With cryptocurrency trading booming in the country, the average investment by individual investors is on the rise. Despite concerns around the legality of cryptocurrencies and regulatory uncertainties , the average investment per individual has gone up to ₹10,000 from ₹6,000-8,000 a year or two back.
Targeting next-gen
Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin, said the average investment on an industry basis has increased by about 25 per cent within the last two years. This despite, “for most investors, their disposable income not increasing significantly,” he pointed out.
Similarly, CrossTower, which launched operations on September 7, said the average per person investment is ₹6,000 per month. There have been over 1 lakh downloads of its app, it claimed. It also reported a more than 3,000 per cent increase in customers since September 30.
Most players say that crypto trading continues to be dominated by those in the 25-35 age group with limited disposable income. Many are experimenting with investments in this category and prefer to stay cautious. According to crypto industry sources, Indian investors continue to maintain discipline towards crypto investments as they understand that there is some amount of risk associated.
SIP option, too
But some platforms are reporting much higher investments. “At Bitbns, we offer a SIP option to our customers called Bitdroplets. Currently, we have over 2.5 lakh active SIP folios with an average ticket size of investment of ₹22,000. In the last one year, the exchange has seen the average investment ticket-size increase by 120 per cent,” said CEO and Co-founder Gaurav Dahake.
More bourses lining up
With investor interest on the rise, many more exchanges are setting up shop in India even as the government is still undecided on regulating or banning cryptocurrencies.
“Based on our previous operations, the average size ranged above ₹1 lakh but the new investors are in the range of ₹50,000,” said Praveen Kumar, Founder, and CEO, Belfrics Group, which recently relaunched its cryptocurrency exchange in India.
It plans to offer a total of 25 coins for its traders and expects more than 30 per cent of its monthly volume to come from India. It also plans to open over 200 physical crypto centres in the next six months.
Crypto exchange WazirX reported a trading volume of over $36 billion in the year-to-date 2021, marking an average of 44 per cent month-on-month growth. Sign-ups on its platform from Tier-2 and -3 cities grew 2,648 per cent.