Crypto Adoption in India: Separating the Facts from the Social Media Hype

A bold claim is making the rounds on social media: that investors in India now hold over one million Bitcoin, amounting to 5.1% of the total supply. While the figure paints a powerful picture of the nation’s crypto adoption, a closer look at the data reveals the claim is likely unsubstantiated and confuses the country’s real strength; its massive user base, with unverified holdings.

The unverified claim, which originated from a group on X, quickly spread, suggesting India now ranks as the second-highest country in Bitcoin holdings.

According to the group, retail investors constitute the bulk of crypto holders in India, leaving room for a potential surge in adoption should the country approve spot Bitcoin ETFs that could offer access to institutional investors.

While verifying the exact holdings of any country is nearly impossible on a pseudonymous network like Bitcoin, there is no doubt that India is a global powerhouse in terms of raw crypto adoption. from 2024, for example, shows that India’s adoption rate surged by 172%, placing it ahead of Nigeria, Indonesia, and the U.S.

The writer of the unverified claim appears to have conflated user numbers with total holdings. According to separate, widely-cited research, India has nearly 119 million crypto users, more than double the estimated 53.5 million users in the United States.

This massive user base, representing just over 8% of India’s total population, is what firmly places the country at the top of the table for the sheer number of people involved in crypto. This is a powerful and verifiable metric of India’s massive role in the global crypto market.

India’s leadership in user adoption is even more impressive given the challenges the local industry has faced.

The country’s top trading platforms, WazirX and CoinDCX, have both been targeted by hackers in recent years, with a recent attack on CoinDCX resulting in the loss of $44 million in digital assets.

Despite these setbacks, the user base has remained active and growing. So while the claim of owning 5% of all Bitcoin stays as social media hype for now, India’s verifiable position as a leader in user adoption is what makes it a critical region for the future of crypto.