As I write this past Christmas day in what was otherwise a terrible year, the king of digital currencies — Bitcoin (BTC) — is past the US $25,000 mark. On many Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, one Bitcoin by the end of 2020 is now worth well over Rs. 20,00,000!
I’ve been tracking cryptocurrency markets since late 2017. That was when Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies gained mainstream attention globally. Even in India, mainstream news media outlets were covering Bitcoin price rises and in December 2017, saw a deluge of retail buyers (regular folks like you and me) rushing to sign up on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges to try and get a piece of the action.
Well, three years later, the cryptocurrency markets are hot again and once again led by Bitcoin. Back in 2017 and early 2018, people would message me and ask me where to buy, what to buy, at what prices to buy, etc. Well, I am not going to tell you what to buy nor make price predictions because from experience I can tell you — NOBODY can predict cryptocurrency markets. I’ll explain this in more detail later below.
For now, here are the exchanges or marketplaces from where Indians can buy Bitcoin or trade Bitcoin in Indian rupees (INR).
Popular Indian Exchanges for Trading Bitcoin
Although there are several websites offering Bitcoin in India, I recommend trading on the three largest exchanges by daily volume. As of today, the below are the top three:
- WazirX (ranked 178 globally on Nomics.com*)
- Zebpay (ranked 185)
- CoinDCX (ranked 220)
*These rankings can vary weekly based on changes in volumes traded
Founded in 2017, WazirX is currently the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in India and it is owned by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. Zebpay began all the way back in 2013 but shut down temporarily because of the side effects all the FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) created by the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India in 2018. CoinDCX was founded in 2018 and has gotten investments from Polychain Capital and Coinbase Ventures (Coinbase is America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange).
You also have other websites such as BuyUCoin and UnoCoin (my referral code is U-628286 if you want) — both of which have been around for years — but neither appear to be as big players now. I’ve used both back in 2017 and I wouldn’t really recommend either now. Unocoin even charges a commission of 0.7% to buy or sell bitcoin, which is rather high.
Mind you, all the above exchanges and websites sell other cryptocurrencies too, like Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and even the Elon Musk ‘favourite‘ DOGECOIN (DOGE) — currently only available through WazirX, CoinDCX and BuyUCoin.
Fees:
The rate of commission charged by the three major exchanges vary by type of trade. They all charge for withdrawals of cryptocurrencies (when transferring from one exchange to another). But generally for trading, this is how much each exchange charges as commission rates for buying or selling Bitcoin.
| WazirX | ZebPay | CoinDCX |
| 0.2% | 0.1% to 0.25% | 0.1% |
| Full list of fees | Full list of fees | Full list of fees |
How to Buy Bitcoin on WazirX
Firstly, no matter which exchange you sign up on, you will need to finish the KYC (Know Your Customer) process before you begin trading or link your Indian bank account. The KYC process as of this writing can be completed within a day or two for all three. I say this because right now, the Bitcoin price peaks have yet to hit mainstream news in India.
Back in December 2017, there was such a mad gold rush that big exchanges back then (like the now dead Koinex) were bombarded with thousands of signups daily and the KYC process took multiple days for new registrants. People got frustrated as the delay in getting their accounts approved meant that the price of Bitcoin kept rising higher and higher day by day. If you are reading this blog post in December 2020, I recommend you sign up immediately and avoid the mad rush if and when the rest of mainstream India catches on and we see another retail hype.
Once you have completed the KYC process and linking your Indian bank account details, you can deposit cash and start buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
I’m using WazirX as an example because it’s the one I use the most for trading cryptocurrencies. The platform layouts are more or less the same, be it for CoinDCX or even foreign ones like Binance.
1. After signing in, click on Exchange at the top.
2. To buy Bitcoin (BTC), move to the bottom left hand corner where you will find the Buy/Sell box. To set the price at which you wish to buy BTC, click the AT PRICE box. Then if you wish to spend a set amount, say only Rs. 5000, then enter that amount in the TOTAL box. You will see how much BTC you get for that amount. For this example, that’s 0.0025 BTC.
3. Once you click ‘Buy BTC’ you will see the order show up under the Open Order box.
Otherwise, if you feel the price is dropping substantially, you may cancel your order and quote a lower price target (say Rs. 19 lakhs) and get BTC for an even lower market rate.
4. To see which price point is seeing the largest buy or sell targets, see the Order Book box.
The process is the same for all the other cryptocurrencies offered on WazirX.
If you are new to this, here are some basic advice when getting involved in cryptocurrencies:
- Do not believe anybody who make price predictions — be it articles or YouTubers or so-called finance professionals — who say you better buy now because the price will hit a specific target by so and so date. I cannot stress this enough: NOBODY HAS GOTTEN IT RIGHT! In the 3 years I’ve tracked the crypto markets, nobody can accurately guess when and how much Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency’s price will be. The only reason why BTC is rising now is because institutional buyers in the United States are feeling confident about Bitcoin as an alternative form of investment whereas back in 2017, it was mostly new to many and prices were driven by mainstream hype. Also, just because Bitcoin is doing well does not mean every other cryptocurrency will do well.
- Do not invest more than you are willing to lose. Buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies still come with its risks. Especially in India. It was only in March this year that the Supreme Court — not the Indian government — deemed the business of cryptocurrency exchange as not illegal. That does not imply that Reserve Bank or the Indian government cannot do something stupid, create more FUD and ruin it for Indian buyers and sellers. It’s just that the government is pre-occupied with other things right now (COVID-19 and elections mostly), so they’re not paying attention to Bitcoin… yet
- Mentally prepare yourself to be content with how much ever you have made in profits. I bought into BTC way back in 2017 when it hit $16,000 and sold it when it hit $20,800 in early December 2020. But then it rose to new highs two weeks later. You will always hit moments where you think to yourself, “dammit, I should held on a bit longer” OR “dammit, I should have sold at xx price!”. This will always happen as, like I said, you cannot predict which way the markets go. And with Bitcoin, unless you hold a substantial amount of BTC, don’t expect to see huge profits.
- Cryptocurrency markets are 24/7. Unlike the Bombay Stock Exchange that operates from 9:15am to 3:30pm, five days a week — cryptocurrency markets are a global game. You could go to sleep in India and wake up to see the markets all in the red (as in down) or see your portfolio rise in value. So keep that in mind when making decisions to buy or sell. Volatility in cryptocurrency markets is also much higher than the stock markets.
So be careful, do you own research and then invest carefully.
