Indian crypto exchanges suffered extremely badly during the crypto bear market of 2022. Trading volume on WazirX fell a massive 97% over the year.
Severe drop in trading volumes
According to an article in the business section of the Outlook India
news platform, exchanges based in the country experienced a severe drop in trading volumes.
Data quoted from CREBACO stated that WazirX’s trading volume plummeted 97.99%, CoinDCX’s decreased 88%, Bitbns fell 67%, and ZebPay went down 94%. All over the course of 2022 taken from January to December.
Indian authority’s negative view on crypto
Other exchanges across the world are likely to have suffered large dips in trading volume as well, but the Indian market probably suffered more due to the very negative crypto view of the government and the Royal Bank of India.
In line with this, a 30% capital gains tax was introduced for all those citizens trading in crypto. Furthermore, a 1% tax was also levied on every single single transaction.
Crypto sector dwindles in India
The result of this was to dampen the Indian crypto market to a very high degree, and in addition, some crypto infrastructure such as exchanges, moved overseas and a brain drain was also experienced.
With far more regulatory laws about to descend on crypto in India, and also in various jurisdictions across the world, it remains to be seen how this will affect the sector.
Regulation – good or bad?
Some say that the clarity and certainty produced by more regulatory oversight can lend the aura of respectability to the industry that is required by institutions wishing to invest in the sector.
However, others might say that the type of regulation that is incoming in places like Europe (MiCA), could have the effect of squashing the life out of crypto and of drastically curtailing the innovation that has been freely flowing out of the sector.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.