New Delhi, Thursday, September 12, 2024- India remains the top country for cryptocurrency adoption, according to Chainalysis’ 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index released a while ago.
The Chainanalysis report can be seen here.
This marks the second consecutive year that India has ranked first, surpassing countries like Nigeria, Indonesia, the United States, and Vietnam. Chainalysis analyzes global crypto use, focusing on on-chain activity via centralized exchanges (CEXs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
Despite a ban on offshore exchanges in late 2023, India’s crypto market remains robust. India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) blocked several major exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, due to non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws.
However, Indian users continued accessing these platforms through workarounds, accounting for 40% of CEX activity by April 2024. In May, Binance and KuCoin were allowed to re-enter the market after paying fines.
In the Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO) region, India ranked second for crypto value received, amassing $143 billion between July 2023 and June 2024. Indonesia ranked first with $157 billion. Globally, CSAO was responsible for $750 billion in crypto transactions, about 16.6% of total global activity.
Chainalysis notes that while cryptocurrency adoption was initially driven by lower-income countries, usage has now spread across all income levels, with high-income regions seeing institutional growth and low-income regions relying on stablecoins for real-world use cases.