Beyond Metros: How Tier 3 and Tier 4 Towns Powered India’s Crypto Boom in 2025

India’s crypto story in 2025 is significantly influenced by non-metro cities. According to CoinSwitch’s latest report India’s Crypto Portfolio 2025: How India Invests, a major transformation has taken place with the emergence of smaller towns as the main drivers of digital asset adoption.

Drawing on the experiences of over 25 million users, the report shows that the participation of crypto has reached deep into Bharat which is a clear indication of ending metro-centric investing. Although large cities were important in the initial stages of crypto adoption, 2025 saw the activity distribution across the regions becoming quite uniform.

Towns from Tier 3 and Tier 4 contributed an incredible 43.4 percent to the entire crypto activity which made them in fact the biggest contributors of all in the country. Closely behind them came Tier 2 cities with a percentage share of 32.2 which is a clear sign of the growing awareness, accessibility, and confidence of the investors coming from semi-urban and rural areas.

"The first tier cities keep on giving a significant contribution but the participation of the second, third, and even fourth tier cities is now far more geographically distributed with the center of expansion being firmly established in Bharat," the report stated.

Global tailwinds and India’s unique position

The increase in participation of the smaller towns is in sync with the global scenario in the crypto world. During the last year, the international policies were the main factor that brought digital assets closer to the financial mainstream.

Ashish Singhal, Co-founder of CoinSwitch, brought the world developments like the advancing GENIUS Act in the US and the UK's formal recognition of crypto as property as examples. “These changes in policies reveal that digital assets are gradually but surely becoming a part of global finance,” he remarked.

However, India's crypto journey is different from others. The country has been at the forefront of retail crypto adoption for the third year in a row, despite the lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework.

Singhal considered the deep-rooted acceptance of crypto among the masses to be the reason when he said "This isn’t a one-time spike. It’s a structural trend driven by India’s young demographics, digital-native behaviour, and rising financial participation."

Uttar Pradesh leads state-wise contribution

The year 2025 saw Uttar Pradesh emerging as the largest contributor of the state with 13 percent of the total investments made across the country. Investors in the state adopted a wise strategy by diversifying their portfolios into small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap crypto assets.

"The portfolios reflected a balanced risk-return strategy, combining growth-oriented tokens with the stability of blue-chip assets," the report said. Bitcoin was still the leading asset in terms of both the volume of investments and trading activity.

Maharashtra was not far behind contributing 12.1 percent and asserting again its status as a sophisticated financial center and a place for digital innovation. The state's investors were mostly attracted to large-cap assets, with Bitcoin and XRP being the top choices.

Gradual growth in the southern as well as the northern states

Karnataka’s share of total investments was 7.9 percent, thanks to Bengaluru’s strong tech ecosystem and early exposure to digital finance. The investment pattern in the state seemed to be controlled, with Bitcoin and XRP as the most active assets.

The contribution of Delhi NCR was 7.4 percent which shows a diverse and knowledgeable investor base. The investors there were following a core-plus strategy that combines stable holdings with the exposure of selective high-risk investments.

There were also other states that recorded significant participation. Haryana (6 percent) and Rajasthan (5.9 percent) displayed very strong upward trends while West Bengal’s share was 5.3 percent and that of Andhra Pradesh was 5 percent. Tamil Nadu (4.9 percent) and Bihar (4.3 percent) have been building steadily upon their increasing digital adoption.

Smaller towns take centre stage

As a whole, the above-mentioned trends illustrate that the participation of India in crypto is becoming wider and deeper across the different parts of the country. The phenomenon that was once deemed as being driven by metro cities has now turned into a nationwide trend with smaller towns now having a say in the future of crypto adoption in India.

The Tier-3 and Tier-4 towns are no longer the periphery of the crypto economy but firmly in the core of it by 2025 as the report concludes.