Summary of this article
Bitcoin’s trading share rose, while meme token activity declined sharply.
Investors shifted toward core crypto assets and long-term accumulation strategies.
Delhi NCR led participation; older investor cohorts increased holdings significantly.
India’s cryptocurrency market in the first half of 2026 so far has seen Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP emerge among the most actively traded tokens, alongside shifts in trading shares and investor demographics.
Bitcoin accounted for 22.43 per cent of total trading volume during the period, according to the CoinDCX H1 2026 Investor report. This compares with 16.7 per cent in 2025. Over the same period, meme tokens declined from 27.5 per cent in 2025 to 12.17 per cent in 2026. Layer-1 assets accounted for around 32.87 per cent of trading volume.
The total registered users on the platform stood at 2.2 crore, according to the report.
How Different Age Groups Performed In H1 2026
Alongside changes in token distribution, the H1 2026 also sees shifts in investor demographics during the same period. The average investor age increased to 30 to 31 years during the period, compared with 29–30 years previously. The report notes that the 30 to 45 age group expanded its share from 36 per cent to 38 per cent, making it the only cohort to record growth. The 18 to 29 age group declined from 57 per cent to 54 per cent, while the above 45 category remained steady at 8 per cent.
Across the platform, Bitcoin was the most-held digital asset across major Indian cities and demographic cohorts.
Where Was Investor Activity Concentrated
In terms of regional distribution, investor participation remained concentrated across a mix of metro and non-metro centres. Delhi NCR remained the top city in terms of investor participation, maintaining its position consistently across H1 2025 and H1 2026. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP remained consistently among the most traded cryptocurrencies across ten major Indian cities, which include Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
Bitcoin led trading volumes in seven out of ten cities while Ethereum held the second position in six. Solana and XRP commonly ranked third and fourth across most of these markets. The peak trading activity on the platform was recorded between 9 and 10 PM during the period. The average number of tokens held per trader stood at five.
Assets under custody, which represent the total value of crypto holdings kept by users on the platform, increased across all generational cohorts during the period. The report shows that millennials rose from $241.5 million to $368.6 million. Gen X increased from $80.9 million to $128.0 million, while Gen Z grew from $54.9 million to $89.7 million. Assets under custody among older investors, including Boomers, also recorded an increase during the period.
