Future is Coins-age - Says Bitlox director
Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoins, one of the widely used digital currencies in the digital era has been facing various problems, globally.It all started, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meant them as an illegal tender, after his speech on budget 2018. After a while, the statement has raised various questions among the cryptocurrency investors and users in India.
To find out the ground reality of cryptocurrencies, our Editor_tuner contacted the director of Bitlox, Dana L Coe, through the mail and got some interesting things.Â
Excerpts: Â Q) The market value of cryptocurrencies increased day by day in accordance with their demand. Eventually, it made many companies integrate their payment gateway with cryptocurrency payment option. But the reach is limited to corporates and bigshots in the trade market. Do you have any plans to expand its reach to the common man?
A: Currently, the market is ripe for a solution that is transparent and fair to the small merchant. We are working on solutions that will ease the entry into this market for the type of transactions small merchants need.
Q) A few investors in India fear to invest in cryptocurrencies. Is that because of cybercrooks who tend to loot by bots and wares. Or is the unstable market the reason? A: I’m not an advocate for ‘investing’ per se in any cryptocurrency. It’s a payment method. If you ‘invest’ you are betting the worth will go up. Which is exactly that - betting. This is not bad in itself, just one should not fool oneself into thinking of it as ‘investment’. Q) During the soft launch of Deuscoin in Chennai a year ago, you said cryptocurrency could be used for shopping and other legal purposes. Contrary to that, Finance Minister Jaitley has said cryptocurrencies are used for illegal proposes and the government will take action to curb its use. What is your reaction to his statement? A: All currency can and is used for illegal purposes. Look at the fiasco last year with the Indian rupee note demonetisation. The most common currency used for criminal activity is the USD. Shall we declare those illegal in international trade? If cryptocurrencies or rupees are used for illegal purposes, how about going after the illegal activities in the first place?  Q) There are rumors that cryptocurrency can be used if they are pinned with taxes similar to the taxation methods in traditional currencies. If Bitcoins are taxed and are open in their accounts, will the purpose of anonymity remain?  A: Contrary to popular opinion, Bitcoins are NOT anonymous. There exist many tools for tracing and tracking the use of Bitcoins. The authorities should welcome such blockchain technologies, as it makes their jobs easier. Q) A few researchers feel that online crimes are piling up because of crypto mining injections on websites. This is the core reason for the Finance Minister to talk of preventing the use of Bitcoin in India. What do you think about it? A: This is the same if someone is running a video when you load a page. Easily preventable. Q) What's your suggestion to cryptocurrency haters? A: Try it out with some lower value coins - for fun! Remember, when you sent your first email? It’s fun like that! Q) Will digital divide be a problem for citizens if Bitcoins become legal? A: Anyone can access cryptocurrency without a gatekeeper standing in the way. This will lessen divides. Q) Though cryptocurrencies have their own glorious tales, a few rotten eggs may be using them for wrong purposes. What are they? A: There are many scammers who use the same old stories of get richquick just dressed up in new cryptocurrency clothes. Be very critical and skeptical. Q) Will India be suited to opt Bitcoins for regular transactions? A: Bitcoins are a nice alternative, and where there is competition, there is always innovation. For the vast majority of people, this can be empowering, and great democracies are always in favor of the opinion of the majority. Q) Will Indian market accept Bitcoins? A: Time will tell. But time moves very quickly in the crypto space!
