Interested in cryptocurrency for India?
Read this thread. Will be writing a more detailed post soon and updating here.
Wingston Fri 23 Dec 2016 3:58PM
Bitcoin might not be completely compatible with Indian situation. I use bitcoin also and am not very impressed with the direction they are heading. As they are themselves embroiled in intranetwork drama, i dont think they would care much about adapting to Indian situation.
- 1:1 price between cryptocurrency and INR. (as in 1 coin always == 1 Re)
This is important as an altcoin, the value of the coin should always be pegged to the rupee. As in the coin gains value because it is backed by the INR used to issue it. As in mining does not grant coins in this implementation. It is arguably very different from bitcoin concept, the only way to get coins is to pay for them only with INR. and this provides the value backed store for the coin network.
It also means that there can always be liquid, since the network will always have INR == number of coins in circulation, you can always liquidate coins to INR at any time.
- No transaction fees for transactions in the network, fee might be applicable for transactions.
Essentially this not to provide anonymity. That opens the network to situations like bitcoin where people will always try to abuse the network for their own ends. the objective is to provide a liquid method of cash transfer.
- Offline transaction support (true P2P) - as in transfers should be able to be done by Bluetooth also.
This is arguably the most controversial as the coin must be able to support a method of settlements even without an active internet connection.
Conside situations like what happened in chennai after the cyclone. ATMs were down, Card machines were not working, Banks didnt have cash. Essentially a catastrophe that was conveniently ignored by the media.
We would need to support a mechanism where 2 nodes can negotiate a transfer between themselves even without access to the larger network.
When they have network connectivity they can sync and update themselves with the parent network.
We can also arguably support a mesh network also.
This is just to enable discussion and is a rough draft. It needs a lot of work before it can be implemented.
Akhilesh Jamdar Sun 25 Dec 2016 9:05AM
Vidyut Sun 25 Dec 2016 9:22AM
I was thinking of cryptocurrency as an alternative to the rupee. The idea (which I didn't get around to writing up) was that even if the whole country can't adopt, the risk of people switching to unaccountable and untraceable cryptocurrency should be a good deterrent for the government to maintain the rupee right. Something like bitcoin or gold - value fluctuates according to market conditions. Widespread adoption in India will allow people an alternative to switch to if the government starts messing with their money again. It is already happening with bitcoin. Prices have started rising since demonetisation. Gold, on the other hand crashed after the initial spike because of fears that the government is looking to regiment gold possession as well. Not to mention that gold stores value well, but it isn't as easy as Bitcoin to spend in fractions of the pieces you hold. Some replies said that it should be a currency that can be mined infinitely rather than a limited supply. Others said what you did. Pegging it to something real. Currency, research, actual work, etc.
The idea of an "Indian" cryptocurrency is more to promote ONE currency for widespread acceptance on the ground. Of course anyone in the world would be able to mine and use it. In that sense, agreeing on an existing currency would work too.
This will obviously need more debate, but a lot of people are interested. The govt-banks cartel is rapidly losing trust.
Wingston Mon 26 Dec 2016 5:17PM
I will agree that the govt-bank cartel is being looked upon as untrustworthy.
The thing about gold is that everyone agrees that it has value.
A cryptocurrency is only as valuable as what someone is willing to give you in return for it.
Liquidity is the main concern, more than anything - you should be able to move it to rupees with ease so that people who don't use the cryptocurrency can also be included in the transaction.
Keeping the value pegged to the rupee and backing the cryptocurrency with private miners means that at any time you can cash in 1 coin == 1 Re.
It's a transaction network and a value store on the blockchain.
Its difficult to promote "ONE" currency as there will always be altcoins. If you are promoting just one, then why not use bitcoin?
My issue with bitcoin is the value, bitcoins are valuable because there are buyers who are willing to give you dollars in exchange for the coins that you mined. While it has it's advantages, it doesnt make it suitable to work in the indian market.
Secure Offline transactions, Rupee backed value store and 0 transaction fees for a cryptocurrency that is at par with the rupee is something that i feel people would be willing to accept.
[deactivated account] Fri 13 Jan 2017 8:02PM
Take a look at this .. GNU Taler .. quite interesting..
GNU Taler — ‘Digital Cash’ that is socially responsible .. A Technological Option to Save our Democracy and Economy from “Cashless” Totalitarianism
Akhilesh Jamdar · Thu 22 Dec 2016 9:22AM
Already use bitcoin. What do you propose?