The on the 19th of March, ZebPay hosted the biggest Bitcoin Conference (The Future of Money) on Indian soil to date. Bitcoin awareness in India is still fairly limited: the conference was held in order to introduce the concept of digital currency to students and the general public. The event was sponsored by several leading Indian bitcoin companies (iGot, Blockstreet and CoinSecure). The conference was attended by more than 500 people, including Mrs. Anar Patel, daughter of Gujarats Head of State. Mrs. Patel visited the conference to acquaint herself with bitcoin technology and to understand the implications it has for the future of mobile payment systems in India. The conference was also attended by Mr. Nishith Desai, founder of Nishith Desai Associates (NDA), a reputable legal and tax counseling firm in India. NDA provides legal counsel for some very large companies such as; Vodafone India, one of India's biggest of telecommunications corporations; Infosys, a global IT consulting company.
NDA recently authored a 46-page paper (Bitcoins-A Global Perspective: Indian Legal and Tax Considerations), which provides a thorough examination of the legal, tax and ethical implications of digital currency adoption in India. The ZebPay conference also marked the launch of the Bitcoin India Alliance (BIA). The BIA, is a consortium of digital currency entrepreneurs and businesses: representing the interests of the Bitcoin community to regulators and government officials. The BIA is hoping to establish lines of communication with The Reserve Bank of India, and open a much needed dialog on potential legislation regarding digital currencies.
ZebPay announced a promotion with Flipkart and Amazon India - providing users with a 10% discount on voucher purchases. ZebPay will also be announcing a list of several Indian companies, that will be announcing bitcoin integration in the near future.
"We also announced that we will soon be coming with a list of India's first merchants who will accept bitcoins. This will include a real estate company, a chain of restaurants, coffee shops and more. You will also soon be able to buy mobile airtime."
According to Sandeep Goenka, ZebPay Co-Founder, who also spoke at the conference:
"The audience appreciated the event as Zebpay is the first company in India who is taking steps to educate people about bitcoins and that to clear the confusion over its legality."
Image Source: https://zebpay.com/