The curious case of women acing cryptocurrency trading in India

While men dwell mostly on intraday markets, high leverage, and speculative trading, women tend to be more focussed on the long-term perspective and automating their cryptocurrency journey.

“My interest in cryptocurrency investing started in February 2021. Even though I felt it was out of my scope of understanding, dogecoin got me excited. It felt like an easy, fun way to enter the market. I bought the coin when it was trading at about 5 cents. Eventually, I got to know about other alternative currencies and dipped my toes in bitcoin, too. I am steadily scaling up my investments in cryptocurrency since I have a long-term plan in place as well.”

Yumna Ahmad, a communications specialist based out of Delhi, is just one of the many new-age women warming up to investing in the cryptocurrency space, which is traditionally considered a male bastion. But what is fueling this positive rise in recent times? 

Better positioned, but disadvantaged 

Studies show that women are better placed than men when it comes to saving and investing, thanks to their inherent patient and pragmatic dispositions. Per the Bitcoin Investor Study 2020 conducted by GrayScale, around 47 percent of all female investors surveyed were open to considering investing in bitcoin, a marginal rise from 43 percent in 2019. 

But more reassuringly, given a strong track record and performance, around 66 percent of women investors said they will be open to investing in the asset class.

A 2021 survey by ET Money also proved how women prove to be more resilient and astute when it comes to money management. According to the report, women investors outperformed their male counterparts by as much as 10 percent more returns over the last 4 years. The report also suggested that women made the best of market corrections, asset allocations, and SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) continuations to get the best from their investments. Compared to merely 12 percent of a male investor’s portfolio, an average of 15 percent of a women investor portfolio is allocated to ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme), a potent combination for tax savings and wealth generation. 

But the glaring inequality comes to light almost instantly, since only 22.3 percent of Indian women participate in the labour market if the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report 2021 is to be believed. Tumbling 28 ranks to reach 141 out of 156 countries covered by this index, India is in a dismal position at 151 in the Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index of the assessment. 

But that in no way indicates complacence and reduced participation when it comes to achieving financial wellness amongst women. Gaurav Dahake, Co-founder, BitBns, underlined the increasing popularity of new-age platforms to make investing accessible and simple.

“Currently, 20 percent of our investor base are women. Interestingly, more than half of them are investors who are keenly exploring multiple investment products rather than just indulging in trading and cryptocurrency”, he elaborated. 

Rising to the occasion

With more than 1.5 crore active cryptocurrency investors holding Rs 15,000 crore, more and more women are embracing financial independence and assertiveness when it comes to taking charge of their lives. 

Shradha Nanchahil, a Ludhiana-based trader and a mentor also talk about how more women are signing up to learn all about cryptocurrency. “I have 4 ladies I am training right now in this regard, but there is an increased buzz about this. Personally, I feel women make up for better traders as well, thanks to their emotional control, patience, consistency, and persistence”, she detailed. 

Indeed, women are setting sight on multiple investment revenues, which has opened the cryptocurrency floodgates. And the growth has been phenomenal, as per Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder, Mudrex. Patel highlights the difference in the approach adopted by men and women when it comes to trading. While men dwell mostly on intraday markets, high leverage, and speculative trading, women tend to be more focussed on the long-term perspective and automating their cryptocurrency journey. 

“Approximately 15 percent of our clients are women traders. And we have witnessed a huge addition over the past year, with over 40 percent growth in the number of women traders who are automating their cryptocurrency trading”, he said. 

Corroborating this data, another cryptocurrency platform, ZebPay also affirmed that women constitute 13 percent of the total investors on their platform, with the last quarter (January-March 2021) seeing the number of women investors rise almost 113 percent. Per their estimates, women investors constitute 13% of total investors on our platform. 

Mr. Avinash Shekhar, Co-CEO, ZebPay, breaks down the demographic specifics. “Around 10.27 % of our women users fall in the age bracket of 18-25, with the highest number(46.40 percent) being that in the age group of  26-35 years of age. About 42 percent of women are aged above 35 years of age, indicating a diverse female composition”, he explained. 

And no, women are not playing it completely safe, contrary to popular belief that women vying for traditional, easy and secure investment routes. A CoinDCX survey threw up interesting insights about their women investors, stating that while women on their platform are largely conservative and sticking to the large caps and popular options, a significant portion is experimenting with alt-coins like Matic, Enjin, Atom, and more. 

As per a Coin DCX spokesperson, “We’ve seen a surge in participation from markets like Indore, Bhopal, Shimla, Kochi, Aligarh, Patna, in addition to metro cities. Women investors and traders constitute 15% of our total audience base, with the number of women on our platform doubling year-on-year."