The rapid increase in digitization in the past few years has created a ripe environment for digital currency. Almost half of the surveyed respondents said they would start or increase their investments in crypto currencies if there was more awareness about benefits of investing in them or if it was more widely accepted as a mode of payment.
The key driver for most urban Indians to invest in digital currencies is primarily the promise of high returns in a short time. The other two top reasons to invest are high liquidity, through which one can easily buy and sell crypto currencies while rest claim that their interest has piqued due to higher awareness of all the marketing information on crypto currencies via ads, social media etc.
But there are still various reasons that deter people from investing in crypto currencies. More than half of urban Indians find lack of government regulations on crypto currencies to be a key factor discouraging them from investing in them. Unlike many other emerging markets, the government in India is yet to issue a regulatory stance on this new asset class and it seems this will enhance people’s confidence in digital money.
The above two perspective are the ones which are in general, But among them will the Millennial accept crypto currency as an investment?
Who Are Millennial ?
MILLENIAL are persons reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.
Millenials On The Fence About Cryptocurrency
Fuelled by the hype and advertisements, young investors are flocking to cryptocurrency exchanges with dreams of earning quick profits, and investors specifically think cryptocurrency can make them millionaire.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while flagging cryptocurrency as one of the areas where they should work together to “ensure it does not end up in the wrong hands” and “spoil our youth”.
Speaking on “India’s technology evolution and revolution” during a virtual address at the inaugural Sydney Dialogue, Modi referred to the digital age that “is changing everything around us” and said it was “essential for democracies to work together” — from technology to supply chains. “Take cryptocurrency or bitcoin, for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure it does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth,” Modi said.
Millennials Are Pulling Out India’s Crypto Industry Out Of The Shadows
In hundreds of India’s small cities and towns, a generation that has hardly had any experience with stocks and bonds is heading straight for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano and Solana. The average age of the 11 million users of CoinSwitch Kuber, a Cryptocurrency trading app that didn’t exist 18 months ago, is 25, and 55% of them are from outside large metropolises like New Delhi or Mumbai.
Now trading is all very public, and highly visible. CoinSwitch Kuber has signed up a popular Bollywood youth icon for an ad campaign with the tagline, “Kucch toh badlega” — something will change.
For CoinSwitch, which started out as an aggregator of best real-time prices for digital assets around the world, something already has. In 2018, the fledgling venture couldn’t play on its home turf because India’s monetary authority had instructed banks not to entertain customers who dealt in virtual currency. It was only in March last year that the Supreme Court overturned the ban. CoinSwitch, whose app was released in June, acquired 11 million customers in 16 months. Investors took notice of the start-up: It recently became the first in the country to raise money from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz, at a valuation of $1.9 billion.
Having gone mainstream in such a short time, the industry itself is demanding to be regulated. “We’ve decided that we’ll show our faces,” says Ashish Singhal, one of CoinSwitch’s three cofounders. “Even if regulation harms our business in the short run, it’s better than being forced to operate in a gray area with little certainty and not much room for growth.”
Receding Risk For Crypto Industry
Fears of being outlawed have swirled since last year’s court order that gave the dying industry new life. But that risk is now receding. While Beijing last month announced, in most unequivocal terms, its resolve to root out all transactions in virtual currencies, the consensus opinion is that New Delhi will hesitate to take such an extreme step.
That’s partly because the relationship between private business and the state is different in India, where politicians need corporate donations to fight expensive elections, and citizens don’t like being told by the Bollywood stars promoting crypto.
Many more want to — the draw of crypto is now half as powerful as that of mutual funds, a product with which older generations has a far deeper familiarity. That offers a glimpse of what investor portfolios will look like in the future: A mix of digital assets and traditional financial products. Even without the reflected light of Bollywood stars, India’s crypto industry isn’t going dark again.
As per a survey report released last November by CoinDCX, another cryptocurrency exchange platform in India, 71 per cent of respondents below 35 years said they have invested in a cryptocurrency at least once.
