India, the most populous nation in the world, is no stranger to crypto trading and the craze is now spreading to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns where many young aspirants wish to turn it into a sustainable livelihood option, as per a latest report by Reuters.
The report states how young Indian men and women, in the age group 20-35, are increasingly shifting their focus to cryptocurrencies after their disappointment with traditional stock market performance in recent times. From Ranchi to Pune to Jaipur to Botad, the small towns of India are witnessing a silent crypto revolution and its evident from recent survey report of CoinSwitch, a leading crypto exchange.
Cryptocurrencies remain unregulated in India, yet the government collects a hefty 30%$ capital gains tax and additional 1% tax deducted at source. Moreover, the recent amendments to the finance bill will now place any past unreported crypto gains liable for hefty penalty. Despite these hurdles, crypto remains blooming in India, largely fueled by enthusiasm over pro-crypto Donald Trump winning the recent U.S. presidential elections.
Indian Towns are saying Yes to Crypto
In small towns across India, where traditional businesses thrive, cryptocurrencies are gaining traction as a new form of income generation.
India, a country where you’ll find more local and small businesses more than the working professionals, but since Indians believes in generating multiple source of income they’ll keep on trying their hands at several other things to generate other source of income, it could be by investing in properties, gold, share market and now in there comes a place of Crypto.
The Reuters report mentions anecdotes from small town crypto traders of India including a flower-shop owner Ashish Nagose (28) from Nagpur, who is also attending crypto training classes by evening.
Earlier Nagose has bought and sold stock options but is now venturing into cryptocurrencies as regulators made it harder to trade equity derivatives in India. Nagose believes that the crypto asset class can help him protect his family-owned flower shop during downturns.
As per data from Coingecko, Crypto enthusiast like Nagose have helped grow cumulative trading volumes of bitcoin, Ethereum, dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies on four of largest exchanges more than two-fold quarter-on-quarter to $1.9 billion in the October-December quarter.
Similarly, as per CoinSwitch survey report 2024, many Tier 2 cities like Jaipur, Lucknow and Pune, found place in the top ten crypto investors’ cities of India. What was most surprising was Botad, a small district in Gujarat, finding itself as the 10th most crypto friendly city in India.
After the report was published by CoinSwitch, The Crypto Times did a ground check on Botad and found several young men and women interested in cryptocurrencies including memecoins in this otherwise rural locality.
Also Read: Botad Bulls: How Crypto Won Over a Small Indian City
India’s Annual Crypto Growth Rate is 18.5%: Reuters Report
While India ranks number one globally when it comes to crypto adoption, its crypto market predictions by experts rather stay humble. This is largely due to an attitude of disdain adopted by the government towards cryptocurrencies in India.
The Reuters report quotes an executive from consulting firm Grant Thornton Bharat stating that the overall crypto market in India is expected to reach $15 billion by 2035 and it currently stands at $2.5 billion in 2025.
Conclusion
In the most populous country of the world, where jobs and wage have not kept pace with global economic growth, many young Indians are experimenting with cryptocurrency trading as a way to augment their regular income. However, much will depend on the government that is yet to loosen its tough stance on crypto.
