A study on impact of cryptocurrency on investors and Indian economy

INTRODUCTION

Cryptocurrency
The battle is finally over. For nearly two years the Indian courts have been fighting to lift the ban of cryptocurrency
in India. It is remarkable that on March 4, 2020, The Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on cryptocurrency
including the Bitcoins. The RBI’s circular of April 2018 has been declared unconstitutional. The RBI’s proposed ban
has become a rallying point for multiple stakeholders in the crypto industry to come together and push for stronger
regulation rather than shunning cryptocurrency for all its potential. The positive decision has taken the nation into a
state of utter exuberance and hope for what is to come in the future for us. With this upliftment of the ban, India has
an opportunity to draw on India’s huge population of over 300 million unbanked people. While India’s counterparts
around the globe are moving into blockchain technology, we risked giving up the potential promised by co-opting
crypto.
The country is a sleeping giant with a population going up one billion. India has the power to change the global
economy, all thanks to a positive decision by the Supreme court. The CEO of Pundi X, Zac Cheah said that India’s
Apex Court removing the crypto ban just confirms the reality that cryptography and blockchain are emerging
innovations. India is Pundi X’s second-largest blockchain wallet customer. Allowing cryptocurrency transfers will
increase our customer base and put rising volumes of customers into the digital payments fold.
What is cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency protected by cryptography which makes counterfeiting or

doublespending almost impossible. Most cryptocurrencies are decentralized, blockchain-based networks — a public
database operated by a dispersed computing network. One distinguishing characteristic of cryptocurrencies is that
they are usually not distributed by any central agency, rendering them potentially resistant to intervention or abuse
by the government.
The term “crypto-currency” derives from the encryption methods used to protect the network. Cryptocurrencies
attract scrutiny for a variety of reasons including their use for illicit activity, exchange rate fluctuations, and network
flows that underlie them. They were also praised for their portability, accountability and divisibility.
Cryptocurrencies are almost always intended to be free of government influence and regulation, but this core feature
of the technology has come under fire as they have become more common. The currencies modelled after bitcoin are
called altcoins collectively and have often attempted to present themselves as modified or improved versions of
bitcoin.
The first cryptocurrency based on blockchain was Bitcoin, which remains the most popular and valuable. Bitcoin
was introduced in 2009 by a person or collective known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.” As of November 2019, more than
18 million bitcoins were in circulation with a cumulative market cap of about $146 billion. Bitcoin is one of the first
digital currencies to use peer-to-peer technology to enable online transfers. Some of Bitcoin’s success spawned
competing cryptocurrencies, known as “altcoins,” including Litecoin, Peercoin, and Namecoin as well as Ethereum,
Cardano, and EOS. Today the aggregate value of all existing cryptocurrencies is around $214 billion — Bitcoin
currently accounts for more than 68 per cent of the total value.
The top cryptocurrencies
Here are the top cryptocurrencies in India.
The cryptocurrency hype has traveled from the west and reached India, attracting investors with its high value. Be it,
seasoned investors or novice enthusiasts, everyone wants to partake in a conversion about cryptocurrencies and give
opinions. While many NRIs have good knowledge about the growing cryptocurrency market, Indians need to update
themselves with the market news. 

After the recent market dip brought by China’s crypto ban, the low crypto coin prices have caught the interest of
Indian investors and skeptics. People, who were once against risking money in such a volatile market due to high
prices, are now ready to make their first, albeit small cryptocurrency investment.
For you to get started, here are the top cryptocurrencies to buy and hold in May 2021. As of today, the crypto market
is in recovery, which makes this an ideal time to invest.
 1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Price today: INR 3,246,223
For Indians, Bitcoin is synonymous with cryptocurrency. And rightfully so, because this was the first and is the
highest valued crypto in the market right now. After reaching an all-time high of about $65000 in April this year, the
price started plummeting recently, thanks to Elon Musk’s tweet about Tesla not accepting Bitcoins anymore
(initially, Tesla had decided to accept Bitcoins as a mode of payment). If you have the budget, now is the best time to
buy Bitcoin as the price dropped by almost 30%.

2. Ethereum
Price today : 158,130.49
Ether, introduced in 2015, is presently the second-biggest digital currency by market value behind bitcoin, but it lags
by a substantial margin behind the dominant cryptocurrency. Effective January 2020, the market value of ether is
around 1/10 the size of bitcoins. Ethereum is focused on realistic smart contracts for the digitalisation of transactions
used by several companies. Ethereum is a decentralized computing framework that enables the construction and
running of Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications without any third party interruption, theft, power or
intervention. On Ethereum, the programs run on the platform-specific cryptographic token, ether.
3. Binance Coin
Price today: INR 31,390
As per market capitalization, Binance Coin is the third-largest cryptocurrency, the first two being Bitcoin and
Ethereum. In 2017, Binance Coin was launched by one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, as
a utility token. Hence, the pricing of this crypto coin depends on its utility on the Binance platform. In simple terms,
if more people use Binance Coin to trade other cryptos, its value will increase. Experts predict that by the end of May
2021, the price of one Binance Coin will hit $505.

4. Ripple:
Launched in 2012, Ripple helps banks to real-time settle cross-border trades for end-to-end transparency and lower
costs. With its new business model, Ripple has seen success; it remains one of the most appealing digital currencies

A study on impact of cryptocurrency on investors and Indian economy