The Chain Analysis Global Crypto Adoption Index research shows India’s surprise climb to the top global player in grassroots cryptocurrency adoption. This study ranks nations based on the percentage of their population that invests a significant amount of their money in cryptocurrencies and the number of Bitcoin transactions done.
Despite a global fall in crypto popularity from all-time highs, India has shown tenacity.
The Global Crypto Adoption Index highlighted India’s outstanding performance in areas such as the usage of centralized and decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and token smart contracts.
India has also surpassed wealthy nations to become the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency market by projected transaction volume. This accomplishment is remarkable in light of India’s plan to levy a hefty capital gains tax on cryptocurrency income, which exceeds the tax rate on traditional assets such as shares.
In light of these challenges, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized the significance of regulating emergent technology by calling for a worldwide framework to control cryptocurrencies.
Several Central and Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) nations have also risen to the top of the Global Crypto Adoption Index. Among the top 10 are Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Thailand.
Because of the popularity of the NFT-based game Axie Infinity, the Philippines sees a major amount of its crypto web traffic flowing to gaming and gambling websites. Meanwhile, crypto activity on peer-to-peer exchanges has increased in Pakistan and Vietnam.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has gained significance in the CSAO space in the last year. It accounted for around 56% of all transactions from July 2022 to June 2023, a significant increase from the 35.2% it represented the previous year. Furthermore, approximately 70% of these DeFi transactions are valued at US$1 million or more, indicating an increasing institutional use of cryptocurrency in this region.
According to the research, overall grassroots adoption is highest in lower-middle-income (LMI) countries such as India and Nigeria. In these nations, grassroots adoption has reached levels seen in the third quarter of 2020. LMI nations are critical for the future of crypto adoption since they house nearly 40% of the world’s population.
Despite recent ups and downs, the crypto market appears to be on the rise as institutional interest grows globally. According to the research, crypto’s effect will be significant in the future, particularly in regions such as India and other LMI nations.