More and more Indians are opting to invest in Bitcoin, with crypto investments in the country growing from about $200 million to nearly $40 billion in the past year alone.
Crypto Investments Skyrocket In India
For the longest time, Indians have valued gold as the supreme investment asset, with households alone holding about 25,000 tonnes of gold. However, according to research conducted by the Blockchain data platform Chainalysis, there has been almost a 200-fold increase in crypto investments in the country, despite facing clear opposition from the RBI and a looming trading ban.
Even though India’s digital asset holdings are still a tiny percentage of the gold market, it is safe to say that the former is catching up. According to CoinGecko, the top four crypto exchanges have seen daily trading jumps to $102 million from $10.6 million a year ago.
Young Adults Prefer Buying Crypto Over Gold
More than 15 million Indians are now regularly trading in cryptocurrency. This number is close to 23 million traders in the US and much ahead of the 2.3 million traders in the UK. Moreover, a considerable percentage of the growing Indian crypto traders are from the 18-35-year age group. This is validated further by the data findings of the World Gold Council that indicate Indian adults under the age of 34 are not favoring gold investments as much as older consumers.
According to 32-year-old Richi Sood, the Founder of Study Mate India,
“I’d rather put my money in crypto than gold. Crypto is more transparent than gold or property and returns are more in a short period of time.”
Crypto Trading On The Rise Despite Regulations
Authorities in India are still not welcoming cryptocurrencies with open arms. The RBI had cast major aspersions on the nature of cryptocurrencies, and the Indian government has mostly been hostile to this asset class. The government had even proposed a trading ban on digital coins, even though there was no follow-up. Additionally, the lack of a clear set of regulations or a proper crypto regulatory body has hampered the operations of institutional traders and deterred some individual traders.
However, with the Supreme Court quashing a 2018 rule that banned crypto trading by banking entities, there was a resulting surge in buying and selling crypto across the country. Despite the rush, the official hostility has prevented many investors from speaking up openly about their holdings. Fintech startups are also hesitating to discuss, promote and openly participate in the crypto market. In addition, because of the lack of clear income tax rules, individuals with significant crypto assets have to maintain contingency plans in case of tax raids or official bans.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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