Indian payment provider ePaisa accepts Bitcoin payments, 500 dealerships will be available

According to indiatimes, Indian mobile payment startup ePaisa has launched a service that allows Indian merchants to accept Bitcoin payments. The service will be available in 500 ePaisa dealerships, mainly in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Surat and Ahmedabad.

“About 35,000 BTC was traded in India last year, and there are about 50,000 bitcoin users in the country,” said Siddharth Arora, CEO of ePaisa.

Furthermore, Arora added:

“So far, there is no facility for small merchants in India to accept Bitcoin. Only some large retailers, especially those from the United States, are accepting Bitcoin.”

Arora expects ePaisa merchants in Mumbai and Delhi to use the facility more than merchants elsewhere, as these cities have more international customers. "We will soon launch mobile wallet acceptance facilities that are closely linked to other payment gateways. As Bitcoin is recognized, it will also be enabled. Our goal is to help our merchants accept all non-cash payment modes through this app," Arora said, adding that ePaisa aims to serve 25,000 merchants by 2020.

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO of startup Unocoin, said that mass adoption of Bitcoin is only a year or two away. He said:

“There are 100,000 merchants in the US that accept Bitcoin, and it will take at least 2-3 years for India to reach this number.”

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