Indian official eyes strategic bitcoin reserve in ‘unique opportunity to lead’ – is it viable?
While a ‘measured bitcoin strategy’ could boost India’s economic resilience, the country lacks a proper framework for cryptocurrencies, analysts say
Insisting that New Delhi had a “unique opportunity to lead” and pointing to trailblazers such as Bhutan, party spokesman Pradeep Bhandari drew attention to whether India’s rapidly growing economy would benefit from a “measured bitcoin strategy” which could strengthen economic resilience and project modernity.
United States President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve out of digital tokens seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases, rather than from the previous practice of selling them off.
Bitcoins have risen by 19 per cent year-to-date to US$111,086.90, helped partly by Trump’s favourable view of the cryptocurrency and his family’s heavy involvement in the industry despite dips in market sentiment over global trade tensions.
Bhandari highlighted in an article late last month that even Bhutan had set up a successful model to build up bitcoin reserves by using hydropower resources to mine the currency – an energy-intensive process that involves creating transaction blocks.