India’s Bitcoin Adoption Has a Malthusian Problem: More Owners, Only 21 Million Coins

Bitcoin has a limited supply, with the total number of available coins capped at 21 million. But this takes an interesting turn as there is no limit to the number of people who could want to own the crypto. This creates a unique scarcity problem, especially in countries like India, where 4.6% of the population already owns crypto.

Malthus’ Scarcity Theory Meets Bitcoin’s Fixed Supply

Crypto analyst Willy Woo took to X to reveal India’s growing adoption of cryptocurrencies. Reportedly, in India, more than 66 million people own crypto, representing 4.6% of the total population. The country ranks first in terms of crypto adoption, outperforming global leaders like the US, China, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Here, the population theory of Thomas Malthus comes into focus. In his 1798 work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus shared a simple idea. He explained that population can grow faster than the resources available to meet its needs. This could eventually create greater pressure on limited resources, with scarcity becoming a major problem.

Bitcoin creates a somewhat similar situation, but not with population. The number of people wanting to buy $BTC may continue to increase. But the supply remains limited at 21 million.