Gen Z turns to crypto as gateway to investing, WazirX data shows

India's Gen Z is entering financial markets earlier and increasingly using cryptocurrency as a gateway to investing, while showing a preference for diversified portfolios and a willingness to stay invested through market volatility, data from crypto exchange WazirX showed.

Nearly 44.4% of Gen Z investors on the platform began their investment journey through crypto, suggesting that a large share of young investors are entering financial markets through digital assets rather than adding crypto to established portfolios.

The median age of Gen Z investors on WazirX is 25, while the generation accounted for 72% of all new investors on the platform in the first half of 2026. Gen Z also made up 32.1% of active traders, the company said.

The trend is spreading beyond India's largest cities. Nearly 80% of WazirX's Gen Z users come from outside the country's top 10 cities, highlighting the growing participation of investors from Tier II and Tier III centres. Mumbai and Delhi continue to have the highest individual concentration of users.

The data also challenges the perception that young crypto investors are primarily chasing speculative assets. Gen Z users allocate 25% of their portfolios to established "blue-chip" cryptocurrencies, 16% to memecoins and 59% to utility-focused categories including decentralised finance, Layer-2 ecosystems and payment tokens.

The figures indicate that while memecoins remain part of the investment mix, the majority of Gen Z holdings are concentrated in categories WazirX associates with utility, liquidity and longer-term potential.

Young investors are also showing a willingness to buy during market downturns rather than retreating from crypto, according to WazirX.

About 52.8% of Gen Z investors buy during mild market corrections, while 43.7% continue buying even on the worst trading days. Their average investment size remains nearly unchanged during major market declines compared with normal trading days, the exchange said.

The data suggests that some young investors are increasingly treating market corrections as opportunities to accumulate assets, while using rallies to rebalance portfolios or realise gains.

WazirX's findings come as its broader user base also becomes increasingly concentrated outside India's major metropolitan areas. In a July report, the exchange said more than 82% of its users came from non-metro cities.

The Gen Z investor base on WazirX is also dominated by relatively young and lower-income participants. Nearly 79.6% have annual incomes between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.

Students account for 40% of Gen Z users, followed by salaried professionals at 33% and self-employed users at 27%, according to the company.

The findings suggest that crypto is being incorporated into investment strategies relatively early in the financial lives of many young Indians, rather than being used solely by investors who have already accumulated substantial wealth.

"Gen Z is proving that wealth creation isn't about where you come from or how much you start with, but finding the right opportunities, doing your research, and starting early. Young Indians were investing in crypto earlier, but they're doing so with discipline, curiosity, and a long-term mindset now. That's the foundation of India's next financial revolution," WazirX founder Nischal Shetty said.

The findings were released around International Youth Day, observed annually on August 12, which this year focuses attention on the role and aspirations of young people globally.

The data points to a growing role for digital assets in India's expanding retail-investor ecosystem, with Gen Z emerging as a significant new participant group and increasingly coming from outside the country's traditional financial centres.