Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma has confirmed that the digital payments platform will venture into cryptocurrency once it's made legal in India. He mentioned that just like the internet, the underlying technology of cryptocurrency will soon be mainstream in the upcoming years while addressing the annual session and AGM of the Indian Chamber of Commerce virtually on Thursday.
"There are obligations of certain things to be digitised at a next level. Can currency be one of them? Answer is instead of currency, there would be more types of assets in the world," said Sharma.
Sharma even confirmed that he plans to take the Paytm brand abroad in near future to counter charges by brokerages that the business model of his company was not scalable. One 97 Communications Limited, the parent company of Paytm, on Thursday extended their gains for the third straight day ending at Rs 1,796.55, up 2.48 per cent, on the BSE.
While he was asked that whether he will consider setting up a crypto exchange, Sharma said, “The answer is 100 per cent. It’s a question like do you believe in smart phone or do you believe in the internet.”
Regarding the recent controversy of crypto being regulated in India and the government to ban private cryptos, Sharma also urged the Centre to “officially take a stand” on cryptocurrency to clear all sorts of confusion among investors. “At present, every government is confused. In five years, it will be the mainstream technology,” added Sharma.
According to the Lok Sabha website, the government will soon introduce the cryptocurrency bill "to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses”.
Sharma even assured that while regulations are being looked at across the world to measure the impact of cryptocurrencies on the sovereign currency, cryptocurrency will not be a replacement for sovereign currency.
There has been a growing concern among investors of cryptocurrencies after the notice came out that in the upcoming winter session of the parliament, the government may ban private cryptocurrencies while allowing certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology.
