Bitcoin in India? Not for a LOOOOONG time.

[OROBTC]

...

We are back from a long trip to India and Nepal.  If wanted I can share pics with those interested.

I see that "not much" that I can see has happened in "Bitcoinistan" since I left.

I will mention that NO ONE has heard of Bitcoin save ONE person in our tour group (18 of us total). 

Bitcoin may be BIG in China, but not in India (certainly not Nepal, now under a fuel embargo by India -- complicated).

India IS progressing faster than I woulod have guessed, they have seen the light re infrastructure (and other things to advance, you know, things like economic freedom, etc.) and of course a relatively tranquil democracy.  But, BTC ain't ready for primetime there.  Pity.

[Decoded]

Agreed, quite a pity. My friend, who's Indian, told me that his family back there couldn't really wrap their heads around a virtual currency.

Sure! Send us some pictures!

[bryant.coleman]

I am a regular visitor to India (especially to Delhi, and Kerala). Although there are not many shops which accept BTC in these regions, you can easily convert your BTC to fiat cash (INR), at low premiums. In Delhi itself, there are dozens, if not hundreds of traders who trade Bitcoins for fiat cash. Use Localbitcoins to get in touch with these guys.

[OROBTC]

...

I was on a guided tour for Americans, so not exposed to India's HUGE tech industry.

Decoded asked for a picture or two, here's one of Mt. Everest that I took a few days ago on Buddha Air Flight 101 (yes...):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxnHmH-02CQIenZiNktURVdHb0lvNjFlWGpJM0dsMWN6MGlB/view?usp=sharing

Have to click the link, still badly jetlagged...

Another photo soon on the Ganges, no BTC there either...

[OROBTC]

...

Funeral pyres on the Ganges River one evening.  I could only get about 10 of the pyres in the photo, there were some 16 or so at this site when we passed by on the boat:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxnHmH-02CQIQ3VHT2U2ZFJkNXJhRTAwTy15NzUwR2FDVnFj/view?usp=sharing

They wrap the bodies up within 24 hours, put butter oil on them and burn the bodies in sandalwood pyres within 24 hours.  Those who can do so do that at Varanasi (Benares) where I took this one.

[OROBTC]

I am a regular visitor to India (especially to Delhi, and Kerala). Although there are not many shops which accept BTC in these regions, you can easily convert your BTC to fiat cash (INR), at low premiums. In Delhi itself, there are dozens, if not hundreds of traders who trade Bitcoins for fiat cash. Use Localbitcoins to get in touch with these guys.

Hi Bryant,

We were too busy doing tourist crap (our first visit) so I saw none of that in Delhi (I did see a fabulously named shop in the business I was in Delhi's old town: "Fine Bearing Shop", LOL, they apparently sold used bearings -- wish I could have dropped in).



EDIT: Bryant, the ONE guy was an American on the tour. but he had never used BTC before, just read about it.

[eternalgloom]

It's a pity since that's a huge market out there that could cause a new price surge.
Are there already any Bitcoin related start-ups in India that any of you know of?

[qiwoman2]

It's a pity since that's a huge market out there that could cause a new price surge.
Are there already any Bitcoin related start-ups in India that any of you know of?

Maybe it's the fact that there are probably a lot less people in India who have access to the internet..Although India is known for its Techies..the proportion of these compared to maybe those in China having internet access and knowledge could be far lower.. This is just my 2 bit guess..

[hunnaryb]

If bitcoin became big in India, could you imagine the potential!

[spirit of btc]

I am an Indian, Bitcoin is not that famous in India. People always prefer currency notes to cards, so having a mobile wallet is like far from reach. Only the younger generation is getting to know about bitcoin.

[Amph]

Agreed, quite a pity. My friend, who's Indian, told me that his family back there couldn't really wrap their heads around a virtual currency.

Sure! Send us some pictures!

it's about generation, old generations, can't really understand something like bitcoin, there is too much religion there still ancient mentality, i guess that some of them are not even familiar with electronic payment

bitcoin need a new generation of people that understand well how and why it is useful for them

[mobnepal]

I am from Nepal as you have mentioned in OP yes we are in big fuel crisis only due to blockade by indian government specially modi. It is very hard here to even get right medicine at right time and people are dying with small injuries too. But let make it apart talking about bitcoin it has lots of potential here as till now only esewa has been medium to get foreign currency via skrill. I am also discussing with some of the guy who trade on localbitcoin about opening bitcoin exchange over here. We are not advance in our political situation but we are not quite far from the technologies india have.

Lets hope the relation between india and nepal will remain good forever.

[1Referee]

This just shows that Bitcoin usage and adoption is nothing more than peanuts right now. If everything is done in a well manner, then Bitcoin will grow to unseen levels. Inda is indeed rising and is even being considered to be a world power at one day by certain economists.

[Blue_Tiger73]

I have been to India a couple of times and there are very few places that accept Bitcoin. Like in Australia, where I live, there are barely any shops that accept Bitcoin. The only difference to India, is that there are a lot of currency exchanges in India that are willing to exchange Bitcoin for fiat and vise versa.

[Blue_Tiger73]

This just shows that Bitcoin usage and adoption is nothing more than peanuts right now. If everything is done in a well manner, then Bitcoin will grow to unseen levels. Inda is indeed rising and is even being considered to be a world power at one day by certain economists.

Yeah. I definitely think that India is going to be a global powerhouse in the Bitcoin world. Bitcoin is definitely getting adopted around the world and it has already exploded in the US and it is rapidly spreading across the world.

[Kprawn]

If bitcoin became big in India, could you imagine the potential!

You do not need to imagine, just look at the figures ---> http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/

The population of India is estimated at 1,267,401,849 as of July 1 2014.

India's population is equivalent to 17.5% of the total world population.

India ranks number 2 in the list of countries by population.

The population density in India is 386 people per Km2.

32% of the population is urban (410,404,773 people in 2014).

The median age in India is 26.6 years.  <--- This has the most potential.

The political environment is very complex and not very easy to penetrate...

If only one market place starts to accept Bitcoin, we will all smile ---> IndiaMART offers a platform and tools to over 14 million buyers to search from over 25.7 million

products and get connected with over 1.8 million reliable and competitive suppliers. Founded in 1996, the company’s mission is ‘to make doing businesses, easy’.

[lixer]

Another reason is RBI regulations.
Paypal itself faced many hard time against Indian money laundering rules. (Still no personal payment option for Indian Paypal accounts and daily mandatory withdrawal to bank account).
Black money is big problem in Indian economy, so they will worry about bitcoin more.

[spirit of btc]

Another reason is RBI regulations.
Paypal itself faced many hard time against Indian money laundering rules. (Still no personal payment option for Indian Paypal accounts and daily mandatory withdrawal to bank account).
Black money is big problem in Indian economy, so they will worry about bitcoin more.

Blackmoney is the biggest headache that India has, almost all the government officials are having black money. It is difficult to bring back the money.

[countryfree]

There isn't one single India. It would be closer to reality to say that there are several India. If you go to Mumbai, you'll see people starving, but barely a few blocks from them you see the latest models from Bentley, Mercedes and Rolls Royce. Extreme poverty is side by side with extreme wealth in India. The same goes for BTC knowledge and use.

[polynesia]

The OP is right in his assessment.
There are some traders who buy/sell bitcoin.
Bitcoin's actual usage in commerce is currently negligible.