Cryptocurrency Market In India 2023: Delhiites Top Buyers, Bitcoin Most Prominent; 9% Investors Are Women

The year 2023 for cryptocurrency was resilient and recorded a significant jump by the end of it. As per the second edition of the annual investors report by India's largest crypto trading platform, CoinSwitch, Delhi continued to lead in India's crypto adoption, measured in terms of value invested. While Bitcoin remained the most prominent cryptocurrency, however, Elon Musk-backed Dogecoin was the most popular coin, and Solana was the best-performing crypto asset in the year. Of the total Indian investors participating in 2023, 9% of them were women.

The top cryptocurrency market was Delhi followed by Bangalore closely and India's financial hub Mumbai.

CoinSwitch's report showed that 2023 was a year of resilience, and the markets picked up significantly towards the end of the year. Bitcoin, the most prominent crypto, ended more than 150% year on year (As compared to 20 Dec 2022, 11.30 am IST). Meanwhile, Ethereum and several meme coins also ended the year in green.

Also, it pointed out that after touching a low of less than $1 trillion (T) in June 2022, the total crypto market capitalization grew to over $1.5 T by December 2023.

Balaji Srihari, Business Head, CoinSwitch said, "Indian investors booked healthy profits from crypto towards the end of the year with several top coins growing at a healthy clip. While the ecosystem focused on building real-world solutions using crypto, investors backed them with patience and traders reaped benefits from the volatility in the market."

The report has captured numerous trends within the 2023 crypto market. Here are some of the key highlights:

- More than 20% of India's total crypto investments are concentrated in the three major metropolitan areas: Delhi (9%), Bangalore (8%) and Mumbai (5%).

- Ghaziabad claimed the 10th position in the list of the top invested cities, replacing Patna from the spot.

- About 75% of the invested users are below the age of 35.

The top invested cryptos were Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) contributing to 26% of the total value.

- Solana (SOL) was the best-performing crypto in India's portfolio, with 633% growth year-to-date.

- Delhi and Hyderabad saw the highest participation of women investors; 9% of India's crypto investors are women.

Also, recently, WazirX, India's leading crypto exchange, announced the launch of its annual trading activities report for the year 2023, revealing intriguing insights on user growth, digital asset ownership, and reflections on the various major global events shaping the cryptocurrency market. The report highlights include an analysis of WazirX's growing user base and evolving demographics, reaching a volume of 1 billion users by 30th November; and detailed documentation of the monthly activities impacting the trade of the top tokens across cryptocurrency exchanges.

For the upcoming year, Srihari said, "In 2024 approvals for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are highly anticipated events and could lead to more institutional capital coming into the ecosystem."

Further, Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX said, "With the advent of decentralized systems and maturing blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies are set to evolve beyond speculative assets, becoming integrated within supply chain management, healthcare, and digital identity verification. Across the world, there is a growing recognition for digital fiat currencies, and CBCDs are set to garner significant attention and adoption."

Menon added, "Asset tokenisation is positioned to become a prominent trend, as we witness real-world assets and art transition onto blockchain platforms, moving towards fractional ownership and the democratisation of investment opportunities for a broader audience. User experiences across Web3 technologies will witness a revolution in 2024, and the Bitcoin halving signals a bull market in coming times."

When asked about Cryptocurrency backflips such as the FTX debacle a year ago, the resignation of Binance CEO CZ recently and their influence on sentiments, Menon told GoodReturns.In that there has been a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) amongst crypto investors in the last few months due to various regulatory investigations on Binance. This action by US law enforcement brings that mystery to an end. The crypto ecosystem can now put this behind it and move forward. It is also a reminder for everyone in crypto that following the local rules and regulations and remaining compliant is a necessity.

Menon added, "The initial reactions within the ecosystem seem to be one of relief than anything else. There is also a general sentiment about ensuring to choose platforms that are compliant with local laws instead of moving assets to non-compliant exchanges which puts such assets at risk of regulatory intervention."

Further, on their impact on cryptocurrency in 2024, Menon said, "In the short term, prices of the Binance token, BNB might be under pressure. In the long term, the trend for the crypto ecosystem remains bullish." He added, 'Indian investors should be wary of trading on foreign exchanges where ownership is unknown. There is also no legal recourse, and they are not compliant with Indian laws. If you want to be compliant with Indian tax laws, it is best to trade in Indian exchanges."

Disclaimer: The recommendations made above are by market analysts and are not advised by either the author or Greynium Information Technologies. The author, the brokerage firm nor Greynium would be liable for any losses caused as a result of decisions based on this write-up. Goodreturns.in advises users to consult with certified experts before making any investment decision.