Recap of Live Session with Social Media Dissect
Here’s the recap of the Live Session with the Social Media Dissect team on October 2nd. The session was hosted by Aleena Gandhi, founder and CEO of Social Media Dissect with Nitin Agarwal, Founder of B21 Invest as the Guest.
Introduction :
Aleena — We have Nitin Agarwal today who is the founder of B21 Invest. He is a Fintech and Crypto product specialist. co-inventor of crypto linked debit cards, issued over 1M accounts in 70 countries. He is also specialized in money in and out at PayPal. He has Build wallets for Telefonica and Reliance.
AMA Session:
Aleena — In layman’s term, could you tell us what B21 does and how the idea came about?
Nitin — Initially it seems difficult for a person to understand crypto but once you start involving in it, things become easy for you thereafter. At B21 we are trying to enable the easiest way of getting involved in Crypto by starting with a small amount of Rs. 2000. We made B21 Invest really simple to make people like you and me invest in Crypto.
Aleena — Who do you think is the right audience for B21?
Nitin — I think anyone who invests should look at Crypto as an asset class. If you keep your money in a bank account or if you keep your money in your fixed deposit, to you invest your money in shares/stocks, you can look at this as well. So I would encourage the ones who are thinking of investing to Start Early. If you’re a college student, then you can take some risk, save some money, and invest. Anyone who is looking to learn more about this technology should invest because once get involved in it you get to learn more about it, and you start growing alongside. We’ve seen younger people, older people, housewives all investing a small amount because it is only Rs. 2000 to start. Don’t think about the day when you will invest, instead make this your first day in investing.
Aleena — What is the first step when you somebody are looking to invest?
Nitin — The first step is to know about it by doing some research and there are a lot of resources available over the internet to help you with that.
Aleena — What is your take on Crypto trading in India considering there is so much news of Crypto Ban going around?
Nitin — The first misconception Indian people have is that the Crypto is Banned in India, which is not the case. The government did put a ban a few years back restricting people to invest in Crypto but then in March this year Supreme Court ruled it out by saying that banning Crypto investment means not encouraging innovation. Looking at other major countries like the US, UK, and some Asian countries, they have started regulating this and they are bringing laws to bring more clarification to the investors.
Aleena — If I invest in Crypto using B21 and if India bans tomorrow then what happens to my money?
Nitin — So we are holding the Crypto on your behalf which means you can easily sell it whenever you want to and then withdraw the money to your bank account. At B21 invest, we hold crypto assets in a custodial wallet minimizing the risk.
Aleena — Where should I start to invest?
Nitin — Invest Small, invest regularly and diversify. Start with the small amount and don’t put all the money in one place, distribute them among the top coins. At B21 Invest, you can invest in 6 coins in one go. The last thing is since nobody can time the market, so invest a small amount regularly.
Aleena — Who are the custodians? Are they regulated? Assets are they kept in India or outside India?
Nitin — Our custodians are Prime Trust, regulated in the US. They are among the top ones and Major big names are using them too.
Aleena — What exactly is the mining of Cryptocurrency and how does it affect the market conditions?
Nitin — Bitcoin has a finite supply meaning there will be only 21 million bitcoins in the world. Currently, around 18.5 million bitcoins have been mined. There are two things when it comes to answering on mining — how a new Bitcoin comes and secondly how a transaction is verified? So generating new coins and verifying a transaction is done by a process called mining, the term is similar to gold mining. The mining means that you’re putting the resources of your computer and running software to mine a new coin and to verify the transaction that has happened between two parties.
Aleena — With cybercrime on the rise, how secured is Cryptocurrency?
Nitin — The first thing that is stolen during a cybercrime is the identity of the person. Can a bank or any social media network be hacked, yes it’s possible but can a decentralized network that has hundreds and thousands of computers be hacked together, practically not possible. As a network, the bitcoin blockchain is safe but for a user, it is possible that they can lose their personal data.
Aleena — How are my gains taxed when I invest on B21? is it possible to save tax by investing regularly on B21?
Nitin — When you make gains on your crypto investment, you can declare tax similar to how you would do it for any other asset, by classifying it as a short-term or the long-term investment.
Aleena — Crypto is risky, Is it regulated in India?
Nitin — There are risks involved with Crypto just like with any other asset! It is very new when it comes to the Indian market, so there is no regulation as of now. But lack of regulation enables innovation sometimes, so let’s not think only about legalization, we don’t know when it can come, it can happen tomorrow or in a week, or in a month or it can take years as well.
Aleena — What percentage of my investments would you recommend in Cryptocurrencies as a beginner in Crypto?
Nitin — Manage your risks, think about your needs, don’t put a big amount in the start instead start small, and once you gain confidence, invest more!
Aleena — When will it be possible to trade with B21 tokens?
Nitin — We are working on this right now! Probably by the end of October, we might enable the users to trade with the B21 token.
Aleena — How tech-savvy one should be to invest using the B21 Invest? Do we need to know the terms such as wallet keys, gas fees, etc?
Nitin — The answer is NO! These terms are still unknown to common people, and with B21 Invest they don’t need to worry about knowing such terms.
Aleena — Why the KYC verification on the B21 app mandatory?
Nitin — It is the right way to do it! If you want a fully custodial wallet where you can store your assets then you have to go through it!
Aleena — What will be the added value for consumers for using cryptos over the current digital means of payment?
Nitin — The added advantage is cost, there is no middleman and speed. So if somebody wants to send some money overseas they can process it quickly without any middleman and by paying a small fee.
Aleena — How small can anyone invest using B21?
Nitin — On B21 Invest, you can start investing with just Rs. 2000 in 6 coins, creating a portfolio choosing what percentage you want to add for every coin.
Aleena — Is Bitcoin a source of long-term investment?
Nitin — It’s better to think about the long-term as one can never time the market.
Aleena — Will NFTs be on the B21 app?
Nitin — Yes, it’s a work in progress! People will soon see that on B21 Invest.
We would like to thank Aleena Gandhi for hosting such a lovely session, and also to everyone for taking the time out to attend this.
As we keep getting questions from our community, we look forward to conducting more such sessions to answer them. We will keep updating the future webinars on all our Social Channels, so don’t forget to follow us.
Stay Safe. Invest Regularly.
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