Tesla's Bitcoin buy fuels crypto sales in India

Number of users on ZebPay, a Bitcoin trading platform, doubled right after the news

Mumbai: Global electric car major Tesla's recent announcement of its investment of around $1.5 billion in Bitcoin has brought cheers to people who are active on the crypto currency space in the country.

Enthused over it, they are now raising demand for the government and the regulator to come forward with a favourable action for encouraging the digital currency as an official currency for the country too.

Interestingly, the number of users on ZebPay, a Bitcoin trading platform, doubled right after the news came in.

The announcement was made by the company's chief Elon Musk in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission early Monday. As a result, Bitcoin spiked 14 per cent and appeared to hit a new all-time high briefly.

Sumit Gupta, CEO and Co-founder, CoinDCX said: 'Elon Musk's $1.5 billion worth investment in Bitcoin, will undoubtedly offer a big boost to investors and the crypto community at large. However, the move also offers a huge testament to the potential of the digital asset which should not be ignored by the regulators and policy makers of our country, he said.

This will enhance trust on cryptocurrencies as an investment class among investors, both retail and institutional across the globe. We have seen heavy participation from the institutional investors in the recent past. We therefore expect the government to consider these developments and come up with favourable regulations that will benefit the investors and the Indian crypto ecosystem. In the wake of developed economies embracing cryptocurrencies, resistance from regulators will result in India losing out on the global technological race. Once smart and sensible regulations are in place in the country, we will witness similar investments coming in from the institutional side which in turn will offer huge impetus to the economy at large, he added.

Elon Musk, who owns the California-based four-wheeler manufacturing company, has been talking about Bitcoin for a long time. He has also said that his company would soon be able to accept payments from customers in the virtual currency mode too.

Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay, said that the number of users on ZebPay more than doubled right after the news of Tesla's buy. It's a sign to other companies that Bitcoin is a solid reserve asset for any balance sheet. We hope central banks will join in and that this news helps nudge the government to buy, not ban Bitcoin and let every Indian do the same. Now Tesla may also spring another surprise by investing a billion dollars in Dogecoin, he added.