According to a UN trade group, about 7% of Indians held cryptocurrencies in 2021.

According to the United Nations trade and development organisation UNCTAD, over 7% of Indians held bitcoin in 2021. UNCTAD also noted that the usage of cryptocurrencies worldwide, especially in poor nations, has expanded dramatically during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The population ownership of digital currencies in the top 20 economies in 2021 was revealed by the UN organisation. With 12.7 percent of the population owning such currencies, Ukraine topped the list.

India was placed in sixth place. While these private digital currencies have helped some people and enabled remittances, the UN agency said they are an unstable form of money that also has societal risks and costs.

The agency recently looked at the factors that contributed to cryptocurrencies' quick adoption in developing nations, including, among other things, the ease of sending money home.

 While cryptocurrencies might make remittances easier, they may also make it possible to evade taxes and avoid paying them through unauthorised transfers, much like to a tax haven where ownership is difficult to trace.

"Recent market shocks involving digital currencies imply that owning crypto has privacy dangers, but if the central bank intervenes to safeguard financial stability, then the problem becomes a public one," it stated.

 It is significant to note that during the past few months, the price of Bitcoin has fallen precipitously from its record high, making investors poorer. Most other well-known crypto assets have recently fallen more precipitously. Cryptocurrencies might potentially inadvertently supplant national currencies,

the report continued, endangering nations' ability to control their own money. "Stablecoins present special hazards in poor nations where there is an unmet need for reserve currency. The International Monetary Fund has said that cryptocurrencies pose hazards as legal money for some of these reasons."