Bitcoin Could Get a Festive Push in India

By Rebecca Campbell for CryptocoinsNews

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is soon upon us, but could this celebration filled with fireworks, decorations, and lights help boost bitcoin adoption in the country?

On October 20, Diwali will, for five days, light up the skies as Indian people around the world celebrate the festival by lighting candles and fireworks to seek divine blessings from the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

Diwali celebration

According to Bloomberg, Amazon is set to spend $5 billion to dominate India’s e-commerce in the run-up to Diwali. While RedSeer Consulting has stated that Indians are expected to spend as much as $1.7 billion during Diwali. In a report from PYMNTS, an emerging e-commerce market in India is proving significant for the growth of bitcoin, which is believed will see a rise in adoption over the five-day festival particularly targeting the 21 percent unbanked population.

Of course, while the Indian bitcoin community is expected to spend their bitcoins online, there is a lack of bitcoin debit cards and bitcoin e-commerce platforms available.

ZebPay Caters to Online Shopping

Indian bitcoin wallet provider ZebPay is providing the ideal answer for people who want to purchase items online. Through ZebPay consumers can buy gift cards from popular online retailers such as Amazon or Flipkart with bitcoin.

According to Morgan Stanley, it predicts that Indian online sales will reach $100 billion a year by 2020, up from $3 billion in 2013. As this is such a huge market, it’s understandable to see why bitcoin enthusiasts are keen to tap into this market to reach a wider audience of people.

Not only that, but as bitcoin continues to grow at an accelerated pace, investors are positive that bitcoin’s potential will grow in India. It was only recently reported that ZebPay is in talks to secure $4-$5 million in a Series-A round of funding.

India’s Remittance Market

India is considered to have the largest remittance industry, receiving $69 billion in 2015, according to the World Bank. Bitcoin could soon play a part in this too. The Indian population frequently send money to their families back home, which increases during festivals such as Diwali.

However, while bitcoin is often used for cross-border transactions, Indian companies are slowly turning their attention to bitcoin to capture the market too.

One such exchange is Indian bitcoin exchange Coinsecure, which recently partnered with OKCoin’s OKLink, a Chinese spinoff of bitcoin exchange OKCoin, to provide remittance services in India via bitcoin’s blockchain technology.

It seems the future of bitcoin in India is looking bright, but it still has plenty to do as it plays catch up with bitcoin’s accelerated growth; however, with Diwali just around the corner, it could provide the boost the country needs.

First appeared at CCN