Cryptocurrency is increasingly gaining in prominence as a payment method among a small yet growing set of businesses in the formal and informal economy in India. They have started to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other crypto tokens in exchange for goods and services amid the rising popularity of the digital asset in India. ET spoke to various businesses – from a fitness trainer in Chandigarh to a tattoo parlour owner in Delhi NCR – to understand the allure of using crypto for payments.
In some instances, the use is being dictated by businesses trying to ride on the crypto frenzy that had built up over the Covid-19 pandemic, while for some businesses the acceptance is an attempt to get ahead of the curve.
In the absence of any law specifying treatment of cryptocurrency, legal experts said the use of cryptocurrency for payments in India is neither legal, nor illegal. This has not deterred businesses or customers from opting for such transactions.
Establishing Utility
India’s oldest crypto exchange, Unocoin, for instance, has allowed its users to recharge their Fastag accounts using Bitcoin. It is also allowing Bitcoin transactions for bill payments, and e-commerce.
Since going live with Bitcoin top-ups for Fastag, it has seen transactions to the tune of ₹8-10 lakh in the last 2-3 weeks, 50 per cent of which were made by those aged over 35, Sathvik Vishwanath, cofounder of Unocoin, told ET.
The exchange wants to revive the original intent behind creation of Bitcoin, which was “fast and free payment” from anywhere in the world without a middleman, and to expand its use cases for retail traders, which currently stand over 15 million in India according to industry estimates. “Nowadays, it is going way too much toward an asset class, and the utility part is getting side-lined,” Vishwanath said.
Raghav Gupta, director of The Rug Republic, an Indian decor brand that sells home decor items, said the company wants to show the regulators that there is support for crypto from the Indian business community.
These developments come at a time when jurisdictions across the world such as the US city of Miami, and El Salvador have allowed citizens to use Bitcoin as legal tender for payments.
