Why India’s crypto volumes are languishing despite Bitcoin’s record surge
NEW DELHI : On Wednesday, Bitcoin—the world’s highest-valued cryptocurrency token by market cap—hit a record high of over $73,600, reviving hopes for India’s cryptocurrency market that has been through a harrowing two years. But despite a threefold surge in Bitcoin prices in a span of six months, Indian crypto exchanges are only reaping partial benefits. Indian crypto exchange WazirX’s daily average trading volume recovered to $3.4 million in February from about $780,000 in September, show data from consultancy firm Crebaco Global.
CoinDCX’s daily average trading volume improved to $2.7 million from $750,000 over the same period. In March, trading volumes on both these exchanges have improved even further. Data sourced from crypto market tracker Coingecko showed WazirX’s daily crypto trades at $13.2 million on Wednesday—the first time since May 2022 that the exchange’s daily trading volumes have crossed $10 million per day.
On Thursday, though, the data showed daily trades at $9.9 million. CoinDCX’s trading volume was at $7.2 million on Thursday and $7.5 million on Wednesday—up about 3x from February’s daily average trading volumes. For all this, the average trading volumes for both the Indian crypto exchanges are far from their peaks.
WazirX’s trading volume is down 93% from its peak average trading volume of $47.2 million reached in March 2022, Crebaco’s data show. For CoinDCX, volumes were down by nearly 85% from their peak of $16.9 million in February 2022. Industry experts attribute a wide number of factors to this, including apprehension among retail investors triggered by a lack of regulatory clarity, India’s crypto taxation policy, and statements against the cryptocurrency sector by senior government officials.
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