With technology replacing everything i.e., non-digital, for how long will currencies stay behind. Money is no different from all other things that are digital, particularly for millennials, believes Darshan Bathija, Co-founder & CEO of Vauld.
In an interview to MintGenie, he tells the reason for the recent crypto crash, and explains how his crypto exchange follows the principles of conventional investing such as dollar cost averaging and index investing, and implements them in the context of blockchain.
To put simply, he says that the long-term goal of Singapore-based firm he co-founded is to generate long-term wealth.
He also says that there is a need for balanced regulatory environment to help the first-time investors in this sector.
Edited Excerpts:
What do you think about the future of cryptocurrencies in India?
The past year, we saw the crypto users and investors grow at a rapid pace. This generation and the ones that follow prefer all things digital - owing to its ease of use and instant gratification. When it comes to money, it doesn’t seem to be different. The generation wants higher returns on a quicker time frame. Just take a look at the popular newspapers, you’ll notice a conspicuous uptick in the crypto ecosystem’s news coverage.
This ties back to the fact that an increasing number of people are looking into investing in digital assets. Millennials - shaped by the Internet revolution - instinctively have taken to digital assets. They’re tech savvy and prefer instant gratification when it comes to investments as well.
Naturally, the high ROI (return on investment) of cryptocurrencies can be appealing to the Millenials and Gen-Z. What also complements their investment instincts is the high risk that is present in the crypto-markets. They don’t mind taking a risk, in comparison to the conservative investing styles of older generations.
Why have cryptos been falling massively for past few days?
The crypto market cap has fallen below $1trillion since 2021. While bitcoin dropped, major altcoins such as ether and solana also saw a drawdown.
The main reason for the prevalent negative sentiment is due to renewed fears that the US Fed will have to take stringent measures to curb inflation.
Can you please tell us how your exchange 'Vauld' is different from the other Indian crypto exchanges such as WazirX and CoinSwitch?
Vauld was established four years ago as a crypto lending and trading platform. Vauld’s financial products are designed to build long-term wealth creation. With more than 250 tokens and users from over 190 countries, the exchange offers a suite of financial products to its investors including fixed deposits, crypto lending and borrowing. Vauld's leading investors include Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Pantera, Coinbase ventures, among others. Vauld recently announced a multi-year partnership with renownedF1 Team Alfa Romeo.
Your firm started four years ago. Can you please tell us briefly about the journey of your organisation and how has the crypto sector evolved during the past four years?
We began our journey in a bear market, and we started Vauld with a very simple goal- to create financial products that will help generate long-term wealth for our crypto investors. What was termed a ‘bubble’ just 4 years ago gained traction over the past year alone - large institutions started including Bitcoin on their balance sheets. We have countries declaring BTC as legal tender.
We are still at the very early stages of crypto adoption. We have many more exciting offerings for the crypto world in the pipeline and are excited how the crypto ecosystem is shaping up to be.
Which country, according to you, is most liberal in terms of its crypto regulations?
In India, the clarity we have today is on taxation and not on regulation. Countries like Singapore take a fair approach where innovation is not stifled. A balanced regulatory environment for crypto will help businesses grow and provide first-time investors with much-needed support and trust in the emergent crypto market.