India's crypto market is undergoing a notable transformation, with futures trading gaining traction over spot trading, which creates new growth opportunities for smaller towns. Based on its 1.3 million users, Giottus's analysis of the platform's trading volume reveals that spot trading accounted for 42.78% of all trading volume, while crypto futures made up the remaining 57.22% from September 2025 to May 2026.
The data reveal that 48% of futures participants come from Tier-2 cities, compared to 31% from Tier-1 cities and 21% from other cities. This is a sign of the growing retail engagement with crypto derivatives in non-metropolitan areas of India.
“India’s crypto participation story is becoming geographically broader. We are seeing increasing engagement from smaller cities in products that were once viewed as niche or high-complexity,” said Giottus CEO Vikram Subburaj.
The report also highlights that there will be strong momentum in user growth throughout 2026. In February, participation in futures increased by 42.5%, which was followed by an increase of 28.5% in March, 35.3% in April, and 30.3% in May. Future users remain at 24% of Giottus' active users, however, indicating that there's more room for future growth.
Trading behavior also appears to be changing. Together, Bitcoin and Ethereum futures accounted for just 15.35% of volume. Ethereum's contribution was 7.07%, Solana's was 5.76%, and XRP's was 5.24%. The data indicates that trades are not just on Bitcoin but also on altcoins and high-volatility assets, thereby making Indian traders more interested in exploring other assets.
Tamil Nadu has emerged as the strongest regional market with 46.6% share of the total number of futures traders and 59.26% share of the total futures volume. The second most popular option was Kerala with a 10.23% share.
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Risk appetite had been on the higher side and fairly even. 52.79% of trades were in long positions and 47.21% were in short positions. Average leverage was 10x, and over 30% of trades were done with leverage greater than 10x. However, the monthly liquidation ratios remained between 0.55% and 2.52%.
“The liquidation trends are important because they suggest participation is not entirely speculative or reckless. Users are showing greater awareness around position sizing and risk management while using leveraged products,” Vikram said.
Futures traders were 13.24% women, with female traders using lower average leverage than men. The most dominant activity times were 7 pm to 10 pm, which corresponds to post-work activity and can be linked to market hours in the United States.