As India pulled out all the stops to welcome back its Olympics superstars, corporate houses, state governments and social organisations competed with each other to shower them with rewards. Among all these, one reward announcement stood out – ctypto exchange Bitbns offered the stars SIP investments, but in crypto currency. THE WEEK caught up with Bitbns CEO Gaurav Dahake to find out how exactly this works.
What exactly is a crypto SIP, how does it work, and what is the legality of these presently?
Crypto SIP is similar to the regular SIP (Systematic Investment Planning), investor has the luxury to select the mode of investment—quarterly, monthly, or annually. One can invest in the top cryptocurrencies of Bitcoin and Ethereum in regular installments such as daily, weekly, or monthly with as low as Rs 100 a day.
To avail the SIP platform, one must set the amount one wants to invest in Bitcoin or Ethereum periodically (every day, week or month). One can deposit in rupees in the wallet using UPI, after which the money will be automatically invested into the cryptocurrency as per the desired periodicity. Once the wallet is close to empty, one can deposit more money to continue investing. To cash in, one can simply sell the cryptocurrency and redeem it from the wallet to one’s bank account seamlessly through the platform.
It is perfectly legal for an Indian to trade, hold, or mine crypto and invest it in a SIP format.
Is there a stipulation that these SIPs will remain with your exchange, or do the sportstars have the freedom to move it around to any exchange, or encash them when they please (including right now)?
The SIPs accounts created on the platform on behalf of the players will be handed over to the respective players. The players will have full access to the account and are in complete liberty to take any actions on their individual accounts. Bitbns will ensure the reward is periodically credited to their account for the total reward value.
Have any of the Olympic medallists been presented with these? Have any of them refused to take it?
Post the announcement, we have started reaching out to the players. We are in talks with a few of the players and have shared the information with them about the reward. The players were delighted by this unique gesture.
So when you give it to them, how exactly does it work? Is it a document, a digital file, how?
The amount announced for athletes is Rs 2 lakh for Gold, Rs 1 lakh for Silver, and Rs 50,000 for the Bronze. Besides, Rs 50,000 worth SIP has been credited to all members of the men’s hockey team. The bitcoin SIP will be started for the medalist and will be credited to their respective accounts created by Bitbns on their behalf. SIP worth Rs 111 will be done daily on bitcoin until the reward amount is fulfilled. The SIP will be structured for a three to five year period, thereby offering them a seamless exposure to the digital asset while enabling them to earn a fixed source of income in the long term through the platform.
