Details from a recent survey by peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading platform Paxful show that crypto sentiment in India continues to be optimistic despite opposition from the central bank and government officials.
With the Supreme Court overturning the earlier ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on banks offering services to cryptocurrency exchanges, respondents in the country expect the next few years to see an increase in institutional adoption.
India’s Positive Crypto Sentiments on Show in PAXFUL Survey
Paxful announced the results of its online crypto survey via a blog post on Thursday (April 2, 2020). According to the report, the sentiment and attitude towards virtual currency among Indians remained positive, which meant that the crypto industry had the potential to blossom India in the nearest future.
Commenting on the survey result, the CEO and co-founder of Paxful, Ray Youssef, said:
“India has proved itself as a center for innovation, and we’re excited to see the growth and discoveries they will bring to the industry. India has a lot of potential in all aspects of growth, and are especially interested to see how they utilize peer-to-peer finance now and into the future.”
According to Paxful, 500 adults between 18 and 55 took part in the poll, of which more than 90% revealed that owned Bitcoin (BTC) while close to half said they held Ethereum (ETH). On the whole, about three-quarter of all participants declared that they already owned one cryptocurrency or the other.
Paxful’s survey also showed cryptos as being a more viable investment asset than stocks with more than 40% stating their preference for putting equity in virtual assets rather than company shares.
On the future of crypto adoption in the country, the majority of the respondents picked institutional channels as the most likely avenue to drive the utilization of virtual assets in the coming years. According to a majority of the participants in the survey, cryptocurrencies provide a more robust remittance ecosystem than the country’s mainstream banking apparatus.
India Needs Clear-cut Cryptocurrency laws
While crypto adoption in India seems to be on the rise, there are factors that would enable the nascent industry to thrive in the country. Over 80% of participants called for greater compliance with regulatory measures.
Three-quarter of the respondents said local Indian crypto exchanges should improve their know-your-customer (KYC) protocols to bring them in line with international best practices in the financial sector. On the whole, more than half of all the participants were positive that robust cryptocurrency regulations would be beneficial for the country’s crypto market.
The crypto sector in India struggled to survive after the ban back in 2018, with exchange platforms closing shop and moving to other jurisdictions. However, after a long legal battle between the RBI and the digital currency industry, the country’s Supreme court lifted the ban in March 2020.
Following the historic court ruling, stakeholders in the industry have moved to fund startups in the country. As reported by Blockonomi, major crypto exchange BINANCE and local crypto exchange WazirX partnered to launch the ‘Blockchain for India’ fund to support the growth of blockchain startups in India.
Outside India, there have also been other surveys carried out to determine the level of crypto adoption. Back in November 2019, a bitcoin survey by Canada’s central bank revealed that a significant number of Canadians were aware of bitcoin, with more participants owning BTC than any other crypto.
Also, a survey conducted by eToro showed that 40% of young adults will invest in bitcoin in the event of an economic recession.
