Indian Crypto Exchanges Trap Smaller Investors with High Fees

Starting a cryptocurrency investment in India with Rs 100 is technically possible, but practically limited. Most Indian exchanges will accept a deposit of Rs 100 and allow you to buy a fraction of any major cryptocurrency.

For example, at the current price of approximately Rs 70 lakh per Bitcoin (around $83,000), Rs 100 buys you roughly 0.0000014 BTC, or about 143 satoshis. Similarly, at around Rs 2.5 lakh per Ethereum, Rs 100 buys you about 0.0004 ETH.

However, the problem lies in what happens next. Every step of buying, holding, and eventually selling or withdrawing a Rs 100 crypto position involves costs that are largely fixed regardless of investment size, meaning small investments bear a disproportionately high cost burden.

The exchange trading fee is relatively negligible, but the 1% TDS on any sale means Rs 1.10 is deducted before the INR reaches your wallet. Additionally, there's a 30% flat tax on any gain, which can reduce your actual take-home to around Rs 6 on a 10% return.

Furthermore, if you try to withdraw the crypto itself to a personal wallet, network fees can be prohibitively expensive, often exceeding the value being withdrawn. For example, Bitcoin network fees for a withdrawal typically range from Rs 150 to Rs 500 depending on congestion.