India's crypto industry expects Bitcoin surge to boost local biz

Trump's embrace of digital assets and his likely pro-crypto policy may send Bitcoin's price above $100,000

- Shouvik Das

India's battered cryptocurrency industry, which has seen retail trading volumes decline by over 90% in the past three years, is cautiously optimistic about the industry's latest surge.

On Monday, the price of one Bitcoin token crossed $82,000, scaling a new all-time peak and sparking optimism about growth of business among domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.

However, domestic challenges such as heavy taxation and the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) adverse stance on cryptocurrencies could hinder a sustained growth in investors and trading volumes.

Ashish Singhal, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange and aggregator CoinSwitch, said that the platform "has seen a 500-700% sequential uptick in active users on the platform-be it for returning users, or new users signing up on the platform."

The rise that Singhal pointed to occurred over the past one week, with Bitcoin rising to its record-high, fueled by Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections held on 5 November.

In his campaign, Trump vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the world.