Spire engaged as Knowledge Partner for Global Summit on cryptocurrency in India

Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be appointed as the Official Knowledge Partner at the Global Summit on Bitcoin & Blockchain: The State of Cryptocurrency – Opportunities and Challenges for Indian Economy – organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The summit was held on 3 March 2017 in New Delhi. It aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by the new technology.

Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications of Spire Research and Consulting, was honored to be a guest speaker at this event. He highlighted key facts about the Bitcoin & Blockchain ecosystem in India and other countries, focusing on market acceptance of cryptocurrency, security risks and regulatory issues.

Following last year’s demonetization move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the government is not in favor of legitimizing Bitcoin as legal tender. However, a few industry players are working on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solutions, namely Zebpay, Unocoin and SearchTrade.

Yap also shared his insights on the benefits of a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox framework used by Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia banks in which regulators, financial institutions and entrepreneurs exchange ideas. This framework enables not only the testing of innovative ideas but also helps to reduce time, cost and risk.

The challenge still remains for the Indian government to regulate Bitcoin in a way that best unlocks the benefits of Blockchain technology in terms of transparency, accountability and consumer protection.

The interactive panel discussion concluded that skepticism still exists about the legality of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency globally. Japan officially recognizes Bitcoin, whereas Singapore and Malaysia remain neutral; those not in favor include China and Russia. In India, a great deal of interest is attached to whether the government will eventually accept virtual currencies as legal tender.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-engaged-as-knowledge-partner-for-global-summit-on-cryptocurrency-in-india/

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