Bitcoin is taking off around the world. Specifically, there is much potential for growth in Southeast Asia, in particular in a nation with the second largest population in the world: India.
I had the privilege of speaking with Sunny Ray who is active in the Bitcoin community in Bangalore, India, Nilam Doctor, CEO of Real Bitcoins, and Harsh Patel, proactive member of the Bitcoin Foundation Education Committee who is located in Mumbai. The Bitcoin community in India is continuing to expand.
Sunny Ray is currently involved in the unocoin project and serves as an integration partner with US-based Bitcoin payment processor, BitPay. There are over 150 members of the Bitcoin Meetup group in Bangalore alone. India has a climate ripe for the growth and embrace of Bitcoin. India is a top importer of gold and one in seven people in the world live in India. Bangalore in particular is an IT hub in India and many seeking decentralization see potential in the Bitcoin space in the IT community in India.
Sunny Ray
Bitcoin Magazine had an opportunity to interview Sunny Ray:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE0epfI76g4
In addition to Sunny Ray, I had the privilege of communicating with Nilam Doctor, another leader in the Indian Bitcoin ecosystem, on his involvement in the Bitcoin space in India. Nilam shared of his activity in Ahmedabad of hosting Bitcoin meetups since January of this year. Nilam has taken his involvement in the Bitcoin space a step further by working to establish a Bitcoin exchange in India by December of this year.
Nilam Doctor
I learned from Harsh Patel of the potential for Bitcoin in India. According to Harsh, there are various security communities in India such as ISRA, Null, Clubhack, Team Matrix and the Cyber Security Alliance are interested in knowing and exploring possibilities about Bitcoin. Some members of India’s security community have extended a helping hand for developing Bitcoin in India. Harsh is also working on a structure for standardization of virtual currencies in order to bring trust into the system. To date, India’s banking system has a standard / banking regulation in place for payment card and banking related activities, yet does not have an equivalent standard / regulation in place for virtual currencies.
Harsh Patel
As Bitcoin takes off in India, which nation is next? To date, Bitcoin is expanding rapidly in China, Argentina, Iran, Germany, and Canada to name a few nations. In terms of broad base adoption, India is a promising nation for Bitcoin growth as the nation holds technological hubs such as Bangalore and Mumbai. Bitcoin Magazine is thankful for the work of the Bitcoin community in India and encourages other nations to follow suit.
