33 percent of the estimated 115 mn crypto users in India are worried about regulations

The survey revealed interesting insights about the state of crypto in one of the largest countries in the world

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Image: Shutterstock

The Indian government has always been vocally opposed to crypto and digital assets. Despite this, the country has amassed 115 million crypto investors according to KuCoin's ‘Into The Cryptoverse India Report’ survey released this week. This figure of 115 million crypto investors represents 15 percent of the Indian population and is mainly aged between 18 and 60.

Furthermore, 33 percent of survey takers were apprehensive about the state of crypto due to the government’s opposing stance. Security also seemed to be on the minds of the Indian people, since 26 percent of survey takers were worried about crypto hacks and 23 percent were concerned about losing funds in security breach incidents.

For the report, 2042 Indian adults between the ages of 18 and 60 were surveyed from October 2021 to June 2022 about the state of crypto in the country. Out of those polled, 1541 people claimed to be crypto investors who either own digital currencies or have traded them in the past six months.

The report also discussed the barriers to widespread adoption of crypto in India and how education, regulatory and security concerns are a major factor deterring new people joining the crypto market. 41 percent of survey takers said that they were unsure of what type of crypto asset to invest in while 37 percent said that limited knowledge about managing the risk of portfolios was the reason. Moreover, 21 percent of survey takers said that they had little to no know-how about crypto and how it works.

Given the fact that 39 percent of investors in India are aged between 18 and 30,

investing for the future was also a large discussion point of the report. 54 percent of respondents claimed that they see the potential for crypto to provide higher rates of return than traditional assets in a portfolio.

Having one of the largest populations in the world as well as having relatively tech-savvy people means India has a strong level of interest in crypto. KuCoin CEO, Jonny Lyu, commented, “Despite the government’s stance affecting local crypto market sentiment, people still continue exhibiting interest in new means of value accumulation and accrual.”

According to Lyu, regulatory concerns are not the only defining factor in the conversation about crypto adoption in India. He said, “The problem is the lack of overall awareness about the potential of cryptocurrencies. The situation may change as more Indians become aware of cryptocurrencies and sufficiently strong projects are introduced that can inject them into mass usage with accompanying informational support.”

Despite Lyu’s comments, it seems that Indian investors are struggling with the government’s negative attitude towards crypto. In April 2022 the government instituted a 30 percent tax on unrealised crypto gains in addition to the 1 percent tax on each transaction. This was met with backlash from the public and a slump in trading volumes soon after the announcement.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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