Why are Indians Obsessed with Cryptocurrencies?

Indians are increasingly investing in cryptocurrencies.

India as a country is growing and transforming. By this I mean, India is embracing things, which might be the future. After the overturning of the RBI's crypto ban by the Supreme Court, Indians are rushing towards cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, for example, the best cryptocurrency, reached an all-new high of Rs 50,40,806 on 19th April 2021. What's more, cryptocurrency has outperformed gold in the past and experts believe that it will be the new investment option rather than gold.

India is adopting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More and more investors are shifting their eyeballs from gold to cryptocurrency. Many reports have stated that India has more than one crore of crypto investors. Did you know that crypto investments in India grew from $200 million to nearly $40 billion in 2020 alone? Moreover, what is driving this number is the emergence of multiple domestic crypto exchanges in the country.

One of the reasons Indians are investing in crypto is because they find crypto is more transparent than gold and one can get returns in a short period of time. Though RBI and other authorities are still reluctant to completely embrace cryptocurrencies, it seems like there is nothing that can stop Indians from investing in cryptocurrency stocks.

However, it has not been a smooth journey for India's crypto market as the Supreme Court repealed the ban by RBI last March. Legal authorities are constantly coming up with new legislation forestalling crypto assets over the past year.

What makes India stand out from the rest of the countries is that it is one of the largest IT countries with new breakthroughs accelerated in the Indian market. India is transforming digitally in all aspects of life and hence we can witness more and more eCommerce players entering the market.

Moreover, the adoption of different technologies has also been one of the reasons there is more awareness of cryptocurrency overall. With everything around us being tech-driven, GenX primarily is more interested in cryptocurrency. According to Sandeep Goenka, Co-founder of ZebPay, a local crypto exchange platform, Indians aged 18 to 35 are showing more interest in digital assets and also wish to invest in them.

This age group holds a small part of the sales volume, which comes from short-term traders, who wish to have instant profits. Nonetheless, long-term investors, maybe of age group above 35, have realized the value of cryptocurrency and aim at investing in cryptocurrency for a longer period of time.

Though the central bank is uncertain about the privacy concerns around cryptocurrency, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this year said that all windows on cryptocurrencies will not be shut down.

Avinash Shekhar, Co-CEO of ZebPay suggests that investors should first try to educate themselves on the fundamental value of different cryptocurrencies. Still, Indians are investing in different cryptocurrencies as it is the new norm. However, experts believe that India will be one of the key players in crypto and blockchain adoption.