Why the next wave of crypto users won’t be traders

For a very long time, when folks considered crypto users, they pictured somebody glued to a buying and selling terminal, watching candles and chasing the next 10x. That picture made sense in 2017. It made partial sense in 2021. In 2026, it is simply outdated.

Global crypto possession has crossed 740 million folks. Some forecasts put us on monitor to hit one billion by the finish of this yr. But here is the factor that does not get talked about sufficient — a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 report estimates that solely 40 to 70 million of these a whole lot of hundreds of thousands truly transact on-chain often. Which means someplace north of 90% of crypto holders aren’t traders in any actual sense. They’re holding, watching, ready. And ultimately, they’re going to come for one thing extra helpful than value motion. India is the place that story begins to get actually attention-grabbing.

We’re already the world’s largest nationwide crypto person base, round 119 million folks, forward of the US and China. Chainalysis has ranked India primary on its Global Crypto Adoption Index for 3 consecutive years. And on-chain worth obtained in India grew by 99% year-on-year in 2025. But what is much extra compelling than the dimension of that quantity is who’s driving it.

Over 75% of crypto exercise in India now comes from non-metro cities Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4. The common investor age has gone up from 25 to 32. Women’s participation doubled final yr. These aren’t folks searching 100x returns on a brand new memecoin at 2 AM. These are individuals who have a smartphone, a UPI account, and a real monetary want that the current system does not serve effectively sufficient. That’s the person we’re fascinated by after I discuss the next wave.

Think about remittances. India obtained $129 billion in remittances in 2024 greater than every other nation in the world. The NRI sending cash house nonetheless will get hit with charges and a 2-day wait. Stablecoin rails could make that on the spot and almost free. It’s basically UPI throughout borders. And on condition that UPI itself processed over 228 billion transactions in 2025, with greater than 350 million energetic users who’re utterly snug with mobile-first on the spot funds, the behavioral basis is already there. The query is simply which product connects these two rails first.

Think about gaming. India already has over 14 million blockchain players. Globally, blockchain gaming hit 4.66 million day by day distinctive energetic wallets in Q3 2025. These are folks incomes and spending in-game belongings that occur to dwell on a blockchain. They do not suppose of themselves as crypto users. They’re simply enjoying.

Think about creators. India’s creator economic system is a $1.46 billion business, however 88% of creators nonetheless wrestle to earn a dependable revenue largely as a result of cross-border fee rails are costly and sluggish. A creator getting paid in stablecoins immediately by their neighborhood, in seconds, at near-zero value, that is not a crypto story for them. That’s only a higher approach to receives a commission.

And then there’s the entry level query. Gemini’s 2025 Global State of Crypto report discovered that over 30% of new crypto users globally began with meme cash. More importantly, 94% of these users went on to personal different crypto. So neighborhood tokens and informal launchpads are working as precise on-ramps not lifeless ends for individuals who simply wish to take part in one thing they discover thrilling.

What makes all of this doable now, in a approach it wasn’t three or 4 years in the past, is infrastructure. Transaction charges on fashionable L1s are fractions of a cent. Account abstraction means you’ll be able to log right into a crypto pockets together with your Google account and by no means see a seed phrase. Embedded wallets provision silently in the background. Aggregate on-chain throughput has grown greater than 100x in 5 years.

The constructing blocks are in place. What’s wanted now’s merchandise that attain folks the place they’re mobile-first, easy, quick, and designed for somebody who is not fascinated about a buying and selling dashboard.

India has skilled a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of folks to anticipate on the spot digital funds from their telephones. That expectation is a present to crypto builders. The next billion users need not perceive blockchain. They simply want merchandise that work. And we’re nearer to that than most individuals understand.