The trading volume of India’s top cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has fallen to $1 billion in 2023. This comes as the platform faced a broader downturn in global digital asset prices and stocks, as well as increased regulatory pressure in its home market.
This year, the total volume of cryptocurrencies traded on WazirX’s platform decreased by 90% compared to 2022, when the volume reached $10 billion, and by 97% compared to $43 billion in 2021.
WazirX, which is in a dispute with Binance over ownership of the Indian company, cast the latest figures in a positive light, touting the total transaction value at $1 billion in a public statement on Tuesday. However, the exchange is careful to contextualize this number by skipping the much higher levels seen in 2021, when crypto fever was at its peak, and even in 2022, before the sell-off took hold. Rejected.
The 97% drop in trading volume comes as WazirX faces increasing regulatory pressure from Indian authorities, forcing the country’s once booming crypto sector to fight for survival. India started taxing cryptocurrencies last year, imposing a 30% tax on profits and a 1% deduction for each crypto transaction. Indian lawmakers have consistently praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in protecting Indians from fraud involving the cryptocurrency market and the dramatic decline in asset prices.
New Delhi-based think tank Esya reported earlier this year that local tax rules are forcing many Indian traders to use foreign platforms such as Binance and Coinbase. Coinbase has since stopped onboarding new customers in India.
A tightening regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies in India has thrown a damper on local investors who were once eager to back the country’s crypto startups. The unfavorable climate, which Binance previously cited as the basis for its wariness about expanding into India, has made venture capital firms dramatically wary of exposure to the thorny sector, according to people familiar with the matter.
Many of the top India-focused venture capital firms that were enthusiastically backing crypto companies last year have since pivoted to other industries, according to people familiar with the matter.
Source: techcrunch.com
