India doesn't have 100 million crypto users: WazirX founder

The founder of India's largest cryptocurrency exchange has cautioned investors about inaccurate estimates on India's burgeoning crypto industry.

“India does not have 10 crore people in crypto. Someone published an incorrect random number and now other parts of the media is picking it up,” Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, wrote on microblogging platform Twitter on Tuesday.



Shetty said that wide acceptance of inaccurate growth estimates and figures can be harmful to the industry and retail users at large.

“People might overestimate the growth of the industry and accordingly invest in crypto thinking even greater adoption than what exists,” Shetty said. "It creates unnecessary FOMO (fear of missing out) as well when you hear such a large number."

Shetty said that the number is closer to 1.5-2 crore based on estimates done by crypto exchanges in India.

“Total global crypto population itself is in the 150 to 200 million range. India has about 15 to 20 million users currently,” Shetty said.

BrokerChooser, a company that helps “independent investors and traders to find an online broker fitting to their needs”, published a report on "crypto proliferation" earlier in October, which was taken up by several media outlets. The report claimed that Indian has 100 million crypto users.

Later, Coins Crunch India, an independent crypto news website, vetted the source of the claim in BrokerChooser’s report and said it was “bogus”.