The use of blockchain will result in safer and smoother transactions, real-time participation, and a better-organised market.
It's 2018, and the first month of the year has gone past way sooner than expected. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced budget plans for the ongoing year on February 1. There have been some much-needed additions to the plan, such as investments in the agricultural sector and the National Health Care Protection Scheme. Then there was no change in income tax rates for salaried employees and a 10 percent LTCG tax for a capital gain of over Rs 1 lakh.
Stuck in between all these changes is the announcement about cryptocurrencies. In his announcement of 2018 Budget Plan, Arun Jaitley said cryptocurrency shall be regarded as an illegal tender. However, he added, the government would explore the field of blockchain for the improvement of the country’s digital economy. That said, the cryptocurrency “clan” believes this to be a bad move and are debating why cryptocurrency is the future.
The future of cryptocurrency
- While cryptocurrencies may not be directly used as payment methods, some banks might issue their own cryptocurrencies
- There would be high ROIs on Ethereum
- The applications that cryptocurrencies hold today would be much wider in future years
- Cryptocurrency could easily become the base for a plethora of new apps and business models
But while there could be a vast number of other uses for cryptocurrency, it has, for the time being, been termed illegal tender.
Nevertheless, let's head ahead to discuss how blockchain technology, which has already taken the world by great storm, could aid in the improvement of India’s digital economy.
Blockchain and the digital economy
- Smoother Transactions: In all these years of using traditional transaction methods, in most cases, there has been involvement of third-party entities, or middlemen, if you will. That has always led to security questions during the transaction process. Apart from that, the time taken is quite slow, and the process is prolonged as well. With blockchain technology, the transaction process is much simpler. Without any third parties involved, the transaction solely happens between the sender and the receiver. This not just reduces extra time and effort, but with a digital identity for each person, there would be a far less breaches of security.
- An organised market: The current market scenario is more or less in the trick-or-treat kind of situation, where the trick is when the market reels into recession and the treat is a fairly good market state. When the market hits a low, it affects businesses of all sorts, which in turn, affects the general public. With blockchain, forecasting market changes and trends can become pretty much plausible. When that is done, it gets comparatively easy to make necessary changes and improvements for businesses, which not only saves them when recession rears its ugly face but also acts as a possible saviour for the public.
- Real-time participation: As already discussed, traditional transaction methods involve a lot of complications. However, blockchain technology is deemed fit for solving all issues. Not only is the transaction history completely transparent and unalterable, but people would be able to carry out real-time operations with blockchain. That means people would be able to track their transaction processes, as well as send and receive money without time barriers and restrictions.
Whether cryptocurrency would eventually be legal or not in the country is still unknown. But here’s to hoping for an advanced digital economy and a better future ahead.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)