They got raided when they began. Now, their startup does $10 million bitcoin trade a month

Photo credit: BTC Keychain.

“It may be farfetched,” Sandeep Goenka, CEO of Zebpay, explains to me, “but we want bitcoins to even be used for daily transactions.”

It is farfetched, but not a surprising statement. Bitcoin tends to inspire these types of proclamations. It was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto – a pseudonym – and is a virtual currency that is regulated by no bank or government. It has been declared dead, resurrected, and managed to drag itself through the weeds and back into the limelight multiple times – enough so that it may be time to admit that its fan following is dedicated enough to keep it living.

Subreddit r/bitcoin is a testament to this fact. It gets at least five submissions a day. Sometimes, conversations revolve around the possibility of the currency reaching “mass adoption”. Other times, users post links pointing out alleged wrongdoings of financial giants, like Mastercard, which was recently sued for US$18.6 million in damages for purportedly overcharging customers. Here and there, conversations about bitcoin in India make their way into the fold.

In 2013, Mahin started buysellbitco.in, India’s first company to let people trade money for bitcoins. It was soon raided by India’s central bank.

Users sometimes ask whether the country of 1.25 billion has the potential to be bitcoin’s next big market. One user, DoctorDbx, urged in a post two years ago – “stop looking to India as a savior.” But the comments are filled with believers, with others citing India’s love for alternate currencies like gold, the many millions its citizens spend sending money across borders, and the volatile value of the Indian rupee as reasons that the digital currency might have room to grow.

Zebpay’s other founder Mahin Gupta, whom Sandeep refers to as the “father of bitcoin,” is an active commenter on the Reddit board, often evangelizing bitcoin in India.

“You can buy Flipkart, Amazon, Makemytrip, Dominos, BookMyShow, PVR vouchers from Zebpay,” he comments on one post. “So kind [of] you can buy almost everything using bitcoin in India now.”

Why take a chance?

Zebpay is an e-wallet where users can add money from bank accounts, convert it into bitcoin, and use it for things like trade or to buy vouchers for sites. They can also convert it back into another currency and send it to their bank accounts.

With so many safer options, why would a regular person want anything to do with the unpredictable world of bitcoin?

“Three reasons,” Sandeep starts.

“The first – it can be an alternative investment. They’re increasing in value tremendously over the past four to five years. They’re officially the best performing currency this year. It’s gone from trading at just US$250 at the beginning of the year to US$600 now. That’s 2.5 to 3 times in just a year.”

“The second is for freelancers,” he says. “Services like Western Union charge a lot of money and banks are slow to transfer. Bitcoins transfer instantly and can be converted into indian rupees. They can also use it for their Flipkart purchases or whatever.”

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