When Will India Explode?

[worldlybedouin]

I imagine quite a few Indians wanting to send money back to their families in India from Australia would see the benefit in using Bitcoin as a lower fee means of transmitting it.

I was thinking the same thing...my wife was going on holiday to India, and I was thinking how to send money over there via BTC so she doesn't have to carry several thousand dollars with her (her safety being my concern)...however, doing a bit of looking around I couldn't find an easy way for her to get it converted back to Rupees upon arrival...

I think this is a potentially large missed opportunity, not just for India, but world travelers in general. Imagine a "BTC Exchange" (just like the money exchangers) at the airport...show up and get cash in local currency (with a tiny bit taken out for commission).  This would allow travelers to travel safely and not worry about getting robbed while falling asleep or something waiting for a connecting flight.

[keystroke]

What needs to be done to make this happen? I see WU and MG ads all over India. They need the magic of the coin.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I imagine quite a few Indians wanting to send money back to their families in India from Australia would see the benefit in using Bitcoin as a lower fee means of transmitting it.

I was thinking the same thing...my wife was going on holiday to India, and I was thinking how to send money over there via BTC so she doesn't have to carry several thousand dollars with her (her safety being my concern)...however, doing a bit of looking around I couldn't find an easy way for her to get it converted back to Rupees upon arrival...

I think this is a potentially large missed opportunity, not just for India, but world travelers in general. Imagine a "BTC Exchange" (just like the money exchangers) at the airport...show up and get cash in local currency (with a tiny bit taken out for commission).  This would allow travelers to travel safely and not worry about getting robbed while falling asleep or something waiting for a connecting flight.

Yeah, bitcoin ATMs at the airport (or major cities) would be nice.

[BlueTemplar]

if only i could find a way to directly extract *usable* energy from heat, thus creating cool.. and energy.. well then money wouldn't be a problem.

The laws of thermodynamics would like to have a word with you.

[pa]

There are some buyers/sellers on localbitcoins:

https://localbitcoins.com/country/IN

[Tirapon]

if only i could find a way to directly extract *usable* energy from heat, thus creating cool.. and energy.. well then money wouldn't be a problem.

The laws of thermodynamics would like to have a word with you.

It would certainly be possible to extract usable energy from the heat produced by mining. Somebody could design a mining rig which is water cooled (I'm sure they already exist?) - the water gets heated up in the process of cooling the ASIC chips. This heated water could then be circulated to provide central heating. This would mean that you could use the energy that you were going to use for heating anyway, and put it to work offsetting the heating bill by mining bitcoins.

EDIT:

Ah I see, this wouldn't be useful in India haha. I don't know if you could extract the heat energy and use it to power a cooling sytem. In theory it's possible but in practice I'd imagine it would be far too complicated.

[BlueTemplar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_engine#Overview
(Note that this also applies to refrigerators, since they still have to dump the heat somewhere.)

[Dapper]

I've done business with my friends from school (of Indian descent) for quite some time.   There have been zero fee transfers to India for years, so Bitcoin wouldn't be taking away marketshare by being 'cheaper.'   Faster, sure... but then it's slightly more in the fee area, not the mention the current lack of liquidity of converting BTC to INR.   India also has some serious anti money laundering barriers that Bitcoin would have to hurdle (in terms of setting up exchanges, regular people receiving incoming wire transfers from exchanges, etc.).       

Most of the major Indian banks: HDFC, SBI, Cosmos, etc. all have zero fee transfer systems to India.  There are a handful of private companies as well like Remit2India.   They make money from the float (invested interest returns from funds held during the 'delay' or 'processing time'), the same way Paypal makes a lot of its income.   It takes about 4-5 days to use these services to pretty much send funds for free from the US to India for example.   For an awful lot of Indians, because of the culture, a slow and free service is better than a fast and inexpensive service.

IMO the pharmaceutical route is one of the key vectors to India.  JCM Pharma, The Swiss Pharmacy, etc. are just the first wave.  It's one of the few payment methods that can't be shut down, and the demand for prescription drugs is as endless as the demand for narcotics.  People need their meds and will find a way to workaround the system.   

[sumantso]

I can't see Bitcoin catching in the near future. As pointed out, money remittance is not an issue, and the BTC as an investment is very volatile. Even now, people watch stocks with a wary eye, and with banks (with government backing) offering 8-9% interest there is not much reason to risk it.

All this 'India' hype is just greedy nerds trying to find out if there are more people out there ready to hand them over money.

[Peter R]

I can't see Bitcoin catching in the near future. As pointed out, money remittance is not an issue, and the BTC as an investment is very volatile. Even now, people watch stocks with a wary eye, and with banks (with government backing) offering 8-9% interest there is not much reason to risk it.

All this 'India' hype is just greedy nerds trying to find out if there are more people out there ready to hand them over money.

Two can play that game, sumantso!:

I can see Bitcoin catching on in the near future.  As pointed out, gold imports into the country have been blocked by a fearful government, eliminating a traditional method that Indian families use to save wealth and hedge against inflation.  Although banks offer interest rates of 8-9%, reported inflation is 7% (http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/inflation-cpi) and actual inflation is very likely higher.  With gold unavailable and Rupees inflated away in savings accounts, there is now more than ever a reason for Indians to risk a small investment into bitcoin.  

[hostmaster]

Indian population will be bigger than china at year 2040. They are soon bi big marketplace for anything.

[sumantso]

I can't see Bitcoin catching in the near future. As pointed out, money remittance is not an issue, and the BTC as an investment is very volatile. Even now, people watch stocks with a wary eye, and with banks (with government backing) offering 8-9% interest there is not much reason to risk it.

All this 'India' hype is just greedy nerds trying to find out if there are more people out there ready to hand them over money.

Two can play that game, sumantso!:

I can see Bitcoin catching on in the near future.  As pointed out, gold imports into the country have been blocked by a fearful government, eliminating a traditional method that Indian families use to save wealth and hedge against inflation.  Although banks offer interest rates of 8-9%, reported inflation is 7% (http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/inflation-cpi) and actual inflation is very likely higher.  With gold unavailable and Rupees inflated away in savings accounts, there is now more than ever a reason for Indians to risk a small investment into bitcoin.  

Investing requires a 'trust'. Its kind of a culture/perception thing that stocks are bad. Bitcoin with all the crazy volatility is even worse. Sure, there will be investors, but nothing in numbers to make any dent.

Inflation has always been high and the central rates stay usually a bit ahead of them. Keeping money in banks is regarded as the 'safest' and also allows to claim some tax savings; and if you put in pension fund you get tax free interest. Also, a lot of the gold investment is in jewellery - tangible things which can also be shown off (and boy, do they show off ).

A bit unrelated, but I see discussions on these boards regarding switch to mBTC and how it shouldn't matter. But when 1 BTC costs 2-3 months the average monthly salary of the target group, it simply won't work; notwithstanding the divisibility.

I may be completely wrong with my prediction, but I just don't see BTC catching on in India.

[sumantso]

Indian population will be bigger than china at year 2040. They are soon bi big marketplace for anything.

For KFC, sure; for 950cc Yamaha - not so much.

[Mirsad]

I think this is a potentially large missed opportunity, not just for India, but world travelers in general. Imagine a "BTC Exchange" (just like the money exchangers) at the airport...show up and get cash in local currency (with a tiny bit taken out for commission).  This would allow travelers to travel safely and not worry about getting robbed while falling asleep or something waiting for a connecting flight.

Never heard of travel cash card? It's exactly for such purposes.
It's not for microtransactions, because of the fees.

[sumantso]

I think this is a potentially large missed opportunity, not just for India, but world travelers in general. Imagine a "BTC Exchange" (just like the money exchangers) at the airport...show up and get cash in local currency (with a tiny bit taken out for commission).  This would allow travelers to travel safely and not worry about getting robbed while falling asleep or something waiting for a connecting flight.

Never heard of travel cash card? It's exactly for such purposes.
It's not for microtransactions, because of the fees.

Not to mention you can step into any ATM with a VISA/Master Debit card and take out money with 2-3% fee.

'getting robbed' - yeah, coz anybody who lands in India has a higher chance of getting robbed than anywhere else

[Peter R]

I can't see Bitcoin catching in the near future. As pointed out, money remittance is not an issue, and the BTC as an investment is very volatile. Even now, people watch stocks with a wary eye, and with banks (with government backing) offering 8-9% interest there is not much reason to risk it.

All this 'India' hype is just greedy nerds trying to find out if there are more people out there ready to hand them over money.

Two can play that game, sumantso!:

I can see Bitcoin catching on in the near future.  As pointed out, gold imports into the country have been blocked by a fearful government, eliminating a traditional method that Indian families use to save wealth and hedge against inflation.  Although banks offer interest rates of 8-9%, reported inflation is 7% (http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/inflation-cpi) and actual inflation is very likely higher.  With gold unavailable and Rupees inflated away in savings accounts, there is now more than ever a reason for Indians to risk a small investment into bitcoin.  

Investing requires a 'trust'. Its kind of a culture/perception thing that stocks are bad. Bitcoin with all the crazy volatility is even worse. Sure, there will be investors, but nothing in numbers to make any dent.

Inflation has always been high and the central rates stay usually a bit ahead of them. Keeping money in banks is regarded as the 'safest' and also allows to claim some tax savings; and if you put in pension fund you get tax free interest. Also, a lot of the gold investment is in jewellery - tangible things which can also be shown off (and boy, do they show off ).

A bit unrelated, but I see discussions on these boards regarding switch to mBTC and how it shouldn't matter. But when 1 BTC costs 2-3 months the average monthly salary of the target group, it simply won't work; notwithstanding the divisibility.

I may be completely wrong with my prediction, but I just don't see BTC catching on in India.

I think your strongest point is that the culture in India doesn't bode well for highly-speculative investments, and I half agree.  (Another thing preventing adoption in India is lack of reliable/easy access to the required technology, in my opinion.)

But on the other hand, India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India).  It is a young country full of 20-somethings and 30-somethings with strong math skills and a keen interest in technology.  If they begin to see bitcoin as an escape hatch to a better and more modern life, perhaps they will throw culture to the wind and start to take the plunge.  

My take:  Bitcoin is a binary investment with a positive expected value.  Rational people will eventually place a bet, regardless of where they live.  

[nate008]

Indian population will be bigger than china at year 2040. They are soon bi big marketplace for anything.

Apart from the bi bi thing , do you really thing they will be the  bi bi thing for everything when the average person in India lives in a state of poverty?
Also the title :
"When Will India Explode?" made me think first at a nuclear war between India and Pakistan , not about bitcoins.

[pand70]

This would allow travelers to travel safely and not worry about getting robbed while falling asleep or something waiting for a connecting flight.

Well i don't think there is a big enough market of people wanting to change their money to bitcoins only because they afraid of being robbed in the airport...

[zimmah]

Indian population will be bigger than china at year 2040. They are soon bi big marketplace for anything.

For KFC, sure; for 950cc Yamaha - not so much.

They may get bigger in numbers, but they'll probably not get bigger in economy. China is a pretty big economy and I think india doesn't even come close.

[jeppe]

Have some friends in india and they say its already relatively popular and growing faster and faster.