The cryptocurrency trading industry is still nascent in India, but it has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent times, and that has largely been driven by social media. This has also been accompanied by a general acceptance of cryptocurrencies all over the world, and those attitudes are filtering through to India as well.
This has been picked up on by crypto exchanges and companies, who have been running campaigns in partnership with various influencers to try and build a market for crypto in India. It has also been necessary to rebuild trust in the market, following a huge crash in the price of bitcoin in 2017 which threw many people off from investing in bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency trading in India is seeing a revival now, with the Supreme Court overturning a restriction on crypto earlier this year, that had been placed by the Reserve Bank of India. This immediately led to a number of crypto companies and exchanges entering India. WazirX, a crypto trading exchange, estimates that 7-8 million people in India trade, in, or hold crypto assets at this time. The use of influencers by these companies is important since restrictions on advertising mean that their reach is restricted, and therefore they rely on such influencers to be able to market crypto to people, especially in regional languages. There is also a need to rebuild trust following the price crash of 2017, as well as various notable scams and fraud that have taken place globally. Thus, crypto influencers, those who know the industry, are even more valuable in terms of spreading the message online.
It is important that this education is done effectively and quickly since various online platforms have begun accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. This is being seen particularly online in the casino sector, with live bitcoin casinos becoming very successful as a result.
The usage of cryptocurrency on such websites allows players to be able to make payments and withdrawals through crypto, which adds to the attractiveness of crypto for users and is a big reason for the push towards more crypto adoption in India.”
“This year, we have seen bitcoin rise to a lifetime high of $22,000, as uncertainty caused by the pandemic is pushing more and more people to invest in assets that can hedge against inflation and also provide rapid gains. This is a welcome change from the perception that cryptos had gained when they were first launched, with the general notion being that crypto was too volatile, unstable, prone to fraud, and therefore unreliable. However, the crypto industry is still quite nascent, especially in India, and so there is a definite need to educate potential investors and buyers about cryptocurrencies as well as the potential issues with investing in them so that they can make an informed decision. Cryptocurrencies are not exactly simple investments, so education is even more important. Social media offers companies a cost-effective way to make their message visible to a large group of people, and also offers the ability to target certain groups and markets based on various factors, making it even more efficient than the traditional advertising mediums of radio and TV.
The weakness of global economies is likely to continue throughout next year, which will then drive more interest and investment into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Regulators and central banks have also begun to look at crypto through a more favorable lens, even as many of them are also considering launching their own digital currencies, and therefore customers need to be well-informed before making an investment decision.
