Ever since India’s Supreme Court lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies, the industry has witnessed an unprecedented boom. The ban was imposed by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. According to many experts, India is going to be the next major epicentre for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
India has been in the news for imposing the world’s biggest ‘COVID-19 Lockdown’. Nearly 1.3 billion people placed under complete curfew for around sixty days. However, even though all economic activity came to a virtual standstill, the crypto industry went into overdrive.
In this article, we will look at some aspects of why the cryptocurrencies are booming in India. We will also look at whether India has what it takes to emerge as the next crypto hotspot in the world.
India: The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Bitcoin Boom
In March 2020, the Supreme Court of India took the central bank to task and lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies. This lifted the ban on crypto banks, exchanges and trading platforms. Post the lifting of the ban, anyone in India was legally permitted to buy, sell or trade in various cryptocurrencies.
It is safe to say that Bitcoin is the most sought after and traded crypto in India. Analysts and experts feel that this is how it is going to be for the next few years. When the ban was lifted, the Coronavirus lockdown happened.
While most businesses and industries stammered to a grinding halt, the crypto exchanges saw record numbers. According to the CEO of India’s leading crypto exchange, trading percentages increased by over 870%!
Experts feel that the lockdown gave people the time to really read up on crypto and do their research. They also feel that the economic crash of the stock market had an effect on the investing frenzy. People saw their hard-earned investments depreciate because of the lockdown. This made them look for alternative avenues of investments.
Why Indians want to invest in Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
The Government of India has strict regulations to prevent Indian retail investors to trade stocks on the global markets. For example, if you are an individual in India who wants to buy stocks or shares of American companies on the NYSE, you cannot do the same.
Likewise, retail investments in Indian companies is also severely regulated. The lifting of the ban on cryptocurrencies is probably the first opportunity retail investors have to engage with a truly global financial currency.
This is one major reason why as soon as the ban was lifted; the country saw a crypto boom of sorts. Many Indians, who had picked up early stocks in Bitcoin in late March, were able to double and treble their profits within a small period. The Bitcoin Bull Run started in late April and early May.
News that India will become the next major epicentre for Bitcoin spread fast and many Indians who were previously sceptical saw the doubling and trebling happen in front of their eyes. This made them want a piece of the action. With a failing stock market and the lifting of the ban, it was only natural to dump one in favour of the other.
Is India an isolated incident of the booming Cryptocurrency Industry?
In a recently published report, it was found that nearly 5% of UK’s entire population owns or at some point has owned crypto. Bitcoin continues to be the favourite here as well. According to the FCA, UK’s Financial Regulator, nearly 2.6 million people in the UK have engaged with cryptocurrencies at some level.
The report also found that the education and awareness of cryptocurrencies has also significantly improved. For example, as compared to 58% people who had not heard of crypto before the number has now reduced to 27%!
This goes to show that cryptocurrencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular is soaring in popularity more than ever. Hence, in both the developing and the developed world, the craze for Bitcoins is increasing. If you wish to know more about investing in Bitcoins, and why India will become the next major epicentre for Bitcoin, then you can visit bitcoin trader 2
