Overview: 

• Over 41% of Indian crypto investors are now long-term holders, per Mudrex's June survey, signaling a maturing market.

• Legal ownership doesn't guarantee wallet access, making nomination and succession tools essential for platforms.

• CoinSwitch and Mudrex highlight nomination as the next milestone in crypto investor protection in India.

India's crypto market has moved past its early phase of speculation and volatility. Investors today consider digital assets as part of long-term financial planning. This shift in behavior brings a new set of responsibilities for platforms that facilitate crypto transactions.

Security and compliance have improved considerably since the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on crypto trading in 2020. Platforms have adopted stricter know-your-customer norms, and regulatory oversight through the Financial Intelligence Unit has strengthened accountability across exchanges. 

However, a critical gap remains largely unaddressed: What happens to a person's crypto holdings when they are no longer around to access them? Building trust in this asset class now depends on how well platforms solve this problem.

From Speculation to Long-Term Ownership

Crypto investing patterns in India have evolved substantially over the past few years. Prateek Gupta, Head of Business at Mudrex, highlighted this transformation using recent survey data.

"Crypto ownership in India has been shifting from short-term speculation to long-term wealth building. Our pan-India survey of crypto investors conducted in June this year found that over 41% of Indian crypto investors identify as long-term, buy-and-hold investors," Prateek said.

He also pointed to an interesting generational pattern in trading behavior.

"The prevalence of short-term trading drops steadily with age. Nearly a third of crypto investors aged 18-24 described themselves as short-term traders, with the percentage falling to below 8% among those aged 55 and above," Mudrex Business Head noted.

This data indicates that crypto is gradually being treated as a wealth-building instrument rather than a speculative bet, particularly among older investors. Prateek Gupta explained why this shift matters for platform design.

"These behavioural trends shift the focus from how crypto assets are bought and sold to what happens to ownership over time. The challenge when it comes to crypto assets is that legal ownership and practical access are two different things," he said.

The Access Problem

Prateek described a scenario that many families could face without proper safeguards in place.

"A family can have every legal right to a deceased holder's assets and still be locked out without the private keys or a registered nominee for the holder's crypto wallet," he said.

He believes platforms carry direct responsibility for closing this gap.

"Crypto and tokenised asset platforms need to build nomination, succession documentation and estate-planning support directly into the product. As FIU-IND registered exchanges mature their compliance and custody standards, formalising this transfer process is the next challenge of investor protection in India's crypto ecosystem," Prateek added.

Also Read: Crypto Custody: How Institutions Safely Store Digital Assets

Regulatory Framework Strengthens Investor Confidence

India's compliance framework for digital assets has matured considerably in recent years. As of mid-2026, 54 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers are registered with the FIU-IND under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Major platforms including CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, Mudrex, ZebPay, WazirX and Binance feature on this official registry.

This registration process requires exchanges to follow strict anti-money laundering guidelines, report suspicious transactions and maintain transparent operational practices. For everyday investors, this compliance layer provides a foundation of accountability that did not exist in the market's earlier years.

Key elements of the FIU-IND framework include:

• Mandatory reporting of suspicious transactions to authorities

• Strict know-your-customer verification during onboarding

• Continuous monitoring obligations for registered platforms

• Public verification of registration status through the official FIU-IND registry

While this regulatory progress has strengthened trading safety, succession planning remains a separate and largely unresolved challenge across the industry.

Nomination: A Sign of Maturity

CoinSwitch has taken concrete steps toward addressing succession planning within its platform. Ashish Singhal, Co-founder of CoinSwitch, explained the significance of this development.

"It has been six years since the Supreme Court lifted the restriction on crypto in India, and four years since crypto taxation was introduced in 2022. For an emerging asset class, this is a meaningful period of evolution," Ashish said.

He observed that investor priorities have shifted alongside this evolution.

"The conversation today is moving beyond trading and returns towards long-term ownership. As investors hold digital assets for longer, they also need to think about what happens to those assets in their absence," CoinSwitch Co-founder noted.

Drawing a comparison with traditional finance, Ashish Singhal explained why nomination frameworks matter.

"Just as nomination is an established practice across equities and other financial assets, crypto ownership needs the same level of preparedness. At CoinSwitch, investors have the option to nominate a person so that their assets can be transferred to their nominee, subject to the applicable process, in the event of an unforeseen circumstance," he said.

Ashish framed this feature within a broader industry context.

"This is an important marker of maturity for the asset class. The evolution of crypto is not only about increasing adoption; it is also about building the infrastructure, trust and safeguards that make long-term ownership responsible and sustainable," CoinSwitch Co-founder, Ashish Singhal said.

What Platforms Must Prioritize

Building genuine trust around digital asset custody requires attention to several practical areas:

• Clear nomination processes integrated directly into account settings

• Simplified documentation for legal heirs during asset transfer

• Secure key management practices that do not compromise recovery

• Transparent communication about succession procedures at the time of onboarding

• Regular audits of custody infrastructure to prevent unauthorized access

Also Read: How Crypto Regulation is Changing the Way Users Transfer Digital Assets

Final Words

India's crypto ecosystem has crossed an important threshold in its regulatory journey. Compliance standards have tightened, registered platforms have multiplied, and investor behavior has matured toward long-term holding. These developments collectively signal that digital assets are being treated with the seriousness once reserved for traditional financial instruments.

The next phase of this evolution rests on solving the succession puzzle. Platforms that build robust nomination systems, transparent custody practices, and accessible estate-planning tools will likely earn deeper investor confidence. As Prateek Gupta and Ashish Singhal both indicated, this is not a peripheral feature but a core responsibility for any exchange seeking long-term legitimacy in India's digital asset economy.

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FAQs

1. Why is succession planning becoming important in crypto investing?

As more Indians hold crypto for long-term wealth building rather than trading, families risk losing access to assets after a holder's death without proper nomination or documented succession arrangements in place.

2. What percentage of Indian crypto investors are long-term holders? 

According to a Mudrex survey conducted in June, over 41% of Indian crypto investors identify themselves as long-term, buy-and-hold investors rather than short-term traders.

3. How does age affect crypto trading behavior in India? 

Short-term trading declines with age. Nearly a third of investors aged 18-24 trade short-term, compared to below 8% among investors aged 55 and above.

4. What is FIU-IND registration and why does it matter? 

FIU-IND registration requires crypto platforms to follow anti-money laundering norms, verify customers strictly and report suspicious activity, ensuring greater accountability and transparency for investors.

5. How is CoinSwitch addressing digital asset succession? 

CoinSwitch allows investors to nominate a person so their crypto assets can be transferred to that nominee, subject to applicable processes, during unforeseen circumstances.