Indian crypto exchanges prepare campaigns for festive season

To celebrate India’s festive season, the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges are wooing retail traders with aggressive marketing campaigns and crypto giveaways.

For India’s festive season, which kicks off on September 10 this year, the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges are encouraging people to choose Bitcoin as gifts instead of gold, the traditional choice at this time of year.

Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin, told the Economic Times of India that if done right, “Bitcoin and gift certificates could be an interesting option for users to consider as more publicity is expected across the industry.”

The exchange has linked up with e-commerce sites to allow customers to use bitcoin to buy prepaid gift certificates for online purchases.

Rival exchange WazirX plans to launch several products this month, also targeting crypto giveaways during the holiday season.

“Crypto giveaways are part of our product roadmap,” said Rajagopal Menon, the exchange’s vice president of marketing. WazirX has increased its headcount from 50 to over 200 this year and plans to scale further during the festive season.

These marketing moves come at a time when regulatory clarity remains in India as lawmakers continue to drag their feet on implementing legislation. However, there may be some hope as new legislation is in the works.

At a virtual blockchain summit last week, Jayant Sinha, chairman of India’s parliamentary standing committee on finance, said upcoming cryptocurrency regulations would not be like those in El Salvador, but would instead focus on national security concerns and seek to balance stability and growth.

Sinha also expressed concerns about crypto assets being misused for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Rama Gandhi also spoke at the same conference, calling on lawmakers to provide transparency on the asset class. He also said that cryptocurrencies should be considered assets or commodities, not currencies.