India tops Chainalysis’ cryptocurrency adoption ranking for the second year in a row

What’s new? India, which is currently the largest country in terms of population with 1,43 billion people, received the highest rating in the global cryptocurrency adoption index according to the analytical company Chainalysis. Notably, last year, Chainalysis experts also ranked India at the top in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.

Chainalysis report

What else is known? The company analyzed 151 countries on metrics such as the on-chain value of cryptocurrencies generated by centralized exchanges (CEXs) and decentralized financial (DeFi) protocols.

Chainalysis noted that the ban on offshore exchanges in India did not affect their use much, as local users were still able to access them. In December last year, for instance, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FUI) said that nine foreign CEXs were not complying with anti-money laundering rules and should be blocked. These platforms included Binance, HTX (formerly Huobi), Kraken, Gate, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC, Bittrex, and Bitfinex.

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Despite the ban, the total amount received by the nine blocked exchanges still accounted for a significant portion of the total amount received by CEX in India, Chainalysis reports.

For example, as of April 2024, the nine blocked exchanges accounted for nearly 40% of total CEX usage in India.

FUI later softened its stance on the above-mentioned platforms by registering KuCoin and Binance and allowing them to operate in the local market after collecting fines in May. In early September, it was reported that two more foreign platforms would also re-enter the Indian market.

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India also ranked second in the CSAO region in terms of cryptocurrency value received. According to Chainalysis, India received around $143 billion in cryptocurrency from July 2023 to June 2024, second only to Indonesia ($157 billion).

Over the past year, crypto asset inflows into CSAO amounted to $750 billion or 16,6% of the global total. The region is behind only North America and Western Europe on this indicator.

According to Chainalysis, crypto activity in the CSAO accounts predominantly for CEX, with transfers over $10 000 accounting for the largest share of gains, indicating significant professional and institutional activity.