According to Chainalysis, India ranked first in the 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index despite the local prohibition of offshore crypto exchanges.
In its fifth annual Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, released on September 11, the blockchain analysis firm reported that India will continue to be the world’s largest crypto market in terms of adoption in 2024 despite having topped Chainalysis’ crypto adoption report last year.
India ranked the highest in Chainalysis’ global crypto adoption index out of the 151 countries analyzed, surpassing countries such as the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
Four sub-indexes constitute Chainalysis’ adoption index, including retail sub-categories for both types of services and the onchain crypto value received by centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
The FIU of India prohibited using Binance and other offshore exchanges; however, consumers continued to access them in 2024.
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), under the Indian Department of Revenue, designated nine offshore exchanges as non-compliant with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering laws in December 2023.
Binance, HTX (formerly Huobi), Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC, Bittrex, and Bitfinex were among the key industry firms that participated in those exchanges.
The FIU subsequently requested that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India block the websites of the non-compliant exchanges for India-based consumers.
The nine blocked exchanges still accounted for a substantial portion of the total value received by CEXs in India despite the prohibition, as indicated by data collected by Chainalysis.
For instance, the nine blocked exchanges accounted for nearly 40% of India’s total utilization of CEXs as of April 2024.
The ban on offshore exchanges in India has not significantly impacted their usage, as local users were still able to access them through downloaded apps or certain trading apps that were still accessible, according to Chainalysis’ insights.
After collecting fines in May 2024, India’s FIU has loosened its position on the abovementioned platforms, registering KuCoin and Binance, following the banning of the exchanges in late 2023.
Local reports in early September indicated that the FIU was considering the approval of two additional offshore exchanges to resume operations in India.
Within the CSAO region, India is the second-highest recipient of crypto value.
In addition to placing first in the global crypto adoption rankings, India was also rated second in the Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO) region regarding the value of crypto assets received.
Indonesia received $157 billion, while India received approximately $143 billion in crypto from July 2023 to June 2024, according to Chainalysis’ findings.
CSAO has received $750 billion in crypto asset inflows over the past year, which accounts for 16.6% of the global value. This positions the region in third place, following only Western Europe and North America.
Chainalysis indicates that CEXs were the primary driver of crypto activity in CSAO, with transfers exceeding $10,000 accounting for the most significant portion of value received. This suggests that there was a considerable amount of professional and institutional activity.
