India Ranks Above US, Russia on Global Crypto Adoption Index: Chainalysis

Despite the unclarity in the regulatory framework around crypto, Indians are seemingly embracing the next phase of fintech with open arms. India has secured the fourth rank on the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index compiled by blockchain research firm Chainalysis. The list has ranked all the countries based on their uses of different types of crypto-services. With this, India has surpassed Russia and the US on the index, hinting that the Indian crypto community is not very far behind in driving more adoption of the technology.

Vietnam has topped the index and has emerged as the most enthusiastic nation tapping into crypto adoption.

Philippines and Ukraine have secured the second and third spots above India to display a strong inclination towards potential crypto adoption in the coming times.

“The goal of our index is to measure where the most people are putting the biggest share of their money into cryptocurrency. While institutional activity is important to that, we also want to highlight the countries where individual, non-professional investors are embracing digital assets the most,” Chainalysis said in a blog post.

The global adoption of cryptocurrency reached its current all-time high in Q2 2021. At the time, the market valuation of the crypto sector crossed the mark of $3 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,39,47,650 crore).

In its report, Chainalysis noted that crypto adoption seems to be intriguing nations with lesser incomes.

“Out of our top 20 ranked countries, ten are lower middle income: Vietnam, Philippines, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Morocco, Nepal, Kenya, and Indonesia. Eight are upper middle income: Brazil, Thailand, Russia, China, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador,” the report noted.

Cryptocurrency can serve as a handy tool for lower income nations in terms of sending remittances, preserving their savings in times of fiat currency volatility, and fulfilling other financial needs unique to their economies.

“Over the coming years, it'll be interesting to see what solutions the cryptocurrency industry can build to increase adoption in high- and low-income countries,” the report added.

Interestingly enough, China, where all kinds of crypto activities are banned, has secured the tenth spot on the Global Crypto Adoption Index.

“Our data suggests that the ban has either been ineffective or loosely enforced,” the Chainalysis study noted.

In a recent report, Forex had claimed that Hong Kong is the world's most crypto-ready nation followed by the US and Switzerland.

India had failed to score a spot on that ‘Worldwide Crypto Readiness Report'.

Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for a global consensus on crypto regulations.

Calling for a global support on crypto regulations, Sitharaman said the RBI is concerned that the involvement of cryptocurrencies in India's existing financial systems may have a destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability of the nation.