Indian traders are eschewing Bitcoin and Ethereum in favor of Shiba Inu, according to market data. SHIB is seeing comparatively high volume, despite the harsh tax scheme in the country.
Indian traders are not clamoring for the market’s biggest coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum but are instead going for the popular meme token Shiba Inu (SHIB). The latter is the most traded token on India’s top crypto exchanges, including Zebpay, WazirX, and CoinDCX.
Data from Nomics shows that 9% of all crypto trading in the country includes the SHIB token. SHIB traders on Zebpay — which is looking to move away from India because of the harsh tax rules — have traded nearly $120 million since the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, data for WazirX shows that more than 10% of trading is in the meme token. Traders have moved more than $970 million over the ten months. India’s other large exchange, CoinDCX, sees SHIB account for more than 5% of its total trade volume.
These comparatively high volumes for a country that saw its crypto trading hit hard by harsh tax schemes that were introduced earlier this year. Trading volumes tanked following the ruling and forced many crypto companies out of the nation. As for more general regulation, India isn’t expected to introduce such legislation until there is global consensus on the matter.
Why are Indians buying SHIB?
One reason why SHIB might be seeing unusually large activity is that there is a strong SHIB community in the country. Investors have been profiting from the token even during the COVID pandemic. They are hoping for this to continue as they go into the future.
Despite the heavy taxation on crypto, India is seeing a spike in crypto activity in recent weeks. There has been a 45% increase in user signups. Analysts say that the weakening rupee and underperforming stock markets have pushed investors toward Bitcoin.
The Shiba Inu ecosystem is growing
The Shiba Inu token has experienced several developments in the past few weeks, including listing on well-known exchanges. BitMEX revealed that six new cryptocurrencies would be listed on Oct. 10, and SHIB was included.
The team is also working on the Shibarium layer-2 solution, though there has been no specific date provided regarding its deployment. The public beta is expected soon, but this, too, has no date outlined.
The other major Shiba Inu news is the release of the Shiba Eternity game. It was released on Oct. 6, reaching the top spot in the card games category on the App Store.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to company or individual involved in the story to get an official statement about the recent developments, but it has yet to hear back.