Decoding Indian crypto investors’ love for meme coins
The Hindu
While Bitcoin and Ether are the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, Indian customers are more often than not drawn to cryptocurrencies that are based on jokes or memes
Indian crypto exchange WazirX recently published its proof of reserves (PoR) statement, that shows its customers’ cryptocurrency holdings and their respective storage locations. The exhibit revealed that the company, which serves over 15 million customers, had listed a meme-inspired crypto as its top token.
(For insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business, and policy, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache.)
WazirX’s top crypto holding, according to its PoR posting, was Shiba Inu [SHIB], a whimsical dog-themed token that was the fifteenth biggest crypto by market cap as of January 17. While the exact values change daily, WazirX’s SHIB holdings on behalf of customers made up slightly more than 19% of its total, and came in at around $63,804,084 on the same day. Meanwhile, the exchange’s Bitcoin holdings totalled less than half of that, at roughly $28,366,065.
By proportion, WazirX’s top crypto holdings for its customers were Shiba Inu [SHIB], Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Dogecoin [DOGE], and Polygon [MATIC]. Two of these crypto assets - Shiba Inu and Dogecoin - are meme coins based on the fluffy-tailed Shiba Inu dog that is popular in Japan (and internet memes).
While the idea of investing real money in such playful assets might horrify most people, crypto investors have their own line of reasoning.
“Shibu Inu and Dogecoin are pretty close to the hearts of a lot of Indians, which is proven in our reserves,” Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at WazirX, told The Hindu about the exchange’s PoR.
Mr. Menon also pointed out that unlike Bitcoin (with 1 BTC worth over $21,000 on January 17), cryptocurrencies like Shiba Inu have a smaller “ticket size.” In other words, customers get more whole tokens in exchange for their investments. (1 SHIB was trading at around $0.00001049 on January 17.)
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”