{"id":124812,"date":"2025-03-11T05:15:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T05:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124812"},"modified":"2025-03-11T05:15:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T05:15:44","slug":"web3-devs-gamers-investors-thrive-despite-indias-crypto-policy-hurdles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124812","title":{"rendered":"Web3 devs, gamers, investors thrive despite India\u2019s crypto policy hurdles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsIndia\u2019s contribution to the global Web3 ecosystem \u2014 primarily in software development, gaming, investments and startup funding \u2014 increased year-on-year despite an absence of locally tailored crypto regulations.
\nIndia\u2019s share of global Web3 developers grew from 5% to 12% in the last 10 years, second only to the United States as of 2024, according to the India Web3 Landscape Report 2024 by Hashed Emergent, shared with Cointelegraph.
\nDeveloper growth in India since 2015. Source: Hashed EmergentSpeaking to Cointelegraph, Tak Lee, CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed Emergent, pointed out four key factors driving India to the top of global crypto adoption: retail crypto transactions on centralized services, highest trading volumes, institutional adoption and retail DeFi transactions.
\nGen Z dominates the Web3 developer landscape in India
\nThe growth is driven by the younger generation, as roughly 80% of all blockchain developers in India are between 18 and 27 years of age. The Indian developers in DeFi, Payments, AI and SocialFi prefer Solana as the go-to blockchain.
\nTon, Aptos and Base are steadily gaining momentum across other key sectors, driven by the expanding presence of layer-1 and layer-2 ecosystems, the report noted.
\nWeb3 sector and ecosystem trends in India. Source: Hashed EmergentWhile funding opportunities and builder initiatives like hackathons support initial growth, Indian developers have pointed out employers\u2019 lack of willingness to pay salaries that match global industry standards.
\nThe challenges faced by Web3 gaming projects are the extremely high cost of customer acquisition (CAC) to onboard Web3 users and the lack of quality gameplay beyond financial incentives to retain Web2 gamers. \u201cTherefore, several of these games are now focusing on having great quality games before integrating blockchain mechanics or tapping into Indian gamers\u2019 craze for RMG,\u201d Lee explained.
\nRelated: Indian town adopts Avalanche blockchain for tamper-proof land records
\nIn contrast, investments into the Indian Web3 landscape saw a 224% increase in 2024 compared to the previous year \u2014 sourced from various avenues such as local funds, ecosystem funds and corporate venture arms of leading exchanges.
\nLee told Cointelegraph that the lack of growth capital in the Web3 world, along with the absence of traditional venture\/growth\/private equity funds, makes it difficult for Indian firms to raise capital, adding:
\n\u201cTherefore, entrepreneurs explore crowd sales as a way to fund their future growth. Some renowned projects may also explore crowd sales due to higher valuations offered but this is extremely rare and done by the extremely blue chip founders who can raise money from retail with ample certainty and high volumes.\u201d
\nFunding in India\u2019s Web3 finance sector. Source: Hashed EmergentCompared to the previous years, the substantial growth in Web3 investments in 2024 \u201csignals a gradual recovery, with investors focusing on emerging areas of decentralized finance,\u201d the report said.
\nIndia is a global hub for founders and developers, currently home to the second-largest developer market and third-largest founder base globally.\u00a0
\nSome of the main barriers preventing large-scale investments, according to Tak, have to do with the \u201cslower than anticipated growth of some of these startups .\u201c Unclear regulations and compliances also hinder Web3 investments in India.
\nGrowing Web3 against all odds
\nDespite an active high-tax environment on cryptocurrency, small-scale crypto investments saw an uptick in India. Traders generally preferred small, frequent trades, with 96% maintaining positions less than $12 with an average of 11x-20x leverage. Females represented 1 in 10 futures traders in India, highlighting the scope for greater participation.\u00a0
\nThe report called for reforms in crypto tax deductions and reporting in addition to the need for federal guidance and tax implications:
\n\u201cIndia must overcome its negative policy perception that stifles innovation and instead focus on identifying and addressing the pain points faced by stakeholders with effective regulation that will incentivize the Web3 sector to grow and thrive.\u201d
\nIndian Web3 firms call for progressive regulation for all stakeholders. Source: Hashed EmergentThe policy wish list for the Indian Web3 includes the regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers (VASP), tax rationalization, streamlined banking and payment access for Web3 companies, exemptions from VASP regulations and clarity on existing regulations.
\nRecent regulatory initiatives like URL blocking of locally unlicensed crypto exchanges have resulted in the influx of funds to self-custodial solutions (decentralized exchanges) or domestic exchanges, which are regulated under Indian law.
\nMagazine: Mystery celeb memecoin scam factory, HK firm dumps Bitcoin: Asia ExpressRead More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsIndia\u2019s contribution to the global Web3 ecosystem \u2014 primarily in software development, gaming, investments and startup funding \u2014 increased year-on-year despite an absence of locally tailored crypto regulations.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124812"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}