TLDR
- USDT was trading at a premium of between 7% and 10% on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges over the weekend.
- The token reached 102.88 rupees against an official rate of about 94.65 per dollar.
- The normal premium range is usually 3% to 4%.
- Exchanges CoinDCX and CoinSwitch say the gap reflects supply and demand, not platform pricing.
- The rise came in the wake of an enforcement action taken by the Indian Enforcement Directorate related to USDT payments.
Tether’s USDT stablecoin is trading well above its usual value on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges. The premium rose to between 7% and 10% over the weekend.
JUST IN: In India, a digital dollar now costs more than a real dollar. USDT, the token designed to be equivalent to one US dollar, is trading at Rs 102.88 on Indian bourses. The official dollar is 94.65. Indians pay a premium of 8.5% per dollar, because their government… pic.twitter.com/JPPaDJtCq
Shanaka Anselm Pereira (@shanaka86) June 29, 2026
At one point, USDT was trading at Rs 102.88. The official dollar-rupee rate was around 94.65 at that time.
This gap is known as USDT beloved. It represents the additional amount buyers pay for exposure to the dollar through USDT rather than at a bank.
Under normal circumstances, this bonus ranges between 3% and 4%. The latest jump is more than double this typical range.
What the exchanges say
Meenal Thukral, CEO of CoinDCX, said the price reflects the depth of the local order book compared to the global reference rate of the dollar. He said India has long been a net buyer encryptionWhich means that demand often exceeds available supply.
When sellers are weak near the global price, the local market settles at a higher number. Thukral described the premium as an indication of how expensive or slow liquidity providers will be to replenish supplies.
Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch, offered a similar explanation. He said that exchanges do not directly determine the price of USDT.
Instead, prices come from buyers and sellers who trade on the platform. Singhal noted that stablecoin premiums have emerged in other countries during periods of high demand or low liquidity.
On CoinSwitch specifically, USDT has been trading at a premium of nearly 9% over recent days. Users see live buy and sell prices before placing an order, and the platform does not add hidden fees beyond the stated brokerage fees, Singhal said.
Potential link to enforcement action
The price hike came in the wake of actions taken by India’s Enforcement Directorate regarding USDT payments. Neither CoinDCX nor CoinSwitch directly addressed this measure in their statements.
However, market makers may have pulled back on supplying USDT from abroad following the implementation news. This type of decline would appear as a shortage on the supply side, which matches the explanation given by both exchanges.
India also applies a flat 30% tax on cryptocurrency gains. There is no option to offset losses against gains.
A 1% tax is deducted at source on transactions. These rules have made it difficult for market makers to operate smoothly on Indian stock exchanges.
India also limits the amount of foreign currency residents can purchase through traditional channels. This makes stablecoins a simpler option for people looking for exposure to the dollar.
When demand for the dollar rises under these conditions, it can quickly exceed the supply of locally available tokens. This imbalance is what drives the premium higher.
USDT remains the largest dollar-pegged stablecoin in the world. Its market value reached $184.68 billion at the time of preparing this report.
India has ranked first in global cryptocurrency adoption for three consecutive years, according to data from Chaina Analysis. USDT plays a central role for traders in this market who use it to move between positions and hold the value of the dollar without going through banks.
As of the latest reports, the premium remains high between 7% and 10% across several Indian bourses, with the gap yet to narrow towards its usual range of 3% to 4%.
