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Cryptocurrency is here to stay, according to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm.
Sharma, addressing the annual session and AGM of the Indian Chamber of Commerce virtually on Thursday virtually said, "Crypto will become a mainstream technology just like the internet has become."
"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," he said.
"Crypto as a technology will become mainstream in the next five years. We will have use cases that you and I cannot live without like today the internet is," he added.
Cryptocurrencies have been in the limelight for a while now. Amid regulatory uncertainties, the bill to ban all private cryptocurrencies and facilitate introduction of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) topped the government’s busy agenda for the Winter Session of Parliament.
There is uncertainty over the proposed crypto regulation bill over banning private cryptos.
Sharma said, “I fundamentally believe that the government should officially take a stand on it because that will clear up all confusion.”
Paytm’s venture into crypto world
Answering a question about Paytm venturing into crypto exchange, Sharma said, “Will you be venturing into crypto exchange? The answer is 100 per cent. We would be 100 per cent be in the crypto. There is no confusion."
Sharma further said that crypto exchange is at a very early stage.
"I want to tell you that when you see crypto becoming legal, [you will wonder] how the world before was. It is exactly like what we had talked about after the introduction of the internet, laptops and mobiles,” he said.
"Crypto as a technology, NFT and the derivatives of it, these technologies are amazing," Sharma said.
Sharma further added that while regulations are being looked at across the world in terms of the impact of cryptocurrencies on the sovereign currency, cryptocurrency will not become a replacement of sovereign currency.
Top cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, Sandbox have been in the limelight this week as investors panicked following the government’s plans on the bill seeking to prohibit private cryptocurrencies while allowing certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology.
Cryptocurrencies were back in the green on Thursday as investors shed initial nervousness even as industry bodies said private cryptos should not be allowed as a currency but can be regulated as an asset to avoid unlawful usage.
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