Indian crypto investors seem to be laughing in the face of harsh regulatory threats. According to a new report from Chainalaysis, investors in India have increased their crypto holdings by 19,900%, from roughly $200 million to $40 billion over the course of 12 months. Chainalysis estimates that the investments are spread across 15 million of the country’s inhabitants.
Citing Chainalysis’ data, CoinTelegraph reported that cryptocurrency investments in India began to show signs of an increase in the middle of 2020. However, investments did not really surge until mid-2020, the prices of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets also began to 'go parabolic'. The increase also correlates with the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to end the ban on working relationships between banks and cryptocurrency platforms in March 2020.
Even though the ban was overturned, the Indian government has not exactly been supportive of the cryptocurrency industry. In March of this year, the government proposed the “Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021,” which intended to ban private Cryptocurrencies in India. At the same time, the government expanded its exploration of a 'digital Rupee'.
Against the Odds
Sandeep Goenka, the Founder of local cryptocurrency exchange, Zebpay, explained to Bloomberg that 18 to 35-year olds showed the most prominent interest in crypto investing, highlighting that there was a demonstrated preference for crypto over gold.
“They find it far easier to invest in crypto than gold because the process is very simple. You go online, you can buy crypto, you don’t have to verify it, unlike gold,” he said.
Still, the industry is up against quite a few difficulties in India. Nischal Schetty, the Founder of Indian crypto exchange, WazirX and the #IndiaWantsCrypto initiative, wrote on Twitter today that the “Banking issue is beyond our control.”
“We try our best to ensure it’s smooth, but banking hasn’t been easy for Indian Crypto. It’s unfortunate that the people of India have to suffer due to this. We’ll continue to work towards making it smooth.”
