2016-05-26 Thu

Indians will soon have the privilege to use digital currency or Bitcoin to make transactions. Some experts say that last month, users have paid bills more than Rs. 15 lakh using Zebpay and the number is doubling every month. Bitcoin is a digital currency generated by encryption techniques which can be divided infinitely and is not issued by any government. The global supply of Bitcoins fixed at 21 million by its founder.

Users can use bitcoins from their Zebpay wallets to make payments. Zebpay then pays the amount to the concerned recipient in rupees. The digital currency is under observation by the Reserve Bank of India but is not banned or regulated. Each bitcoin's value now is around Rs 30,000 which has increased to a 100 percent in a year. The price of Bitcoins depend on demand and supply and is influenced by factors including international rates, liquidity and trading patterns.

Bitcoins are kept in digital wallets on the computer which could be lost if you lose the computer. Trading companies are offering bill payments at a transaction cost of less than one per cent, making it even more popular.

Blockchain is an open unalterable digital ledger that records all bitcoin transactions. The entire operation is digital in nature and strong encryption keys are used for authentication.

In one year Zebpay crossed Rs 100 crore turnover; BCTXIndia had a Rs 4 crore turnover in 2014-15 which increase to Rs 70 crore in 2015-16. Unocoin is expecting to grow by 10-20 per cent per month. China does a trade of more than Rs 10,000 crore in bitcoins every day where as the number is Rs 500 crore per year for India.