Decrypting crypto, today on Explained Live

As the liquidity measures announced by several developed economies begin to taper off, asset classes including cryptocurrencies are beginning to see a softening of prices.

The Indian Express has invited researcher and advisor Tanvi Ratna, founder & CEO of Policy 4.0, a think-tank focused on the future of money and emerging technology issues for India.

The much anticipated Bill to regulate cryptocurrencies has not been introduced in Parliament’s Winter Session, even as investments in these digital assets have continued to soar. According to some estimates, the year 2021 has seen crypto adoption in semi-urban and rural India skyrocket eight times.

As the liquidity measures announced by several developed economies begin to taper off, asset classes including cryptocurrencies are beginning to see a softening of prices, putting at risk retail investors who have put money in an unregulated market — one which is vulnerable not only to macroeconomic factors such as liquidity, but also to tweets by maverick billionaires such as Elon Musk.

However, behind the gleam and glimmer of currencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Tether, and Solano lies a technology that some believe will shape the next phase of Internet.

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The blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies is also what products such as non-fungible tokens are built on. While globally, governments continue to work on arriving at a conclusion on how to regulate cryptocurrencies, they have not shied away from adopting blockchain technology even in governance systems.

Should you invest in crypto? Is it the currency of the future, as some evangelists claim? Or is it fool’s gold, a get-rich dream that can never become reality in global financial transactions? The Reserve Bank of India favours an official digital currency, but isn’t ‘official crypto’ a contradiction in terms?

The Indian Express has invited researcher and advisor Tanvi Ratna, founder & CEO of Policy 4.0, a think-tank focused on the future of money and emerging technology issues for India, to answer some of these questions at the next edition of Explained.Live, a unique series of online explanatory conversations hosted by The Indian Express.

Ratna will be in conversation with Pranav Mukul and Aashish Aryan of The Indian Express.

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