- Bitcoin was the most popularly traded cryptocurrency on WazirX in 2021, followed by Tether, Shiba Inu and Dogecoin.
- Half of the 8.5 million users that WazirX surveyed said that they got into cryptocurrency trading on the advice of friends and family.
- According to the Indian crypto exchange, it’s home to 10 million users and saw transaction volume of $43 billion this year
WazirX added more than 200 cryptocurrency pairs to its exchange this year, but Bitcoin has maintained its lead as the most traded cryptocurrency on the platform.
Among the altcoins, the most traded cryptocurrencies were Tether (USDT), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE), the WazirX Token (WRX) and Matic (MATIC).
Despite a slew of new cryptocurrencies, especially those giving Ethereum a run for its money like Cardano, Solana and Avalanche — they aren’t the favorite choice of investors in India.
WazirX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges in India, did not disclose the traded volume for each of these cryptocurrencies but saw an overall transaction volume of $43 billion.
Crypto users grow, but alot them aren’t DYOR
According to WazirX, there are more than 10 billion users trading cryptocurrencies on its platform — a figure that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has called into question. “Whatever information we have, with a reasonable amount of confidence, I can say that the number of participants in the crypto market seems exaggerated,” RBI governor, Sakthikanta Das,
reportedly said.
While the actual numbers may be unclear, there isn’t any doubt that the use of cryptocurrencies in India has grown in popularity during the COVID-19 monotony. The bigger concern lies in the fact that most users are still depending on friends and family to tell them where to invest, rather than doing their own research.
In a survey conducted by WazirX, across 8.5 million respondents, pegs that at least half of them decided to invest in crypto based on the advice of friends and family. “As crypto goes mainstream, it creates a need for further investor education and responsible marketing initiatives among Indian exchanges,” said WazirX’s 2021, The Year of Crypto report.
In fact, marketing has been a pain point for the crypto industry. In a petition filed with the
Delhi High Court, advocates argued that the flood of crypto ads that blossomed on television and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, during events like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Euro 2020 football championships, do not feature disclaimers that are easy to read.
Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, told the Parliament earlier this month that the government is yet to take a call on the matter.
IMF’s Gita Gopinath wants a global policy on cryptocurrencies – not a ban
