India now ranks second on the global crypto adoption index, according to new research from Chainalysis

• A new report from Chainalysis says that cryptocurrency usage in Vietnam, India, and Pakistan topped the Global Crypto Index.
• Usage in Pakistan and Vietnam is more similar to gambling, whereas India is more mature.
• Ethereum adoption in India is higher than in the other two countries.

Countries in the west and the European Union might lead crypto regulations around the world, but adoption for cryptocurrencies has been growing dramatically in Central and Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO). A new report from blockchain-based analysis firm Chainalysis, notes that Vietnam, India, and Pakistan took the top three spots in the Global Crypto Adoption Index. In addition, countries like Thailand and the Philippines came in at the 12th and 15th spots on the index.

The CSAO market is the fourth largest cryptocurrency market the company studies, and it pegged the total value at $572.5 billion between July 2020 and July 2021. This is 14% of the global transaction value during the mentioned period. “CSAO’s transaction activity grew by 706% compared to last year in terms of raw value, and its share of global cryptocurrency activity grew by 2%, making CSAO one of the fastest-growing of all the regions we study,” the company said in a blog post.

Crypto adoption surging in India

Further, the report noted that the Indian and Vietnamese markets are “much larger” than Pakistan. It said that India, Vietnam, and Pakistan all have “high levels of grassroots cryptocurrency adoption”, but India records a much bigger share of activity taking place on the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms. The country recorded 59% of its crypto activity from such platforms as compared to 47% in Vietnam and 33% in Pakistan.

DeFi growth could be good news for developing nations like India. These applications use technology to bring more accountability to blockchain and crypto-based lending platforms, investment schemes, and more. As a result, they’re easier for regulators to accept than simple crypto trading activities. For instance, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a crypto-based fund called Arca in July last year.

Chainalysis noted that while all three regions grew substantially last year, DeFi adoption in India and Pakistan grew by 641% and 711%, respectively.

The increased DeFi adoption has also led to growing Ethereum usage in India, as compared to the other two countries in the top three - since most DeFi apps today are built on the Ethereum platform. The report also said that Indian cryptocurrency adopters seem more mature than Vietnam and Pakistan.

Transaction sizes in India were larger, with large institutional-sized transfers of over $10 million worth of cryptocurrency representing 42% of all transactions from India-based addresses. Only 28% and 29% of transactions, respectively, were of such high values in Pakistan and Vietnam.

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