Indian crypto businesses amp up marketing amid festive season
As India’s holiday season ushers, cryptocurrency businesses in the country are indulging in aggressive marketing campaigns to lure retail traders into giving away crypto.
Crypto exchanges this time are endorsing Bitcoins as festival gifts instead of the regular gold. Co-founder of Unocoin, Sathvik Vishwanath, said in an interview with The Economic Times that if the right approach is applied, Bitcoins can be “an interesting option” as a gifting item. Using Bitcoins and related gift vouchers would help generate “ more awareness activity” regarding the crypto industry.
Unocoin has recently partnered with several e-commerce chains to enable the purchase of prepaid gift vouchers using Bitcoin for online shopping.
Unocoin’s closest rival, WazirX, has also targeted the Indian gifting season with a number of new launches scheduled for this month. The company grew from a team of 50 to more than 200 employees in 2021.
Vice president of Marketing at WazirX, Rajagopal Menon, has expressed that “crypto gifting” is an essential part of their product roadmap. Despite the Indian government’s lack of clarity regarding cryptocurrencies, crypto firms like WazirX have indicated expansion plans. However, it is hinted that new legislation is in the process considering the surging demand for crypto in the Indian market.
Chairman of India Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Jayant Sinha, had said at an online blockchain summit the previous week that the Indian government’s upcoming regulations will not be like El Salvador but will be mainly dominated by national security concerns in a manner that it “strikes a balance between growth and stability.”
In the virtual event, Sinha had also highlighted potential misuses of cryptocurrency to finance terrorism activities as well as money laundering involvements.
At the same blockchain event, Rama Gandhi, the former deputy governor of India’s Reserve Bank, had spoken on the necessity of Indian lawmakers to address the crypto markets with clarity, stressing that crypto tokens need to be treated as commodities or assets and not as currencies.
