Why Bengaluru-based Unocoin is betting big on bitcoins

Over the past few months, bitcoins and Blockchain have been in the news like never before. From eateries in Bengaluru accepting them to self-made millionaires who put in thousands and raked in crores, everyone is betting on bitcoins, the worldwide cryptocurrency, and digital payment system.

But for Sathvik Vishwanath, the realisation came differently. Between 2009 to 2013, Sathvik was a freelancer. One of his projects involved building custom scripting experiences for an online virtual world game developed in San Francisco. While on the project, Sathvik realised that close to seven percent of his total payment was lost as a part of transaction fees through intermediaries like PayPal and Western Union.

Things changed when he enrolled himself at India Bitcoin Meetup and was introduced to the world of bitcoins. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that bitcoins involved zero transaction fees.

But the bitcoiners at the meet were grappling with the problem of where they could buy and sell bitcoins.

That, in 2013, led to the inception of Unocoin, a Bengaluru-based platform where individuals can buy and sell bitcoins.

Sathvik recalls, “Initially, I didn’t really bother much. But bitcoins saved me money, so I knew they worked.”

The meetup also introduced Sathvik to his future partners, Harish BV, Abhinand Kaseti, and Sunny Ray, all of who believed in a market for bitcoins.

Facts:-
If reports are to be followed, in January 2017, a single bitcoin was being traded at $1000 and surged to an all-time high of $3000 at the start of this month.

For example, on Tuesday, the opening price of trade was $4054.94, according to coindesk.com, but rapidly declined to $3,687.28.

At the time of publishing the article, the price of one bitcoin, according to the website was $3,866.93, a 4.64 percent decline from its initial price.