Paytm May Consider Bitcoin Trading But It Depends On Government's Cryptocurrency Adoption Decision

Paytm, India's digital payments pioneer which recently raised Rs 8,235 crore from anchor investors as part of its IPO of Rs 18,300 crore, said that it would consider Bitcoin offerings if the country's regulators cleared legislative uncertainties surrounding cryptocurrency adoption.

Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora told Bloomberg TV: “Bitcoin is still in a regulatory grey area if not a regulatory ban in India. At the moment Paytm does not do Bitcoin. If it was ever to become fully legal in the country then clearly there could be offerings we could launch.”

The Reserve Bank of India had outlawed cryptocurrency, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision in March 2020. Although the government has contemplated enacting crypto law, the RBI remains sceptical and continues to urge prohibition.

Earlier, the government had stated that cryptocurrencies will be regulated and that it is working with various parties.

The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam earlier stated that “we are not saying no to cryptocurrency. We are saying we’ll have to see how this technology can help fintech to maximise the potential that it has”.

“But how sophisticated regulation can be is something which I want to work with the Reserve Bank. I can say the work is nearly complete. It is now for the cabinet to go into it,” she added as reported by Economic Times.

Deora’s comments regarding cryptocurrency and Paytm come at a time when the Chinese tech giant Ant Group-backed company raised Rs 8,235 crore from 122 anchor investors, including the Government of Singapore, ahead of its IPO.

According to a regulatory document dated 3 November, the company issued 38,302,326 equity shares for Rs 2,150 per share.

As reported, along with the Singapore government, Blackrock Global Funds, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aditya Birla Sun Life Trustee, Vanguard, Schroder International Selection Fund, Sands Capital Funds, Mirae Asset, Marshall Wace Investment Strategies, Fidelity, UBS, Janus Henderson, Nomura India Investment Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore), Goldman Sachs (Singapore), and others participated in the anchor investor round.

While Paytm has already acquired 45 per cent of its Rs 18,300 crore first IPO, the value of the firm's anchor round alone qualifies it as the eighth-largest private company IPO in India.

The IPO will begin on 8 November and will be open for public subscription until 10 November. The price range for the issue is Rs 2,080-2,150 per share, implying a valuation of roughly Rs 1.48 lakh crore.