Chinnapong/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
India dominated the global adoption of cryptocurrencies in 2024 despite the Asian nation’s strict regulatory environment and high taxes, according to a report from blockchain data company Chainalysis.
Chainalysis’ global crypto adoption index analyzed 151 countries’ usage of different types of cryptocurrency services between July 2023 to June 2024.
This is the second straight year India has topped the list, despite the country’s comparatively high crypto capital gains tax at 30% and 1% tax on all transactions.
In December 2023, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) notified nine offshore exchanges — Binance, HTX, Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC, Bittrex, and Bitfinex — that they were not in compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering laws.
However, last month, the FIU lifted Binance’s seven-month block, following its registration as a reporting entity, allowing the exchange to re-enter the Indian market.
Seven out of the top 20 countries in the global adoption index, including India, are in the Central & Southern Asia and Oceania region. The other six include Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Global Crypto Activity
According to the Chainalysis report, between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, the total value of global crypto activity increased substantially, reaching levels higher than those in 2021 during the crypto bull market.
Last year, growth in crypto adoption was driven primarily by lower-middle income countries. However, this year, crypto activity increased across countries of all income brackets.
The launch of bitcoin ETFs earlier in the year in the U.S. resulted in an increase in total value of bitcoin activity across all regions, with particularly strong year-over-year growth in institutional-sized transfers and in regions with higher income countries, such as North America and Western Europe, the report added.
Here are some popular cryptocurrencies and related exchange-traded funds of interest: (BTC-USD), (ETH-USD), (LTC-USD), (XRP-USD), (IBIT), (ARKB), (GBTC), (BRRR), (BTCO), (HODL), (BTCW), (FBTC), (BITB), (EZBC), (BITQ), (DAPP), (BKCH), (BLOK), (CRPT), and (IBLC).
