Bitcoin shines in Telangana, AP amid cash chaos

​Hyderabad: Bitcoin, the digital currency that was launched in 2009 as an alternative to the national currencies controlled by the central banks around the world, is fast gaining steam across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with more and more people from the two Telugu states taking to it as an investment option.

The trend has picked up momentum post demonetisation as people affected by the Modi government’s sudden and shock move have been exploring alternative investment options.

The other draw is that in the last one year, the digital currency – also known as cryptocurrency – outshone all other investment modes, including the evergreen gold, and witnessed over three-fold appreciation from around Rs 20,000 a unit (Bitcoin) in February 2016 to over Rs 66,000 now.

Cryptocurrency is a virtual currency in which highly-secured encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds.

Bitcoin is the first and popular digital currency though there are a few more in circulation. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in blockchain, a virtual public ledger. It is said that only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be generated.

“When we started a few years ago, our trading volume was just five to six Bitcoins a day. Now, we are handling more than 70 units a day and on some good days, we touch 100 units on our platform. With the increase in awareness, more people are investing in the digital currency these days.

Our platform witnessed significant spurt in trading immediately after the announcement of demonetisation on November 8,” Kamesh Mupparaju, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hyderabad-based BTCXIndia, told The Hans India.

One of the four big digital currency exchange platforms in India, BTCXIndia caters to the customers from across the country.

“But we have seen huge spurt in the number of customers from the two Telugu states with Andhra Pradesh leading the way. We have over 500 customers from Telangana, while AP accounts for 1,500 now,” he said.

Interestingly, even people from non-metro cities such as Visakhapatnam and Warangal as well as those from smaller cities are betting on the digital currency.

“The good thing is that we can even buy Bitcoin in parts. I bought 0.25 for about Rs 12,500 for investment purpose and the price has climbed to over Rs 15,000 now.

I will wait for some more time before selling it as the price is going up,” said Narender, an investor from Warangal.

According to Kamesh, nearly 1,000 Bitcoins are currently being traded in India every day. He expects the volumes to go up in the coming years.

“The trading volume is very low in India when compared to other countries like China where over 1 lakh units change hands each day.

This is set to change. Besides, the price which is closer to $1,000 now is projected to touch $2,000 in a year,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is also a contrarian view that the concept of digital currency is nothing but fraud. M V Syam Sundar, Secretary of Vijayawada-based Corporate Frauds Watch Society, said that it has been noticed that several people have been trading in the Bitcoin for the last five years.

“I tried to bring the issue to the notice of the then top police brass of the United AP to take action against the illegal transaction,” he explained. But the police officials could not make out what exactly the Bitcoin is and expressed inability to take any action, he added.