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Startup Street: Experts decode the impact of Budget 2021 on the startup ecosystem

Nirmala Sitharaman, finance minister india, economic survey

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021 earlier this week. From tax holiday to capital gains exemptions given to startups being extended by one more year, from incentivization for incorporation of one-person companies to announcing a Rs 1,500 crore scheme for the fintech and digital payments sector – Budget 2021 had several takeaways for the startup ecosystem and yet, some demands from the wishlist were unmet.

To get a sense of the current sentiment and discuss the impact of the incentives announced in the Budget, Startup Street spoke to Harshil Mathur, co-founder & CEO of Razorpay and Siddarth Pai, founding partner at 3one4 Capital, co-chair Regulatory Affairs Panel at IVCA.

Also watch Startup Street in conversation with Sumit Gupta, co-founder & CEO of CoinDCX and Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX who shared their views on Indian government’s move to introduce a ‘Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.’

Watch video for more.

Stay tuned with all the live action and updates with our Budget 2021 Live blog.

For full coverage on Budget 2021, click here

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Can cryptocurrencies replace gold? Here’s what experts say

Jewelry with the Bitcoin logo is seen on display at the Consensus 2018 blockchain technology conference in New York City,

Unprecedented levels of stimulus measures not only have pushed gold and equity markets to record highs but it also propelled cryptocurrencies to new highs.

If 2017 was all about geeks and speculators buying Bitcoins, 2020 has been about institutions on back of strong volumes and wealth accumulations with names like PayPal also entering the markets.

There are 1,658 cryptocurrencies as per the latest list but the 3 top cryptocurrencies by trading volume and market capital are Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP or Ripple.

About 70 percent of the cryptocurrency market capitalisation is represented by these 3 tokens.

While there has been plenty of speculation on whether this space is a bubble ready to pop or likely to pass the test of time, this year has returned a 3-digit percentage gains to its investors.

Exposure in cryptocurrencies is considered a high risk given the volatility it has displayed. The value relies on network effect: how many users are using it and how active the users are.

Financial experts suggest not more than 2 percent at this point as part of your portfolio.

After the Supreme Court in March 2020 struck out the RBI ban on facilitating of cryptocurrencies in India, the participation has increased manifold in 2020.

So what are the rules and regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies and are they a safe bet?

To discuss this, Manisha Gupta spoke to Nischal Shetty, founder and chief executive at WazirX, Monark Modi, founder and CEO of Bitex, Vikram Rangala, CMO of ZebPay and Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CoinDCX.

Watch video for more.