Contrary to the government’s alleged strategy to block all cryptocurrencies in India, one of India’s best technocrats and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani believes folks really should be permitted to engage with them. Nilekani, who had earlier backed startups such as Tracxn, RailYatri, ShopX, Power2SME, Ninjacart, Fortigo, and so on., and set-up a venture capital fund named Fundamentum in 2017 along with Helion Ventures co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal, mentioned that cryptocurrencies really should be thought of as an asset class and folks really should be permitted to have some of it. Nilekani’s comments come amid the government reportedly preparing to propose a law to ban cryptos. The government is quickly anticipated to introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 in the Parliament to ban all ‘private’ cryptocurrencies amid issues more than their use for terror financing, revenue laundering, and other illegal activities.
“We should think of crypto as an asset class and allow people to have some crypto. Crypto as a transaction medium will not work as fast as UPI, which is targeting a billion transactions a day. However, crypto has enormous capital,” Nandan Nilekani mentioned in a Clubhouse session on Monday with Silicon Valley angel investor Balaji Srinivasan and Blume Ventures’ Managing Partner Karthik Reddy.
Startups in the crypto space, who have been staring at a bleak future in India, have welcomed the comments from Nilekani. “Crypto has a very strong undercurrent and with global tech stalwarts already considering it as a currency of the internet throws light on its relevance. Positive comments by Nandan Nilekani just confirm that the same is the case in India as well. He has rightly mentioned that cryptocurrency won’t compare when benchmarked with UPI as a transaction medium but the benefits of crypto are much more than that. Allowing Indians to hold and grow crypto helps us participate and even drive the financial systems of the future,” Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder at automated crypto trading platform Mudrex told TheSpuzz Online.
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Nilekani added that though Indian regulators are taking into consideration a Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC, he is not confident if “we need a private stable coin or if a digital rupee will be good enough.” He added that India wants to look at how it will aid Indians, how MSMEs can access capital making use of bitcoins. “No amount of tech is going to sway anyone’s view.”
In February 2021, India’s billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, frequently referred to as the country’s personal Warren Buffett has named Bitcoin “the speculation of the highest order”. Jhunjhunwala had rubbished the cryptocurrency saying that “I won’t buy it for even $5. In the world, only the sovereign has the right to create currency…I think it is the speculation of the highest order. I don’t want to join every party in town. The hangover will be much worse. I won’t even put my mind on Bitcoin,” Jhunjhunwala had told CNBC in an interview.
The recommendations/suggestions about cryptocurrencies in this story are by the respective commentator. TheSpuzz Online does not bear any duty for their tips. Please seek advice from your economic advisor ahead of dealing/investing in cryptocurrencies.