Indian crypto exchanges’ spot volumes up over 20% as bitcoin rallies

Crypto industry insiders remain wary of the bitcoin price surge sustaining, saying the quality of the rally will matter more than its speed
Debangana Ghosh
August 24, 2026 / 12:18 IST
Representative image

• Bitcoin rally boosts India’s crypto market.
• Indian crypto exchanges see over 20% volume surge.
• US policy talks and bond market changes fueled rally.

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Bitcoin’s sharpest rally in three years, which started last week, has breathed fresh life into India’s crypto market, sending spot trading volumes at major exchanges up over 20 percent.

After nearing $80,000 last week, Bitcoin was trading at $77,000 on August 24 morning.

CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, WazirX, Mudrex and Giottus have recorded significant surge in spot and futures trading volumes.

Users were buying more in spot trades rather than liquidating, as positive policy discussions in the US improved sentiments, the exchanges said.

CoinDCX’s trading volume more than double between August 19 and August 21. Its spot trading volume rose from around $5-6 million to approximately $13 million in the final two days.

On August 23, the average trading volume was about 11.7 million USDT.

BTC trading volume on CoinDCX rose from roughly $300,000–$700,000 during the earlier period to $2 million on August 21, Sumit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, CoinDCX shared with Moneycontrol.

On Mudrex, spot volumes went up 20 percent week-on-week, reflecting higher engagement from traders looking to participate in the momentum.

WazirX said its futures trade volumes surpassed spot trading.

“Futures reacted more sharply than spot, with daily Futures volumes increasing by almost 7x between 16 and 22 August. We also saw a meaningful increase in the number of active Futures traders during the same period,” Rajagopal Menon, VP, WazirX, said.

Giottus had a similar trend, with spot volume rising 22 percent and futures 31 percent.

“After adjusting for the increase in participants, average volume per trader rose by approximately 10 percent in spot and 11 percent in Futures,” Giottus.com CEO Vikram Subburaj said.

What’s driving the rally?

The rally started on August 19 when US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the department would increase the maximum size of certain long-dated bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, triggering an upswing that forced traders to liquidate billions in short positions.

The same day, US President Donald Trump held a meeting which included executives from firms such as Coinbase and Payward. Trump called for Congress to pass the crypto CLARITY Act. In the meantime, GENIUS Act rules are expected to be finalised before November.

The initial spark came from the US bond market, said Subburaj.

“Although the larger purchases begin only on September 9, markets interpreted the decision as a strong liquidity signal. Long-term yields initially declined and the dollar weakened. This created a more favourable setting for bitcoin,” he added.

Along with other regulatory updates in the US last week, institutional investment flows started reacting to the headlines.

US spot bitcoin ETFs received around $1.92 billion in net inflows.

Once bitcoin broke out of its range, those inflows and the liquidation of more than $4 billion in short positions accelerated the advance.

Which tokens gained the most?

On Indian exchanges, beyond bitcoin, tokens such as ethereum, XRP, Solana, HYPE saw strong participation.

CoinSwitch said ethereum, XRP, Doge, Shiba Inu and Solana have seen strong interest. “The broader participation is encouraging because it suggests the move is not restricted to BTC alone,” said Balaji Srihari, VP-Business, India, CoinSwitch.

Mudrex said there was also increased interest in commodities such as gold (XAUt) and silver as traders look to participate in the broader market.

CoinDCX said its HYPE volumes rose from below $25,000 to nearly $190,000.

On Giottus, XRP was particularly sensitive to shifts in US regulatory expectations, while Solana offered traders a higher-beta expression of the broader return of risk appetite.

Will the rally sustain?

Industry insiders remained sceptical of the rally having a long-term impact on bitcoin price movements.

According to Prateek Gupta, head of business, Mudrex, it’s too early to call the rally sustainable.

“While Friday’s strong close above $78,000 is a huge positive for the markets, the quality of the rally matters more than its speed… On the other hand, if activity is predominantly driven by leverage or reactions to a single headline, a pullback towards the $65,000 zone is possible,” he told Moneycontrol.

Srihari said he would watch if bitcoin can hold above $75,000 support and decisively break the $80,000 resistance. It is a promising shift in momentum, but one that still needs confirmation, he said.

Debangana Ghosh
first published: Aug 24, 2026 12:15 pm

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Source: www.moneycontrol.com