Bitcoin near $90k-mark! Here's how Indian crypto investors made more returns than US peers

Bitcoin has seen a sharp rally recently with the largest crypto asset surging another 11 per cent in the last 24 hours to remain just shy of $90,000 mark. Bitcoin prices have rallied nearly 30 per cent in the last one week as Donald Trump won the US Presidential elections.

Interestingly, Bitcoin's sudden rally has pushed the price by nearly 1,200 per cent in the last five years as the digital token traded around $6,900 in November 2019. However, the Bitcoin has delivered heftier returns in Indian currency as it has zoomed more than 1,427 per cent. In absolute terms, Bitcoin price has soared 13 times in dollar terms, while 15.30 times in rupee terms.

Market participants suggested that Bitcoin's outperformance in Rupee terms shall be attributed to the stronger dollar. Indian currency has been trading at its all-time low around Rs 84.3 against the greenback, which was around Rs 71.5 per dollar in November 2019. This means higher returns for Indian investors.

Over the past 5 years, Bitcoin hit a low of $3,800 in April 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic. Bitcoin hit new highs following Trump's victory in the US elections and in anticipation of crypto friendly regulations, said Edul Patel, CEO at Mudrex.  "With the dollar’s strength showing no immediate signs of softening, the returns on dollar-pegged assets could continue to outperform."

As the gap between the dollar and the rupee widens, Bitcoin—which is traded against the dollar—offers especially high returns for Indian investors once converted, demonstrating Bitcoin’s dual appeal: its increasing valuation and its hedge potential against currency fluctuations, Patel added.

Bitcoin’s recent surge aligns with a confluence of market dynamics. This record-breaking high underscores the renewed interest in digital assets and the confidence sparked by global macroeconomic and regulatory shifts, said Sumit Gupta, co-founder at CoinDCX. The $100,000 mark is indeed the next major psychological milestone for Bitcoin, he said.

"As the world’s largest economy embraces a pro-crypto stance, the broader market is taking notice, and we’re seeing renewed interest from high-value customers and institutions. This moment highlights Bitcoin’s maturing role as a trusted store of value," he added.

According to the data from Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin surged over 11 per cent to hit all-time highs of $89,956.88 on Tuesday with its total market capitalization hitting the 1.75 trillion mark. Interestingly, the Bitcoin has seen a sharp spike of nearly 90 per cent in the traded volume at over $145 billion in the last 24 hours.

India, the fifth largest economy, can afford to ignore Bitcoin, said Bernstein in its latest note. It wondered whether leading Indian asset managers can follow global peers in launching Bitcoin ETFs; and talked about the role Indian regulators should play going ahead.

It urged the Indian government to work towards a national Bitcoin policy, as part of broader crypto policy. Bitcoin, it said, is urgent as global asset managers, international governments and corporations race towards acquiring Bitcoin as a strategic asset. "Crypto policy is complex and may take time to build consensus, but Bitcoin policy is urgent and of national strategic importance," Bernstein said.

Global asset managers such as Blackrock, Fidelity, Invesco, Templeton, VanEck, Wisdom Tree, ARK, Valkyrie and Bitwise run a Bitcoin ETF, which acquires spot Bitcoin from the open market. Total assets under management has surpassed $75 billion within 10 months of launch, making it the world’s most successful ETF launch ever.

The global crypto market capitalization also soared another 9 per cent in the last 24 hours to $3.01 trillion level, the Coinmarketcap data suggests. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours has seen a rise of as much as 40 per cent at $327.67 billion, the data suggests.

The momentum is bullish, signalling heightened investor confidence, said Raj Karkara, COO at ZebPay, which has has also seen a 55 per cent increase in trading volume over the past 24 hours, driven by Bitcoin’s rise and notable activity in other altcoins

Bitcoin has been surging higher ever since the outcome of the US election results, declaring Republican Party's Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. Amid the ongoing bullish momentum, the largest and oldest crypto asset scaled new highs since the announcement of the US elections results.

Trump has presented himself as a crypto supporter and the favourable outcome for the crypto industry in the US elections, along with steady ETF inflows from institutional money, rising global liquidity, a positive economic outlook, recent rate cuts and regulatory support the latest crypto rally.

Vishal Sacheendran, Head of Regional Markets at Binance said that clearer rules and a friendlier stance towards crypto businesses has the potential to increase investor confidence, encouraging further innovation and mainstream adoption of virtual digital assets. He also suggested investors to remain cautious in the ongoing bull market.