beincrypto.com
The ease of use of many cryptocurrency exchanges in India is drawing the country’s youth into investing in digital assets.
According to a Reuters report, the growth of cryptocurrency investing in India is being facilitated by crypto exchanges making it as simple as possible for users to trade.
“It’s easier and faster to buy bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin in India than it is to order a pizza on food-delivery app Zomato,” the article states. “That’s how startups are luring the country’s next generation of investors.”
CoinSwitch Kuber
The article singles out exchange aggregator CoinSwitch Kuber, which recently achieved a valuation of $2 billion after a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and Coinbase. Some 70% of its users are investing in financial assets for the first time, the average age of whom is 25, roughly a decade younger than average crypto traders in the United States. These young investors are the primary driving force behind the growth of crypto in India.
Despite requiring identity verification, CoinSwitch strives to expedite the usually tedious process for prospective customers. New users can usually upload basic identity requirements, such as their tax number and a selfie, within five minutes. Following this process, the exchange’s minimum trade amount of 100 rupees, or $1.30, allows even those with the most meager of funds to trade over 80 different cryptocurrencies. These efforts have enabled CoinSwitch to amass 12 million users in the past 18 months.
Crypto addiction into something more
Aside from similar efforts on the part of other exchanges, the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies makes trading them inherently more addictive. Due to the wild price swings, crypto traders are more liable to check their portfolios with greater frequency than average financial traders.
CoinSwitch and other exchanges are hoping to leverage this draw by transitioning into offering more traditional, regulated products. As other more traditional trading platforms, such as Robinhood, have seen their numbers swell after offering crypto, the race is on to become the next big financial super-app.