Sunny Ray, co-founder of Bitcoin exchange UnoCoin: Bitcoin will flourish in India

Golden Finance News - Today, Bitcoin is gaining a lot of traction in India. In order to better understand the reasons behind this growing trend, the reporter interviewed Sunny Ray, co-founder of Indian Bitcoin exchange UnoCoin.

Now, Bitcoin is showing increasing signs of adoption in India. Image source: Golden Finance

Bitcoin is becoming mainstream in India

Now, Bitcoin is showing increasing signs of adoption in India, a country deeply affected by the demonetization policy.

The Times of India's front page story yesterday was all about Bitcoin, with the publication telling the story of a man who exchanged his Bitcoins for extra lives in an online game and who apparently regretted his actions.

The report also provides some facts about Bitcoin, its price, and regulatory status. It also mentions an interdisciplinary committee to evaluate the current state of global regulation and legal institutions for Bitcoin.

India has set up a committee to look at the global regulatory framework for Bitcoin. Image source: Golden Finance

The report mentioned: "India's Ministry of Finance has set up a committee to look at the global regulatory framework for Bitcoin and recommend measures for India to take."

Sunny Ray, co-founder of Unocoin, India’s most popular Bitcoin exchange, recently noted:

“It took Unocoin 2 years and 10 months to get 100,000 users, but it took only 6 months to grow from 100,000 to 200,000.”

Why is Bitcoin booming in India?

In November 2016, Bitcoin gained a lot of attention after the Indian government abolished the highest denomination banknotes.

However, a lot has changed since then. Sunny Ray explained the reasons for the growing popularity of Bitcoin in the country:

“We think this has less to do with demonetization and more to do with the potential benefits of Bitcoin. Its applications range from: store of value as the number one application (digital gold), second is inward remittances (no need to wait 4 days and 10% transaction fees), p2p payments, online shopping (mobile top-ups, etc.)…”

Unocoin is not the only one seeing a growing trend for Bitcoin in India.

The volume on the p2p trading platform LocalBitcoins also shows this growth trend.

Indian government is studying Bitcoin

Earlier this month, the Indian government set up a multidisciplinary committee comprising different agencies including the country's central bank and the home ministry.

The main functions of the committee are to:

——An inventory of the current status of virtual currencies in India and other countries;

- Review the existing global regulatory and legal structure regarding virtual currencies;

- Provide recommendations for virtual currency transactions, including consumer protection, money laundering and other issues;

- Check any other matters related to virtual currencies;

——The committee is expected to publish a report on its findings in July this year.

While it’s unclear what impact the committee will have, Ray hopes the organization’s creation will help citizens better understand virtual currencies, their benefits, and the risks associated with them.

The Indian government has established an interdisciplinary committee. Image source: Golden Finance

Ray told reporters: "Our only hope is to educate the public. We are working with Ishith Desai & Associates, the best law firm in the country. All we can do is try. The fact that some journalists in India have written some sensational articles is not helpful for the public to understand Bitcoin."

According to Ray, the largest self-regulatory body in India is the Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI), which is made up of Indian bitcoin startups such as Unocoin, zebpay, coinsecure and searchtrade.

The organization will focus on creating standard guidelines for blockchain asset transactions, KYC/AML and STR regulations, while working with regulators to popularize the benefits and risks of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and create an environment that can incentivize blockchain companies. In addition, DABFI will also publish reports on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.