AMA with Ajeet Khurana by @ethx
Conducted on “Wish to understand the future of cryptocurrency”
Ajeet Khurana is the CEO of Zebpay, one of the largest Cryptocurrency exchange. Before this, he headed the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Committee of IAMAI, the highest industry body for companies in this space. In this role, he worked on industry advocacy, policy framework, consumer education, and protection.
In his two and a half-decade career, he wore many hats: book author, angel investor, mentor, TEDx speaker, steering committee member of the NASSCOM Start-Up Warehouse, ex-advisor to Kalaari Capital, and former CEO of IIT Bombay’s business incubator, among others. He was entrepreneurial twice in the field of education and publishing. As a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, he taught e-commerce back in 1993, when the term “e-commerce” had not yet been coined.
Presently a thought leader in the area of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Ajeet is convinced that money, as we know it, is broken and needs to be repaired. In his opinion Bitcoin presents one such repair.
He took part in an AMA on cryptocurrency and Blockchain community https://forum.ethx.co/
Questions
1. Tell us your journey in this world. How did an esteemed angel investor dive into this field and what are your plans for the future?
Though you have directed this question to some “esteemed angel investor,” I will respond to it. My interest has always been to locate the new, the revolutionary, the innovative, that which will shift the paradigm. That is what led me to entrepreneurship, angel investment, and now crypto. Plans for the future: I don’t intend to improve.😃
2. Is Cryptocurrency is the new era of currency? Does Social Media Influence Cryptocurrency growth?
The first part of your question is very relevant but extremely complex. Because, if we think of it as Will Cryptocurrency soon start behaving (or getting used) as fiat currency did in the past? Then the answer is no. While Crypto has some of the characteristics of a classic currency, in some ways it is also like an “anti-currency.”
Re: your second question: paradigm shifts usually involve the participation of many people. So, social media is definitely going to play a role in spreading the word.
3. What are the major types of strategies being used in crypto investing right now?
I would like to know the answer to that too. I am more of the HODL mentality this early in the lifecycle of crypto. Of course, HODL itself can be quite dangerous. Investing, in general, comes with risks, and more so in the case of crypto.
4. Why is Bitcoin so volatile?
If you compare bond prices to share prices, you will feel that shares are too volatile. But if you understand shares, you will know that their volatility is largely logical given their nature. Crypto / Bitcoin is likewise. In this early stage where the number of first-timers / early-players is so large, emotion/rumor/ news can make people transact. That leads to volatility.
5. What do you tell people that say cryptocurrencies are a Ponzi scheme? How do you deal with non-believers?
If people say that Crypto is inherently Ponzi, I pity their ignorance. However, just like with fiat currency, there’s no doubt that some scamsters will use any medium of a transaction to run a Ponzi scheme. These should be severely dealt with, and citizens should use their common sense as well as do some research before falling for get-rich-quick schemes.
6. How risky is cloud mining?
There are two risks. One is that the provider of cloud-mining might be a fraudster. The second is that the economics of cloud-mining may not work out in your favor. Please check my response to another question on mining here to dive a little deeper.
7. People say that “blockchain” will change the world. Can you tell me how? in non-finance sectors?
Hmmm, I am having trouble giving a succinct response. Blockchain truly has the potential to decentralize data storage, access, and authentication. But at present, it is at a very early stage of development. As a result, we will keep hearing that it is very great but not see much in terms of output. In a time that will change and real applications, other than CryptoCurrencies, will emerge. To that extent, it is similar to AI. Initially a lot of hype and promise, and serious super delivery only much later.
8. Do you have any personal heroes or people whose contributions to the blockchain space you particularly admire and why?
Among the famous people, I like Andreas Antonopolous. I find John McAfee highly entertaining. But the real heroes and contributors to this space are the innumerable and unsung people of the crypto community who are helping develop the ecosystem. Some are developers/coders. Others are educators. Still, others are researchers, evangelists, and what have you. At Zebpay I have the opportunity to work with some real heroes. If I were to use the lofty term, “revolution” to characterize crypto, then like all with revolutions, most of the revolutionaries remain unnamed.
9. How excited or unexcited are the VCs about blockchain technologies and ICOs?
Many (though definitely not all) of the VCs I talk to in the US are quite positive about this space. In comparison, the proportion of Indian VCs that are excited about this space is smaller. Of course, that’s just my limited observation based on the VCs I have come across.
10. Do you think cryptocurrency will have any relation to the micro-funding industry in the coming future? If yes, how?
Some of the intrinsic characteristics of cryptocurrencies do make them suitable for micro-funding, micropayments, financial inclusion and the like. But just having “characteristics” may not be enough. We need at least open-mindedness if not visionary thinking.
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