After the Supreme Court of India overturned a ban on cryptocurrency trading in the country, the eyes of the crypto world turned to India to see how the monumental decision will affect the market. 

The world’s second most-populated country has long been considered the new frontier for the crypto industry, as it’s 1.3 billion people have historically been quick to adopt new technologies and push for innovation in the financial sector. 

A recent poll conducted by OnePoll, showed that the majority of people that have at least some understanding of cryptocurrencies have invested in Bitcoin and believe cryptocurrencies could be a path to financial freedom.

According to the poll, 75% of the 500 respondents have invested in cryptocurrencies so far. More than 90% of those that do own cryptocurrencies, own Bitcoin, while 44.2% said they owned Ethereum. Only 1.6% said they owned other cryptocurrencies. 

While the poll offered invaluable insight into the sentiment towards cryptocurrencies in India, it also illustrated some of the prevailing trends in the crypto industry. Namely, more than 56% of respondents said they first invested in cryptocurrencies between 2018 and 2019, a period that followed one of the biggest market crashes in crypto history. 

Only around 10% of respondents said they invested in any digital assets before 2015, showing that the industry, despite being 5 years old at that point, was still a niche market.

In 2020, however, 40% of Indians said they would prefer to invest money in cryptocurrencies than in gold, real estate, or stocks and bonds. 

OnePoll’s data has also shown that India’s people have a very mature understanding of the market, and as such, have high expectations for the future of the industry. 

The majority of those that responded to the survey don’t seem to be in it for the profits—data has shown that 75.8% believe safe and easy transferring was the main benefit of digital assets. Around 65% said the value lies in better privacy and security, while 64.8% said that the most important thing cryptocurrencies bring to the table is financial freedom. Half of those that responded to the survey, however, said that cryptocurrencies were incredibly valuable because they enabled anyone to access the market. 

About 44% of respondents agreed that the biggest positive impact on India’s economy will be the increase in entrepreneurship and jobs and the growth of a digitized India. Just under 10% said that cryptocurrencies will bring about a reduction in poverty.

However, despite the incredibly optimistic attitude towards cryptocurrencies in general, the majority of the poll’s respondents believe that more work needs to be done to improve the legality of the industry. 

More than 81% said that applying for and meeting compliance requirements were the most important guidelines for the industry. Around 75% said that improving know-your-customer (KYC) processes was important, while 58.6% said consistent framework across all regulatory requirements was crucial. 

The poll couldn’t have come at a better time—with investments in the Indian blockchain and crypto industry growing each day, more people are becoming aware of cryptocurrencies and are looking for a way into the digital asset market. This, alongside other global developments, presents an incredibly bullish case for cryptocurrencies in general.