Even gold-obsessed Indians are now pouring billions into crypto

NEW DELHI: The cryptocurrency aficionados’ mantra that Bitcoin is equivalent to digital gold is winning converts among the world’s biggest holders of the precious metal.

In India, where households own more than 25,000 tonnes of gold, investments in crypto grew from about $200 million to nearly $40 billion in the past year, according to Chainalysis. That’s despite outright hostility toward the asset class from the central bank and a proposed trading ban.

Richi Sood, a 32-year-old entrepreneur is one of those who swerved from gold to crypto. Since December, she’s put in just over Rs 1 million ($13,400) – some of it borrowed from her father – into Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ether.