The cryptocurrency exchanges have been growing for a very long time with a huge set of believers towards the digital coins. At the same time, there has been a lot of crashes, a lot of wealth wiped off, and as well as a lot of wealth gained through it.
However, many countries across the globe have been laying restrictions over the trading of cryptocurrencies and the most recently even the UK has banned the largest cryptocurrency of the world from undertaking transactions related to cryptocurrency. In this article let’s look at the reason for it.
The Financial Regulator of Britain has ordered Binance which is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe, to stop all the regulated activities conducted by the crypto exchange. The Financial Regulator has also issued a warning for the consumers about the platform which is coming under critical observation globally.
In a notice that was sent on 25 June 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority of the UK has conveyed to the UK entity of Binance, Binance Market Limited that the exchange should not carry out any regulated activities without the prior written consent from the FCA.
Terms stated by FCA to Binance
The trading of cryptocurrencies is not directly restricted in the United Kingdom but offering services such as trading in the derivatives of cryptocurrencies does require the authorization.
The FCA has asked Binance to display a notice on its website and social media channels by 30 June 2021 stating that “BINANCE MARKET LIMITED IS NOT PERMITTED TO UNDERTAKE ANY REGULATED ACTIVITY IN THE UK”.
Other than this the FCA has asked Binance to secure and preserve all the records relating to the UK consumers and to provide the information to the FCA by 2 July 2021.
Reason Why UK imposed a ban on Cryptocurrency exchange – Binance
The regulator has not provided any information or has provided an explanation for why it had taken the measure against Binance. However, Binance had stated earlier that it takes its legal obligations very seriously and engages with the law enforcement and regulators in a collaborative manner.
Some of the reasons can be the problems faced by Binance across the globe. The regulator of Japan has conveyed on 25 June 2021 that Binance had been operating in the country illegally. This was found through a notice that was posted on the country’s Financial Services Agency Website.
In the month of May officials from the US Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service who investigate tax offenses and money laundering had sought various information from individuals regarding insights into the business of Binance.
In the month of April, the financial regulator of Germany, BaFin had warned the exchange about the risks of being fined for offering Digital tokens without a prospectus of the investor.
These can be the reasons why the UK had decided to ban the cryptocurrency exchange in the country. Amidst the growing number of acquisitions and cases against the Crypto exchange, the UK regulator would have taken the move.
Will UK ban other cryptocurrency exchanges?
Since the month of January 2021, the FCA has asked all the different Cryptocurrency exchanges and the apps that offer crypto related services to register and to provide details that they comply with the rules of anti money laundering. However, in the month of June, the FCA has conveyed that only 5 firms have registered and that the majority of the firms were not compliant.
The FCA is stepping up its unintentional failure to notice the cryptocurrency trading, which has grown in popularity in the UK along with various other countries across the globe.
This may be a major step towards hunting down the firms that are not compliant with the anti money laundering rules in the country. Binance may be the first step that is taken by the regulator. However, the countries across the globe have been hunting down the crypto exchanges and various transactions of the cryptocurrencies.
FAQ
Is Binance banned in UK?
Yes, The UK financial watchdog has banned leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance from all regulated activities.
Why is Binance being banned?
Binance has not registered with the FCA and therefore is not allowed to operate an exchange in the UK.
Will UK ban Crypto exchanges?
The U.K. does not regulate cryptocurrencies, but it requires exchanges to be registered to operate, which means companies must comply with anti-money laundering measures.
El Salvador which is known as the Republic of El Salvador is a country that is located in Central America. The country has a population of more than 68 lakhs. El Salvador has accepted bitcoin as a legal tender and will be accepted in 90 days starting from 9 June 2021. Let’s look at how El Salvador became the first country to accept bitcoin as a legal tender.
El Salvador has become the first country in the entire world to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender after the country’s congress had approved it on 9 June 2021. The proposal was laid down by President Nayib Bukele in order to accept the cryptocurrency, this was a move that has delighted the supporters of the digital token.
In respect to the law to adopt Bitcoin, around 62 out of the 84 votes had voted in the favour of the law even though there was a concern about the potential impact on the country’s programme with the International Monetary Fund.
Reason Why El Salvador declared Bitcoin as Legal Tender
The President of the country had stated the various uses of Bitcoins. He has conveyed that through the potential held by Bitcoins the citizens of Salvador who live abroad will be able to send remittances back home. He added that Bitcoins would bring financial inclusion, tourism, innovation, investment and economic development to the country.
El Salvador is a country that relies heavily on the money that is sent back from the workers abroad. The cryptocurrency offers a quick and a cheap way to send money across borders without relying on the remittances firms. According to a data from World Bank, the remittances received in the country have made up a fifth of its GDP which is one of the highest ratios in the world.
He had stated all these shortly before the vote in Congress which is controlled by his party members. It was conveyed through a tweet and he also added that the US Dollar would also continue as a legal currency of the country. El Salvador does not have a currency of its own.
The President later had conveyed to La Geo which is a state owned geothermal electric firm to develop a plan in order to provide the Bitcoin mining facilities using the renewable energy from the volcanoes of the country.
He has stated that the idea was to build a mining hub around the geo thermal potential of the country. However, the idea is stated to be an overnight one. He also stated that El Salvador would provide citizenship to the people who show evidence that they had invested in at least 3 Bitcoins.
Acceptability of Bitcoin in El Salvador
The acceptability and the use of Bitcoins for the individuals are optional and would not bring any risks to the users. The President has conveyed that the government will guarantee convertibility to the US Dollars at the time of transaction through a trust that was created using USD 150 million at the development bank of the country, BANDESAL.
Under the law, the cryptocurrency should be accepted by the firms when they are offered as a payment for various goods and services. The Government has conveyed that the Tax can also be paid using the cryptocurrency.
The President of the country through an online conversation has conveyed that, if an individual visits McDonald’s and wants to pay through Bitcoins, then they will have to accept the Bitcoin and will not be able to tell that they won’t accept it as the Bitcoin is a legal tender of the country.
Response to the announcement of declaring Bitcoin as Legal Tender
In the capital of the country, it was found that there were mixed emotions when it came to declaring Bitcoins as a legal tender. Some of the individuals were excited about declaring it as a legal tender and the increase in the financial options and prosperity of the new currency, while the others were quite skeptical about it.
Analysts have conveyed that the move from the country would cause certain complications with the IMF, where the country has sought for more than USD 1 billion programme.
Estela Gavidia had questioned about, How he is going to accept the Bitcoins when he hasn’t seen it not even in photos and added that he doesn’t know nothing about it and understanding your currency is very important.
Conclusion
The supporters of the cryptocurrency have claimed it as a move to validate the emerging asset but also added that the regulation on Bitcoins, taxation, or the adoption in other countries is yet to be seen. However, there are no immediate signs that the other countries would follow El Salvador’s acceptance of Bitcoin.
FAQ
Is El Salvador a poor country?
El Salvador is one of the poorest countries, with low per capita income, chronic inflation, and high unemployment.
Does El Salvador have its own currency?
The official currency used in El Salvador is the US dollar.
What is El Salvador known for?
El Salvador is a country in Central America which is Known as the Land of Volcanoes, as it has frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Iran which is also widely known as Persia is a country in the Western Asia. It is the second largest country in the Middle East. The country has updated its rules on the officially mined cryptocurrencies in the country. Let’s look at what the country is planning to do with the mined cryptocurrencies in the country.
The Iran authorities have announced a new policy where they officially mined cryptocurrencies of the country for the payment of imports. They had updated its rules on the officially mined cryptocurrencies of the country in order to widely use it for the payments of imports.
According to a report from Financial Tribune, the Central Bank of Iran has announced that the licensed banks and the financial payment companies can use the cryptocurrencies that are mined by the licensed miners to use it for the payment of imports.
Iran had been hit hard by the sanctions internationally to see the use of cryptocurrency to operate outside the financial controls that follow a traditional way. In the year 2020, the Central Bank of Iran had amended its regulations on the cryptocurrencies so that the miners could mine bitcoins and other digital coins under the control of the government officially.
The miners who could mine under the government will get access to subsidized energy and they will have to provide their mined cryptocurrency to the government for the import payments. Now, the government has taken the further step to extend the legal use of cryptocurrency to the additional groups within the country.
The Central Bank of Iran has not given any further details about the new framework that was announced, they have conveyed that lenders and moneychangers have been notified about it regarding the crypto payment.
In the year 2019, Iran had legalized cryptocurrency in the country by implementing a lot of strict rules and regulations in order to control it. Accepting the cryptocurrency mining in a way to sanction the resistant fund, some thought that Iran was moving towards becoming a bitcoin nation.
The miners in the country were doubtful about the idea that Iran would directly deal or create a large group to deal with bitcoins, But the latest update indicated that it would like individual businesses to leverage the digital coins within the country.
Bitcoin Miners in Iran
A bitcoin miner who is based in Tehran has conveyed that she doesn’t believe that the Central Bank of Iran would touch bitcoin in any way and added that the system would provide just rates and the other details and the digital coin will have to transfer the coins from the sender to receiver directly.
They also noted that the regulations the central bank has laid on cryptocurrencies on how to use them will only motivate or promote the miners to conduct the cryptocurrency mining illegally.
FAQ
Is Iran using Bitcoin?
Around 4.5% of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies
Is there a Bitcoin ATM in Iran?
No, there is no Bitcoin ATM in Iran.
Is crypto currency legal in Iran?
In 2018, Iran legalized cryptocurrency mining in order to monitor and regulate the mining farms.
Conclusion
It is considered that no miner in the country is interested to provide their bitcoins to the government as there is a really high charge for the use of electricity and gas in the country and the law would just result in reducing the cryptocurrency mining in Iran.
Robert T Kiyosaki is the author of the well-known personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad. The book was published in 1977 and has become the New York bestseller having a sale of around 40 million copies worldwide. He had previously praised the properties of bitcoin. Let’s look at what Robert T Kiyosaki has to say about cryptocurrency.
Estimation of Robert Kiyosaki about Cryptocurrency
Robert Kiyosaki has estimated that the cryptocurrency would climb to over USD 1 million in the period of next 5 years. He conveyed that he had bought bitcoin when it was USD 9,000 and thought that he had been cheated but he said that the reason he had bought crypto at such a price was due to the shut down of the economy because of Covid.
He added that now he looks like a genius as the digital coin had even crossed the mark of USD 50,000 and he estimates it to cross a million mark. He conveyed that bitcoin is still untested and even if the value crashes he said that he has other sources which would allow him to sustain and hence he could bear the risk.
Viewpoint of Robert Kiyosaki on Cryptocurrency
Kiyosaki has conveyed that he feels that for the older generation it is very important to understand the cryptocurrency market as the real estate and the gold guys are being phased out and the world is moving towards crypto.
Robert T Kiyosaki pointing towards Warren Buffet said that there is this battle against the old guys and the younger generation against the cryptocurrency where people like Warren Buffet are Anti-Crypto. He added that the cryptocurrencies are now challenging the dominancy of the US Dollar and other fiat currencies.
Price of Bitcoin
What Robert Kiyosaki said about Bitcoin?
When Robert T Kiyosaki was asked in an interview if it is too late to buy a bitcoin, he answered that there is always an entry point and that he had bought the coins when it was at USD 9000. He said that he thought that he had been cheated in the beginning but later the coin has increased to around USD 50,000.
He added that he wished that he had bought the coins at 10 cents like most of the people. He pointed out that cryptocurrencies and Gold stand out due to the devaluation of the US Dollars, money printing by the government and the external stimulus.
Future of Bitcoin According to Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki was further asked about whether would interfere in one form or the other or if they would lay in some restrictions on the digital coin such as even making it illegal which is believed by some of the well-known investors and hedge fund managers.
He replied saying that he feels that the government would try but he feels that the problem is too big and said that the pension amounts have been depleted and the baby boomers have no money in hand.
He added that they had shut the economy and are planning to print another USD 19 trillion and added that it has never worked and said that bad money would drive out the good money. He said that so people like him would never spend the bitcoin and would never keep his hand on it.
Robert T Kiyosaki said that he would buy bitcoin again today or the day after as he is bullish on it. He added that he is not bullish over bitcoin but he is bearish about the Biden government and has claimed that they are a group of communist people. He added that they would just print money and that they are Central Bankers.
FAQ
What is the Net worth of Robert Kiyosaki?
As of 2021, Robert Kiyosaki’s net worth is roughly $100 million.
Who is Robert Kiyosaki?
Who is Robert Kiyosaki is a Writer, Author, Businessperson, Investor, Entrepreneur, Motivational speaker.
What does Kiyosaki say about Bitcoin?
Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” has predicted that the price of bitcoin will increase to $1.2 million within five years.
Conclusion
However, Kiyosaki has mentioned that he still prefers Gold and Silver. He added that he favors gold and silver as it is considered to be God’s money and added that God put it there.
The cryptocurrency Polygon which is also known as Matic has gained more than 30 % on 12 May 2021 in a 24-hour cycle. The Matic crypto had gained from a low of USD 0.85 to a high of USD 1.2. The cryptocurrency has seen a major growth in the year 2021. Let’s look at what exactly is this Polygon crypto and Is polygon crypto a good investment or not?
Polygon is a framework or more of a protocol for building and connecting the blockchain networks which are compatible with Ethereum connections. It is an open-source technology that will help the developers with certain tools that will help them to ready the network and deploy them or a secure sidechain that will help to leverage the security of the Ethereum network through smart contracts.
Matic Network is a cryptocurrency that is used to power the transactions and to pay the fees on the Matic network. Matic had recently merged with Polygon where the Matic Network got rebranded as Polygon.
The Polygon crypto was launched during the year October 2017 under the name Matic Network. It was formed by a team that had contributed to a number of projects that were associated with the Ethereum ecosystem.
In February 2021 the Polygon (Matic) had rebranded from the name Matic Network. During the time of rebranding, the token had seen a surge in its price from USD 0.0175 to USD 0.446 as of 12 March 2021. The crypto saw an increase of around 2,548 %.
Reason for the Rise in price and Further use of Polygon
The rise in the price of Polygon or Matic Network is due to the rise in the price of Ethereum. Matic Network or Polygon is a highly scalable network that will help the users who are looking to transfer the cryptocurrencies at a very low transaction fee.
The crypto and their network have a lot of advantages which include scalability, user experience and security. You can check the website of Polygon as they are working with a lot of companies and also undertaken a lot of interesting projects.
Polygon Projects
Matic Network is mainly used by the people in order to transfer their crypto funds through the Ethereum network at a very high speed and little expense. Since the Ethereum network is usually at its peak transferring crypto directly through the Ethereum takes a lot of time and is really expensive.
This is the major reason why people use Polygon instead of Ethereum which will help them transfer their crypto assets to the Ethereum chain without worrying about the expensive fee or the long duration. As the price of Ethereum increases the network of Ethereum becomes more congested and hence people shift to Polygon.
These are the major factors for the rise in the price of Polygon and the experts believe that Polygon has a huge potential to grow in the near future.
Investing in Polygon again depends on your risk appetite. Like any other cryptocurrency, you should be investing the money you are ready to lose so that your emotions don’t play a role.
However, the experts believe that as the decentralized finance industry, cryptocurrency is gaining traction in the recent years, it is believed that tokens such as Polygon will have an increased demand in the future. This is because a lot of users would opt for a faster and much cheaper option to transfer the cryptocurrency funds.
FAQ
What is Polygon Coin?
Polygon (MATIC) is an Ethereum token that powers the Polygon Network, a multichain scaling solution for Ethereum. Polygon aims to provide faster and cheaper transactions on Ethereum.
What is Matic network?
Matic Network is a blockchain scalability platform which provides secure, scalable and instant transactions.
Where can I buy a crypto polygon?
Polygon Crypto is available on major exchanges including Binance and Coinbase.
Conclusion
Polygon is more like an alternative for the Ethereum network and the investors have started preferring it because of its advantages and scalability options. The Polygon token would be a crypto to be watched out for in the coming years.
Elon Musk is an American entrepreneur and a Business Magnate. He is the founder, Chief Engineer and CEO of SpaceX, CEO, product architect and an early-stage investor of Tesla, founder of the Boring company and also the co-founder of Nueralink and OpenAI.
He is one of the richest men in the world. Elon Musk has been posting a series of tweets on the major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin from the past few months. Let’s look at why Elon Musk is not launching his own cryptocurrency.
Elon Musk is regarded as the father of Dogecoin. He was the major reason for this volatile meme currency to increase its market capitalization and for a lot of users to invest their money into it. He has also promoted bitcoin and Dogecoin through a several number of tweets on his twitter platform.
He has also had a lot of optimistic views about the cryptocurrencies especially bitcoins and dogecoins. He had posted a tweet where he conveyed that there are a lot of chances that cryptocurrencies will be the future currency on the planet.
Elon Musk’s View on Cryptocurrencies
While a lot of financial managers and investors have always been pessimistic about these digital coins and always regarded them as a bubble, Elon Musk on the other hand always stayed optimistic. Even Tesla has bought bitcoins worth billions of dollars.
The company had also started accepting bitcoin as a payment method for purchasing their products. But recently they had stopped accepting this cryptocurrency.
Reason Why Elon Musk is not launching his own Cryptocurrency
The main reason which was quoted by the company for the stoppage of accepting bitcoins as a payment gateway was due to the environmental harm caused by the digital coin. This was a major controversy against the billionaire as he was the one who promoted it and later claimed that bitcoins were causing a lot of pollution.
Elon Musk had posted a tweet which conveyed that the company will no longer accept bitcoins as a payment method as mining bitcoins require a lot of electricity and the major source of electricity is from coal and this leads to a lot of pollution and due to the reasons regarding sustainability.
He had also conveyed that the company Tesla will not sell any of their bitcoins and the company would start accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method as soon as the bitcoin miners would move to a sustainable source of energy.
Environmental Sustainability can be one of the major reasons for Elon Musk to not launch his own cryptocurrency. But Elon Musk had conveyed that they were looking for other cryptocurrencies that use less than 1% of bitcoins energy for transactions.
A twitter user had recently asked Elon Musk, why he was not creating his own cryptocurrency from the scratch which would do everything he requires technically and have a lot of dev support and wouldn’t have a high concentration of ownership initially.
Elon Musk had replied to the tweet saying that, if only Dogecoins won’t be able to do it, he said he would look in for creating another one.
Only if Doge can’t do it. Big pain in the neck to create another one.
Elon Musk Clarified that Tesla has not sold its Bitcoin, but Tesla has stopped taking Bitcoin as a mode of payment for its cars.
Does Elon Musk invest in Cryptocurrency?
Elon Musk has actively supported dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that started as a joke which portrays a shiba inu dog.
Conclusion
Elon Musk had recently promoted Dogecoin while hosting a live show on the TV. Dogecoin is the fourth largest cryptocurrency in the market and has increased more than 659 % during the year. However, Elon Musk considers that the digital coin has a long way to go.
Cryptocurrencies have become very much popular in India and there are many talks that these digital coins will soon be banned by the Government of India. A Crypto Bill is expected to be announced anytime from the government and there are talks that there will be a twin tax introduced by the government. Let’s look at whether the cryptocurrencies will be taxed by the Govt. of India or not.
There are reports that India is planning to impose a tax to boost the short-term investors in the space of cryptocurrency before bringing a ban on these asset classes.
According to reports from business standards one of the largest English-language newspaper in India, the government is planning to impose personal Income Tax (IT) and a Goods and Service Tax (GST) on the gains received by the traders and investors who are involved in the trading of cryptocurrencies and also from the gains received as platform fees.
GST on Bitcoin
A senior finance ministry official who is familiar with the subject matter conveyed that bitcoin will be categorized under the financial services which will attract a commission fee of 18% GST by exchanges under this segment.
The investors will also have to pay Income Tax on the earning earned from the cryptocurrencies. The senior official has informed an official circular which will be released soon. According to the sources from the newspaper, the authorities are aiming towards charging taxes for both the fiscal years that are April 2020 to March 2021.
The government is also planning to introduce a cryptocurrency bill in the parliament for the ongoing session. The bill will focus on seeking a ban on the private currencies and a formal start for the development of a central digital currency which will be issued by the central bank of the country.
The actual contents of the bill are not yet known and the Government hasn’t mentioned the term private currencies. The bill is expected to fill the gaps regarding the policies according to Anurag Thakur who is the minister of state for finance.
The Government has not mentioned how the gains from cryptocurrencies are supposed to be taxed but the CEO of WazirX Nischal Shetty said that the earnings of cryptocurrencies are supposed to be taxed like any other source of income and should come under the Income Tax slab.
He added that his cryptocurrency platform has been voluntarily paying the GST on the collection of the trading fees. According to another source which says taxation cannot be confirmed that the digital coins would be made legal in the country. He added that taxability and the legality of the coins are independent of each other and not dependent.
An anonymous official had said that while cryptocurrencies are unregulated, they have not yet been banned and the rules for taxation apply for all the services and commodities.
FAQ
Is Cryptocurrency legal in India?
Cryptocurrencies are not illegal in India anybody can buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies.
Will India ban Cryptocurrency again?
According to the rumoured Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Indian government might ban private cryptocurrencies in India.
Will Cryptocurrency be taxed in India?
According to the reports Cryptocurrency might be be taxed in India soon.
Conclusion
If the news about the ban of cryptocurrency and the bill regarding the cryptocurrency gets confirmed it will be a clarification on how the cryptocurrency industry will work and how the cryptocurrency users will be taxed.
The way people do transactions has evolved dramatically over centuries, from a barter system to a monetary system; from plastic money to now bitcoins. Since its creation in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an increasing number of people now see Bitcoins as a trusted way of transaction, as now major companies like Microsoft, BMW, and Etsy are also accepting Bitcoin payments. Going by numbers, the cryptocurrency market was valued at USD 1.03 billion by 2019 and is projected to reach USD 1.40 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 6.18% during the forecast period. This growing popularity of bitcoins inspired Shiva Sitamraju to start Blockonomics, a startup that unlocks the power of Bitcoin by allowing entrepreneurs and enthusiasts to manage their bitcoin payments with ease. Here is a peek into the journey and operations of this Hyderabad-based startup.
Blockonomics simplifies the process of receiving /making payments through Bitcoins and tracking Bitcoin transactions. The company has introduced a number of features for this, which includes –
Bitcoin Payment Plugins for e-commerce merchants, supporting sites like WordPress, Wix, WHMCS, and many more
Bitcoin Payment Button/URL, which allows people to set up quick and simple payment options and donations
Bitcoin Invoice, so you can pay your employees easily in Bitcoin, or charge customers if you’re a freelancer.
Wallet Watcher, so you can easily keep track of all your wallets, with many sub-features such as the Export Feature allowing you to see all your transactions in a simple place.
Bitcoin Tracker, a quick way to see any transactions and wallets on the Blockchain.
“Allowing people to control their own sales and payments is an important part of Blockonomics, and is a driving force in what we do. Many e-commerce merchants have to use expensive payment solutions that go through middlemen, so it limits the control of their sales. Our products seek to ensure entrepreneurs can more directly control their cash inflow and to cut down on fees they experience. We also make the easiest to use Bitcoin payment plugin, the other options are often more complicated” says Blockonomics Shiva Sitamraju emphasizing the USPs of Blockonomics.
Blockonomic’s products facilitate ease and direct control. The company’s e-commerce plugins tie directly into e-commerce platforms, for easy installation and tracking. For scenarios where a plugin can’t be used, Blockonomics’ in-house solutions, such as the payment button/URL and invoice function are made to be easily implemented into whatever website, email, etc might be used.
Shiva Sitamraju is the CEO of Blockonomics. Shiva is an MTech from IIT Delhi. He has experience in scalable backend engineering and has held lead engineering roles in a number of startups before. Blockonomics currently has a team of 7 people spread throughout 4 continents. There are 3 members of the marketing team, and 3 on the software development and design.
Blockonomics—How It All Started?
Blockonomics started as a Wallet Watcher to track a large number of bitcoin addresses. Sitamraju himself is a bitcoin enthusiast, and was facing problems with monitoring and tracking multiple bitcoin addresses, which made him create ‘Wallet Watcher’ as a tool to help himself out. In December 2014, Sitamaraju launched Blockonomics Wallet Watcher on the bitcointalk forum. The initial response of the bitcoin community on Blockonomics’ Wallet Watcher was very good and it was very heartening for the Blockonomics team to constantly receive feedback on features to add to the product.
“We used community forums like bitcoin talk, StackExchange, and Reddit. These channels are most important to build your MVP into an actual startup. Even though the growth of user metrics may be slow using these channels, they are valuable to build user trust and help to steer you in the correct direction. In 2015, Blockonomics’ thread became hugely popular on Reddit bitcoin. Even though we had very few users and zero revenue, constant feedback from customers and a sense that this product is getting used kept us going” says Shiva Sitamraju.
Blockonomics Founder & Team Members
However, after 2 years, when Blockonomics monetized its Wallet Watcher, the team soon realized that the revenue stream for the product was very less. So the company started diversifying its offerings.
“Though some people were willing to pay for the Wallet Watcher, the amount was very less and creating pressure on our margins. After looking at some other services that were selling e-commerce payment plugins, we realized that this market was a good fit for our product which already had backend ability to serve blockchain queries” says Shivaabout the initial challenges of the startup.
Blockonomics’ work culture has always been completely remote (even before covid).
When Shiva started to recruit remote work, he had two simple rules:
Hire from anywhere in the world
Don’t look at resumes
The company never had an office and the team has never been restricted to geographical boundaries. Also, the team avoids holding unnecessary meetings and has only one meeting per week. All work is done asynchronously using tools like Slack, Trello, Github. This gives employees more flexibility and there is no assigned office time (you don’t need to be online 9-5). This also means all team members are independent / self-driven and there is a trust that no one needs monitoring/ management.
Blockonomics Team at Prague WordPress Conference 2018
For the Address Watcher Users, Blockonomics charges a flat subscription fee. The subscription fee ranges from 0- 20 USD per month based on address limits and API features. While, for merchants, the company offers the first 10 payments free and thereafter charges a 1% fee on payments.
Blockonomics—Challenges
Building a viable business has been the major challenge for the Blockonomics team. Shiva was from a tech background and he did not have any entrepreneurial experience. It took him quite some time to become able to handle a business. Initially, Blockonomics had very few users and earned almost zero revenue. The team had to dig through business knowledge from podcasts/books and learn on the road.
Blockonomics—Growth
Despite all the struggle, Blockonomics has today established itself as a sustainable and profitable company that is making a difference. Some major growth parameter achieved by Blockonomics are-
Active WordPress installs – 3000+
Total merchant store installs – 10,000+
Blockonomics is monitoring 300,000+ addresses
140,000 payments have been processed through Blockonomics payment plugin/payment button/URL
6,500 P2P invoices have been created through the platform.
While there are many who are still confused and unsure about Bitcoins, startups like Blockonomics are doing a good job in making more and more people confident about using Bitcoins by making Bitcoin transactions easy.
Blockonomics is a decentralized Bitcoin payment solution that provides you with specialized transactional tools to enhance your BTC use. A bitcoin payment gateway that is decentralized and permission-less.
Is Blockonomics safe?
Blockonomics is built on a P2P connection, making it safe and secure as it does not save your private keys. Users also prefer Blockonomics to other payment processing platforms due to its permission-less, peer-to-peer structure.
How do I pay my bitcoin wallet?
If an online merchant has the option of Bitcoin payments, you just need to copy their Bitcoin address and paste it into a designated field on your wallet. Type in the right amount of bitcoins into the payment box and click ‘send’.
How can I check my Bitcoin balance?
You can use Blockchain.info. Just paste the address you want to check into the Search input box and the website will show you all the transactions where that address was involved, as well as the balance.
Who gets the money when you buy Bitcoin?
A buyer and seller agree on a price and a trade is executed over an exchange. So our $50k investor buys that amount of bitcoins and the seller receives the $50k in the form of a cash deposit. That seller may now keep it in the bank, buy other cryptos or withdraw it and spend it in any way they choose.
Can Bitcoin be converted to cash?
There are several ways to convert bitcoin to cash and ultimately move it to a bank account: Sell bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange, such as Coinbase or Kraken. This is the easiest method if you want to sell bitcoin and withdraw the resulting cash directly to a bank account.
Blockonomics—Conclusion
Blockonomics is a platform that is a decentralized Bitcoin payment solution. Blockonomics provides you with specialized transactional tools to enhance your BTC use. It is a decentralized and permission-less bitcoin payment solution. Its services enhance the wallets you already own. Their aim is to accept bitcoin directly without any mediator and present an invoice anonymously. They are huge fans of decentralization and cryptography.
Anik Banerjee
