel to prepare token whitepapers that codified non‑security utility functions and created geographic sell‑walls for U.S. residents pending final U.S. rules.

4) Arjun Patel — Founder, Ledgerless Labs (Ahmedabad)

"Apple’s legal theatre matters because a single platform can throttle your distribution. We decided to decouple discovery from custody: marketplace and social features live in the app; custody and sensitive flows are on our web domain where we control the UX and payment options."

Ledgerless adopted hardware security modules (HSMs) and an audited custodial stack for institutional users, while offering non‑custodial wallets on mobile to avoid KYC logjams.

5) Priya Iyer — Head of Product, SwapStreet (Bengaluru)

"Fundraising conversations in 2026 are more granular. LPs want scenario planning for regulatory outcomes in the U.S. and India. Show us your legal opinions, insurance, and an alternate plan for App Store constraints — or we push back on valuation."

Priya said their investor deck added a 'Platform Risk' appendix with step‑by‑step mitigation plans and estimated OPEX impact for each scenario.

How Apple‑CCI friction is changing product design

Founders are making deliberate architecture choices to reduce platform dependency risks:

• Web‑first onboarding: Prioritize PWA and mobile web funnels for KYC and first payment to bypass app store constraints.
• Modular payments API: Build a payments abstraction layer that can swap PSPs and rails dynamically.
• Feature gating: Keep core financial flows off native in‑app components where possible; use native for convenience features that can be disabled without breaking core value.
• Clear user communications: If iOS users must complete payments off‑app, explain the flow and security benefits to reduce churn.

Payments strategy: the new multi‑rail reality

Apple’s App Store policy has historically constrained how crypto apps collect payments. The CCI action against Apple in 2026 reopened the debate but uncertainty persists. Indian startups are adopting a multi‑rail payments approach as insurance:

• Primary rails: UPI for fiat onramps inside India; cards and net‑banking for occasional users.
• Crypto rails: Local stablecoins (where regulated), global USD‑pegged stablecoins for cross‑border flows, and bank partnerships for regulated custody.
• Redundancy: At least two PSPs and one direct bank integration, plus a crypto on/off‑ramp partner to maintain liquidity.
• Compliance rails: Structured KYC/AML pipelines to ensure PSPs and banks remain comfortable onboarding crypto traffic.

Fundraising implications from U.S. policy clarity

The draft U.S. bill in January 2026 matters to Indian founders for two reasons: many raise capital from U.S. VCs and many aim to list or roll out token products to U.S. users. The immediate effects founders described:

• Delay or restructure token sales: Until legal definitions are final, founders are packaging token programs conservatively: utility first, revenue share later, and strong transfer restrictions for U.S. investors.
• Investor due diligence intensifies: Investors now demand external legal opinions classifying token economics under likely U.S. categorization scenarios (security vs commodity).
• Dual fundraising tracks: Equity rounds for U.S. participants; token pre‑sales for non‑U.S. markets with tight compliance controls.
• Higher compliance budgets: Legal, audit, and custody costs are now modeled into runway calculations — expect 10–20% additional spend for U.S. market readiness.

Practical, actionable checklist for founders (apply today)

1. Map platform dependencies: Create a single‑page 'Platform Risk Map' listing features that require App Store approval and alternative implementations for each.
2. Build a payments abstraction layer: Implement an adapter pattern to switch PSPs/rails with feature flags; test failover monthly. See notes on composable fintech design.
3. Prepare legal playbooks: Commission a token legal memo with US/Indian counsel and maintain a one‑page summary for investors outlining token classification scenarios and mitigations.
4. Customer UX fallback flows: Script in‑app messages and email templates explaining off‑app payment flows for iOS users to reduce dropout.
5. Investor communication: Add a 'Regulatory Scenario' slide to your pitch that shows costs and timeline impacts for at least three policy outcomes (best, base, adverse).
6. Insurance & custody: Where possible, use regulated custodians and buy crypto custody coverage; document guarantees for institutional counterparties. Consider hardware and storage guidance from a CTO's guide to storage.
7. Local partnerships: Sign MoUs with at least one regulated bank and one major PSP in India to demonstrate resilience. See practical onboarding patterns for wallets and banking partners.

Case study: Rapid reroute reduced churn by 18%

One Bengaluru‑based wallet startup we spoke to saw a 22% drop in iOS signups after a temporary App Store restriction in late 2025. By shifting the onboarding flow to a PWA and launching a UPI direct debit option within two weeks, they regained 18% of the lost signups and reduced abandoned KYC by 40%. The founder credited a prebuilt payments abstraction layer and the team’s ability to flip feature flags without a full release.

Future predictions: 2026–2028

• More hybrid flows: Expect mainstream apps to combine native convenience with web‑centric payment and custody flows as a best practice.
• Regulatory arbitrage narrows: As the U.S. and India tighten rules, cross‑border token issuance will require stricter compliance controls, pushing professionalization in legal and custody services.
• Investor scrutiny rises: VCs will prefer startups that can demonstrate platform independence and clear regulatory contingency plans; valuations will reflect that discipline.
• New payment products: Local stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits in regulated channels will gain traction for cross‑border rails if the U.S. bill clarifies custody and commercial bank participation.

What investors should ask founders now

• Can you run full user onboarding without native iOS payments? Show a working flow.
• Who are your payments and custody partners — do you have fallbacks?
• Do you have a legal memo discussing token classification under US draft rules and an action plan if tokens are ruled securities?
• How does regulatory change affect your path to profitability and burn rate?

Closing analysis: Strategy beats panic

Apple’s confrontation with India’s CCI and the new wave of U.S. policy in early 2026 are not binary threats — they are accelerants. Founders who react with a framework (multi‑rail payments, web‑first UX, clear legal packaging and investor transparency) will reduce execution risk and preserve optionality.

Final practical note: Treat regulatory uncertainty like product risk. Prioritize low‑cost mitigations that protect core value — custody, liquidity and user trust — and communicate those tradeoffs clearly to users and investors.

Call to action

Are you a founder navigating App Store constraints or U.S. token uncertainty? Share your experience and download our founders’ Regulatory Readiness Checklist for 2026. Subscribe for weekly briefings that translate policy headlines into product and fundraising moves.

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