Government should not rush through the cryptocurrency bill: Rahul Pagidipati, Zebpay

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What is the future of cryptocurrencies with regulatory concerns hovering over it?

Rahul Pagidipati, CEO of Zebpay, who is also a licensed attorney in the US, gives insights into how the latest developments can change the cryptocurrency world.

Edited excerpts:

Q: The bill on crypto currencies is being finalised and it will soon be sent to the Cabinet. How are you viewing the current developments? 

Rahul: We’re one of the first and largest Bitcoin exchanges and we think legislation is a really good thing. But we want to make sure that the government does it in a proper way and don’t rush through.

Q: We don’t know the details of the Bill yet. But if the government decides to ban all cryptocurrencies how will it affect the existing crypto investors?

Rahul: A lot of people are speculating that the bill is going to be very similar to what was announced in 2018-19, where there was a complete ban on all types of cryptocurrencies. If you look at the title, it does say regulation of cryptocurrencies, private cryptocurrencies, and also potential central bank digital currency.

These are speculations. No one has seen the bill. What the government is saying that any currency which is not backed by sovereign government, for example, the United States or Japan or Australia, would not be a legal tender. And they all say that it’s a ban of private cryptocurrencies. What I personally think is that they’re really talking more about things like Facebook wanted to make a Libra coin. And those types of coins would not be allowed for payments.

Q: Dogecoin has suddenly become very popular after Elon Musk sent out a series of tweets about the virtual currency? Can you tell us a bit about this new currency?

Rahul: It really started as a meme coin. That means it’s almost like a joke, but it is interesting sometime jokes become real things. Elon Musk has been tweeting about this stuff and it’s become a real currency. Now almost top 10 cryptocurrencies probably worth close to the amount of $5 to $10 billion. What I’d recommend for most investors is Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is one of the highest demand currency. It’s really high on our list of coins to add. You can’t get that coin yet, but we’re hoping to add it soon.

Watch the video for the full interview: