India: Hub of the World’s Highest Number of Crypto-Owners, Much Remains to be Done

The number of crypto-owners in India has crossed the 10 crore mark. The legal status of investment in cryptocurrency in India is not transparent. It is still shrouded in mystery despite the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Bank of the country, lifting the ban on it a year before. Meanwhile, the price of cryptocurrency is also surging ahead in the cryptocurrency market around the world and India is no exception. Yet all these developments have not deterred the crypto-owners in India and it is proved by a report of the annual Crypto Proliferation Index, published by BrokerChooser, a well-known brokerage portal. The number in India is 10.7 crore. It is far ahead of the second rank-holder, USA, with 2.74 crores, and the third rank-holder, Russia is with 1.74 crores.

This development inevitably concerns the issue of the Indian government with cryptocurrency policies. In a statement in late September, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, clearly mentioned that a lot of discussions are going on about the status of the Indian government with cryptocurrency level to be available in the global cryptocurrency market. She acknowledged the increasing acceptance of the popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, throughout the world. But she also pointed out that while the Government of India has to be "cautious" about taking further steps with regard to cryptocurrency "such a futuristic thing" cannot be totally ruled out from consideration. Referring to the public protest against the legal recognition provided to cryptocurrency in El Salvador she stated that the prime issue in providing recognition to it is to gauge the public perception about it. Incidentally, a bill proposing a ban on private cryptocurrencies was supposed to be placed in the Indian parliament early this year but it has not been placed so far.

There is little doubt that in various forms digital asset has become a force to reckon with in the world today. In an astonishing development Bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency now has experienced 400% growth in one year. The growing public interest in the cryptocurrency market is also evident in the fact that the same report of BrokerChooser has revealed that India witnesses the second-highest crypto-related searches in the world from existing as well as potential crypto-owners, preceded only by the USA. What is no less significant is the fact that the interest in crypto investment is not confined to the metropolitan cities in India. It has spilled over in Tier II and Tier III cities of the country, where there is the substantial-good number of young potential investors in the cryptocurrency market.

No-one undermines the importance of having an appropriate regulatory framework regarding the trading in cryptocurrency in India. But what is important is that the government must come out with a clear and comprehensive approach highlighting its stance vis-à-vis cryptocurrency and make it public. Dispelling ambiguity about the matter will serve the interest of all.