Young Investors Sell More, While Older Investors Buy and Diversify: CoinSwitch Reports

Key Takeaways From CoinSwitch’s Q2 2026 Crypto Data

• 54.4% of new investors were aged 18–25.
• 25.4% of new investors were aged 26–35.
• Investors aged 46+ recorded the highest buy-to-sell ratio at 1.14.
• Investors aged 18–25 recorded a buy-to-sell ratio of 0.65.
• 59.2% of 18–25-year-old investors held a single crypto.
• Only 36.3% of investors aged 36–45 held a single crypto.
• 9.1% of the 36–45 cohort held 10 or more cryptos.
• Bitcoin + Dogecoin was the most popular crypto pairing across age groups.
• Thursday was the busiest trading day.
• 10 PM–11 PM was the busiest trading hour.
• Uttar Pradesh accounted for 12.9% of total investment.
• Maharashtra accounted for 12.4%.
• Karnataka accounted for 8.1%.
• Delhi accounted for 7.4%.
• Bitcoin was the most preferred crypto in 9 of India’s 10 largest investing states.
• Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest female participation among the top 10 markets, at 59.3%.

India’s crypto market is showing an interesting generational shift.

Younger investors continue to account for a significant share of new participation, but older investors appear to be approaching crypto differently. They are more likely to buy than sell and tend to hold a broader mix of digital assets.

These are some of the key findings from CoinSwitch’s Q2 2026 edition of India’s Crypto Portfolio: How India Invests, which examines investing behaviour on the CoinSwitch platform between April and June 2026.

The data offers a closer look at who is entering India’s crypto market, how investors build their portfolios, which assets they prefer, when they trade and where they are investing from.

Younger Indians Continue to Drive New Crypto Participation

Investors aged 18–25 accounted for 54.4% of new investors added during Q2 2026, making them the largest contributor to new participation on the platform.

The next-largest group was investors aged 26–35, who represented 25.4% of new investors.

Together, these two cohorts accounted for nearly four in five new investors during the quarter.

This highlights the continued importance of younger Indians in the expansion of crypto participation.

But there is an interesting difference between entering the market and how investors behave after entering it.

The 18–25 cohort recorded a buy-to-sell ratio of 0.65, meaning selling activity exceeded buying activity during the period measured.

The pattern changed among older investors.

Investors aged 46 and above recorded a buy-to-sell ratio of 1.14, the highest among the age groups analysed.

In simple terms, younger investors were the biggest source of new participation, while older investors demonstrated stronger net buying behaviour.

Buy-to-Sell Ratio by Age

Note: The report’s highlighted figures are shown above; a higher ratio indicates relatively stronger buying activity compared with selling activity.

Crypto Portfolios Become More Diverse With Age

Age also appears to influence how investors construct their crypto portfolios.

Among investors aged 18–25, 59.2% held a single crypto asset.

That proportion declined substantially among older investors.

For the 36–45 age group, only 36.3% held a single crypto, indicating a greater tendency towards holding multiple assets.

The same cohort also recorded the highest share of investors holding 10 or more cryptos, at 9.1%.

This creates a notable contrast.

Younger investors are driving new participation, but older cohorts appear more likely to spread their holdings across multiple crypto assets.

One possible interpretation is that investors may become more comfortable with portfolio diversification as they gain experience. However, the CoinSwitch data itself captures behaviour rather than the reasons behind those decisions, so the findings should not be interpreted as proof of why investors diversify.

Bitcoin and Dogecoin Remain a Popular Combination

Despite differences in age, portfolio size and investment behaviour, some preferences remain consistent.

Bitcoin and Dogecoin emerged as the most popular crypto pairing across every age group in the Q2 2026 data.

Other frequently held combinations included:

• Bitcoin + Shiba Inu
• Dogecoin + Shiba Inu
• Bitcoin + Ethereum

There were also some age-specific preferences.

Investors aged 36–45 showed a preference for Dogecoin + XRP, while investors aged 26–35 and 46+ favoured Dogecoin + Ethereum among the highlighted combinations.

The findings suggest that while Bitcoin remains a common component of portfolios, investors also combine it with different assets depending on their portfolio preferences.

When Are Indians Trading Crypto?

Crypto markets operate around the clock, but investor activity on CoinSwitch was not evenly distributed throughout the week or day.

Thursday was the busiest trading day during Q2 2026, while Sunday recorded the lowest trading activity.

The strongest concentration of buying activity occurred during the evening.

The 10 PM–11 PM period was the busiest trading hour, while buying activity was strongest between 7 PM and midnight.

At the other end of the spectrum, activity was lowest between 3 AM and 5 AM.

This creates a clear pattern:

Evening hours → Higher activity

Early morning hours → Lower activity

The pattern could be useful for understanding when Indian crypto investors are most active, although trading activity naturally varies based on market conditions, news events and broader investor sentiment.

Crypto Investing Is Not Limited to India’s Biggest Financial Centres

Another notable finding from the report is the geographical distribution of crypto investment.

Uttar Pradesh was the largest crypto market among Indian states, accounting for 12.9% of total investment on CoinSwitch during Q2.

It was followed by:

The numbers show that crypto participation extends well beyond traditional financial centres such as Mumbai and Bengaluru.

This geographic spread is important when looking at the evolution of digital-asset adoption in India.

Crypto investing is increasingly becoming accessible to investors across different regions rather than remaining concentrated in a handful of major cities.

Bitcoin Leads Across Most of India’s Largest Crypto Markets

Bitcoin remained the most preferred crypto across nine of India’s ten largest investing states covered in the report.

There was one notable exception: Andhra Pradesh, where Dogecoin ranked as the most preferred crypto.

Andhra Pradesh also stood out for another reason.

Women accounted for 59.3% of total investment in the state, giving it the highest female participation among India’s top 10 markets in the report.

This is another indication that crypto participation can differ considerably from one region to another.

What These Numbers Say About India’s Crypto Investor

Taken together, the Q2 data paints a more nuanced picture of India’s crypto market.

There isn’t one typical Indian crypto investor.

Instead, behaviour varies across several dimensions:

Age

Younger investors dominate new participation, while older investors show stronger buying conviction.

Portfolio construction

Single-asset portfolios are more common among younger investors, while older cohorts show greater diversification.

Asset preference

Bitcoin remains a dominant asset, while combinations involving Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Ethereum and XRP also feature prominently.

Trading behaviour

Crypto activity is concentrated in the evening, with 10 PM–11 PM emerging as the busiest hour.

Geography

Participation extends across India, with Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi among the largest markets by investment.

Gender participation

Andhra Pradesh recorded particularly high female participation among the top 10 markets.

Together, these patterns point towards a market that is becoming broader and more varied in how Indians participate.

From First-Time Investors to More Diverse Portfolios

One of the most interesting observations from the Q2 data is the difference between market entry and portfolio behaviour.

Younger investors are clearly important to the next wave of adoption. More than half of new investors during the quarter were between 18 and 25.

At the same time, the data shows that older investors are more likely to hold multiple cryptos and recorded a higher buy-to-sell ratio.

This could indicate that crypto participation changes as investors gain experience, although further research would be required to establish a direct relationship between age, experience and portfolio diversification.

As Ashish Singhal, Co-founder of CoinSwitch, noted, the market is moving towards investors becoming more informed and deliberate about how they participate in crypto.

That evolution could become increasingly important as digital assets move from an emerging investment category towards a more established part of India’s financial landscape.

What Could the Next Phase of Crypto Adoption Look Like?

The Q2 2026 data points towards three broad developments.

First, younger investors are likely to remain an important source of new participation.

With 18–35-year-olds accounting for nearly 80% of new investors in the quarter, younger Indians remain central to the expansion of the market.

Second, portfolio behaviour could become more sophisticated over time.

The greater diversification observed among older cohorts suggests that investors do not necessarily approach crypto with the same portfolio strategy throughout their investing journey.

Third, adoption is becoming geographically broader.

The strong contribution from Uttar Pradesh and other states outside India’s traditional financial hubs highlights the increasingly distributed nature of crypto participation.

These trends will be worth tracking in future editions of the report.

Data Note

The insights in this article are based exclusively on activity recorded on the CoinSwitch platform during Q2 2026 (April–June 2026).

The data represents CoinSwitch users and does not represent the entire Indian crypto market. Investor behaviour on other crypto platforms is not included.

The report describes observed user behaviour and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any crypto.

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