India Leads Global Crypto Adoption Despite Web3 Challenges

According to Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Despite Adoption Index for 2024, India is back at the top. This is the country’s second year in a row receiving this honor. This achievement would not have been possible without India’s active and knowledgeable Web3 development community. A top official at Coinbase, Jesse Pollak, has complimented Indian developers on their innovative and sophisticated work in blockchain apps, decentralized finance (DeFi), and cryptocurrency. With his expertise in building Coinbase’s Layer-2 blockchain, Base, Pollak provides valuable insights into the changing Web3 scene in India.

The India Blockchain Week A Celebration of Innovation

The second India Blockchain Week took place in Bengaluru in December 2024. In recognition of the industry’s blockchain technology achievements, this event held Web3 investors, developers, and community members. In preparation for 2025, the group sought to settle current disputes and define growth priorities. When asked for his thoughts on the Web3 ecosystem in India and Coinbase’s Base participation, Pollak took part in the event’s talks.

During his November trip to India, Pollak spoke with Web3 developers in Bengaluru, sometimes called India’s Silicon Valley. His conversations revealed the extraordinary competence and technical mastery of Indian blockchain engineers. These coders, he said, are very bright and enthusiastic about making a difference in the worldwide on-chain economy. Based on his personal experiences, Pollak concluded that India’s Web3 sector had great potential to spur innovation and economic progress.

Difficulties Encountered by India’s Web3 Industry

There are a lot of obstacles in India’s Web3 business, even though the landscape seems bright. The lack of accessible credit and borrowing options is a major problem. Indian banks and the cryptocurrency industry have a rocky relationship, which makes this problem much worse. Banks in India were barred from providing services to cryptocurrency companies in 2018 due to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mistrust of the industry. Financial institutions in India are still unsure of how they stand on the Web3 sector, even though the country’s highest court reversed the prohibition in 2020.

You may now buy, sell, and store Crypto Adoption through several big institutions, such as Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank. However, the practice of banks lending money using cryptocurrency as security is still in its early stages. Tokenization of assets and on-chain identification credentials could play a role in facilitating on-chain micro-lending and credit, which Pollak highlighted as a possible solution. Additionally, he noted that on-chain solutions have the potential to make international money transfers more efficient and cost-effective than traditional banking methods.

Pollak’s Proposed Base Blockchain Future State

The Base blockchain, developed and tested by Coinbase, was released to the public in August 2023. This Ethereum-based Layer-2 blockchain aims to guarantee transaction speeds of less than one second and maintain gas fees below one penny. Pollak has pledged to move its Base away from its current centralized form and toward a decentralized one. To him, decentralization is the key to opening the door to an on-chain economy that can liberate people worldwide.

Pollak has highlighted two important areas of attention for Base in the coming year of 2025. The first is to make using a wallet on-chain easier so that anyone can do it, regardless of their level of expertise. The second area of emphasis is developing stablecoins and other additional currencies to be used on the blockchain for international transactions. Pollak plans to add more than a hundred local currencies to Base to further integrate them into the global on-chain economy by 2026. This will enable users to engage using their native currencies.

Summary

Some of the most significant figures in the industry, such as Pollak, have made observations regarding the acceptance rate of crypto adoption in India. Based on these observations, it appears that the Web3 sector possesses substantial unrealized potential for development and advancement. There has not yet been a complete realization of this potential. At first glance, it would appear that blockchain developers in India, along with the ecosystem encompassing cryptocurrencies worldwide, had a prosperous future ahead of them.

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