After years of anticipation, the cryptocurrency sector appears to have reached a decisive inflection point in 2025. President Donald Trump’s public endorsement of digital assets spurred U.S. regulators into action, helping propel Bitcoin to record highs earlier this year before the rally eventually petered out.
A key catalyst came in July, when the United States hosted a “Crypto Week,” during which U.S. lawmakers debated three landmark bills – the Genius Act, the Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act – signaling a clearer regulatory position for the industry.
These developments triggered a sharp price rally, with Bitcoin surpassing the $120,000 mark, while institutional confidence in crypto strengthened globally. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Solana,
However, the recovery proved short-lived. In October, the market corrected sharply as long-dormant Bitcoin holders began liquidating their holdings, triggering a broader sell-off.
Industry executives note that 2025 also marked a shift in market behavior, with prominent equity market investors beginning to diversify into cryptocurrencies, changing the traditional boom-and-bust trading patterns that have long defined the sector.
“Globally, regulatory clarity is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but the primary driver of growth. As frameworks stabilize, trust among institutional players increases, which is why we see banks and asset managers actively exploring blockchain-based trading, custody, ETFs and settlement,” said Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch. Money control.
What were the biggest crypto trends in India in 2025?
For the third year in a row, India has become the market with the highest crypto adoption rate according to Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index 2025.
Although regulatory clarity in India is still far away, global crypto exchanges such as Binance and Bybit have been racing to retain their place and market aggressively in the country to exploit this opportunity.
“We want a significant number of our next billion users to come from India,” said SB Seker, head of APAC at Binance. Money control in a previous interview.
For the largest local exchanges in India, growth in 2025 came from institutional investments and systematic investment plans (SIPs). Institutional investments on CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, ZebPay, and Mudrex grew by over 30-50% year-over-year in 2025, accounting for a significant portion of trading volumes on these exchanges.
According to Sumit Gupta, co-founder of CoinDCX, the US regulatory changes were also important for India. Despite a restrictive tax environment, Indian investors have benefited from global price fluctuations, greater liquidity and stronger institutional validation.
“In 2025, investor behavior reflected this maturity, with a greater emphasis on long-term holding, large-cap assets and portfolio-based allocation rather than short-term trading. This growing confidence is visible in portfolio construction,” Gupta said.
Data from CoinDCX shows that the average Indian investors held around five tokens, up from two to three in 2022. Layer 1 assets make up 43.3% of portfolios, followed by Bitcoin at 26.5% and meme tokens at 11.8%.
Today, wallets are increasingly focused on Layer 1 networks, DeFi assets, AI-related tokens, and Layer 2 scaling plays.
Additionally, the majority of crypto users in India came from non-metro cities, accounting for almost 40% in the case of CoinDCX.
Globally, regulatory clarity in the US, UK and Europe has firmly positioned digital assets within traditional financial systems.
“For India, the conclusion is clear: crypto is no longer a category that can be pushed aside. Timely policy action will be key to determining long-term competitiveness,” Gupta added.
What were the favorable factors on a global scale behind this upward trend?
Among the three bills discussed in the United States during Crypto Week, the Genius Act and the Clarity Act were adopted by the Senate with a majority of votes. The Genius Act was signed by US President Donald Trump, while the other is still waiting to be finalized.
The Genius Act is a big deal, laying the groundwork for the regulation of stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar to keep their value stable. The Clarity Act will determine who is in charge, whether it is the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, making life easier for crypto platforms.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act, meanwhile, aims to put an end to a government-controlled digital currency, giving private players more room to shine.
Not only in the United States, 2025 has proven to be a watershed moment as the well-designed regulatory frameworks in the United Kingdom, and the European Union have also enabled institutions to include cryptos in their portfolios and expand their capital structure in a positive way.
“In 2025, crypto moved from noise to nuance. Globally, the most significant change was the normalization of crypto within regulated financial markets. By 2025, crypto behaved less like a fringe bet and more like a macro-sensitive asset as it reacted to interest rates, dollar liquidity, and risk appetite, much like stocks or commodities,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.
Are stablecoins the next big thing?
India’s crypto industry leaders are betting big on stablecoin use cases going mainstream in 2026, as well as tokenization of real-world assets becoming a reality with Nandan Nilekani’s Finternet concept going live next year.
“For the coming year, Stablecoins are emerging as a serious alternative for cross-border payments. In 2025 alone, stablecoin-based transfers processed almost $46 trillion, proving that they are faster, cheaper and more efficient than traditional banking channels,” said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex.
He added: “This has sparked strong interest from global banks and technology companies exploring stablecoins for everyday money movement. »
CoinSwitch’s Singhal agrees: “When it comes to product adoption, crypto offerings will expand beyond spot markets to include tokenized assets and stablecoins.
Patel also sees the convergence of AI and blockchain coming of age. AI is increasingly being used to automate operations, assess risk and detect fraud in real time, he said.
India seeks crypto clarity in 2026
Getting clarity on India’s regulatory stance on crypto is on everyone’s wish list for 2026. For at least three years, the industry has been advocating for streamlining India’s high taxes on crypto income and opening up banking services to the sector.
Although industry players are not expecting “radical reform overnight,” they are hoping for gradual structured clarity on crypto.
Giottus’ Subburaj believes that India still lacks a “unified market conduct framework for licensing, consumer protection and product rules”, despite having taxes in place.
Crypto investors in India pay 30% tax on income from VDA (virtual digital assets) transfers and 1% TDS (tax withheld at source) on every transaction above Rs 10,000.
“Create a single licensing regime for VDA intermediaries with clear prudential and governance standards (quality and adequacy, capital, audits, segregation of client assets, disclosure information),” he recommended.
Singhal added: “Regulation should enable responsible innovation through sandboxes and phased approvals while allowing experiments in India to remain competitive without compromising financial stability. »
Patel highlighted the need to define digital assets into clear categories (e.g. utility tokens, payment tokens, securities) with tailored rules for each.
The result
Global crypto platforms see India as a critical emerging market for the future over the next few years, given the country’s advancements in fintech services and population-wide payment systems and a tech-savvy population embracing these use cases.
Local exchanges, on the other hand, see their dominance and understanding of the Indian market as their key differentiator in capturing market share.
Also read: Big stock market players are turning to crypto, India is a major market for us, says Yi He, co-founder of Binance
