Indian tech leader urges acceptance of cryptocurrency as asset class

Nandan Nilekani called on India to use cryptocurrency as an asset class because authorities around the world are working hard to solve the problem of how to adapt to the technology.

The chairman of the information technology and consulting company Infosys believes that cryptocurrencies are too volatile and energy-intensive to be used as a means of payment, and believe that India’s native Unified payment interface digital payment infrastructure Because it is more effective. But he said that cryptocurrencies should be encouraged as an asset that can be bought and sold, just like commodities.

“Just like you own some gold or real estate assets, you can also own some crypto assets,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “I think encryption can be used as a store of value, but it is certainly not in the sense of transaction.”

Nilekani stated that allowing individuals and businesses to enter the $1.5 trillion market will allow “cryptocurrency people to invest their wealth in the Indian economy.”

The technology executive has long been working with Indian authorities to help develop digital policies, including Aadhaar biometric programHe also served as Chairman of the Central Bank’s Digital Payments Committee in 2019.

India is a big potential cryptocurrency market, but the country’s official position is unclear. Outright ban Although the transaction volume of local traders has surged, it is imminent

The ban will make India one of the most stringent digital currency jurisdictions in the world, because authorities around the world consider How to supervise encryption.

The Supreme Court of India overturned the 2018 Central Bank’s directive to crack down on cryptocurrencies last year. But the market continues to operate in a gray area, and some banks have recently threatened to take action against crypto traders.

The government said this year that it will introduce legislation, which is widely expected to ban private digital currencies in support of official, central bank-operated coins. After that, officials issued statements that sounded more conciliatory.

Infosys enthusiastically adopted the blockchain technology that supports cryptocurrency because it hopes to provide its multinational customers with more and more digital tools.

But the IT industry in India is Hit hard Due to the menacing second wave of coronavirus in the country, the company is facing widespread employee infections, and regulators worry that back-office operations may be interrupted. Nilekani believes that the impact on the business is limited, and the number of cases is now declining.

Nilekani believes that Infosys’s experience and scale (the company has approximately 250,000 employees) means that it can thrive as the company improves its internal systems to adapt to the routines of remote or flexible work after the pandemic.

This includes the need to move to the cloud. Although Infosys does not normally disclose the identities of its customers, in the past year, it has entered into deals with companies including Daimler, the German automaker and the US investment group Vanguard.

“Frankly, I think today’s opportunities are better than ever before,” Nilekani said. “In the 40 years I have been in this industry, I have never seen such a big change and acceleration happen.”