It is believed that 2023 will offer more clarity on the regulatory front, addressing the concerns of the crypto industry, he added in addition to sharing his views on layoffs, future plans, markets in general and more. Read the edited excerpts:
Crypto markets have remained volatile in 2022 due to a number of factors and new flows. What is your opinion on that and how do you see it? What are your key takeaways?
This year has been a challenging one for crypto markets with the fallout from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Fed rate hikes, and general bearish sentiment affecting cryptocurrencies. In order not to forget the FTX collapse and accident of Terra-Luna. Whether the crypto winter will continue or pick up remains to be seen.
However, with more investors adding cryptocurrencies to their portfolios and buying tokens to support on-chain transactions, the overall demand for cryptocurrencies appears to be increasing.
On top of this, crypto adoption is expected to increase with many institutions now accepting crypto payments. In the year 2022, NFTs were also widely discussed considering their possible integration into sports, entertainment, and the arts. Overall, the cryptocurrency sector will continue to mature at an increasing rate.
Monetization platforms like Chinagri also faced some pressure this year. What do you think went wrong for such platforms and what are your key learnings?
The year has been good for us despite a price correction setback that was again due to market factors beyond our control. Despite the black swan event, our GARI wallet holders have increased significantly with the number exceeding 1.7 million in just 10 months of being integrated into the Chingari app.
This demonstrates the faith of the community in our project. We are focusing on creating great products for our users. Whether it's Creator Cuts, our NFT video marketplace, GARI Mining, or daily subscription plans, they all help our users monetize their content. The platforms that took on the heat are still in the web2 space, while we've shifted to web3.
In the future, only platforms that give back to the community by helping them monetize their content will thrive, the rest will struggle to keep up.
What are your plans for the year 2023? Are there any features or programs that will be released soon? How do you plan to stay ahead of the competition in the coming year?
We are planning to launch Chingari focusing on Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, considering that Africa has the potential to be an attractive market for us.
We are working on GARI missions that will be released soon. Through GARI missions, advertisers will be able to advertise their business to the vast Chingari web3 user base with native web3 ads. We recently launched our new 'Stake' feature, which will give GARI holders the opportunity to stake their GARI tokens and earn APYs of up to 10 percent.
This will add one more utility to Chingari's native crypto token. Also, gamification and the launch of native wallets are on our roadmap for the coming year. These multiple offerings will give us an advantage in the fiercely competitive vertical.
In the midst of the rumor of layoffs in 2022, what are your plans regarding the squad for the next calendar? Are you planning to hire any new talent? If so, in which departments?
With plans to enter new regions, Chingari will hire local human resources for those markets. The technical, content and creative departments will be expanded. As the company continues to grow, we plan to hire 400-500 people in the overseas offices, more than double the current force of around 250.
Hedge funds and private equity players have lost interest in the crypto space, but Web3.0 and the metaverse continue to get some attention. Do you think 2023 will be better in terms of funds entering the crypto space once again or is there more time?
The year 2023 can potentially see greater acceptance of Web3, as more organizations realize its many advantages over conventional systems, including better security and transparency, reduced prices, faster transactions, and more effective storage.
There is still existing equity interest from VC and private equity players for web3 projects. Projects with the best product-to-market (PMF) fit and companies that create value rather than hype and empty promises will continue to attract funding.
GARI, like most crypto tokens, did not have a good year amid regulatory turmoil. What are your expectations of the government on the regulatory front? Do you think 2023 will be a milestone for crypto regulations?
In the latest budget, the government proposed a tax on profits made in virtual digital assets at 30 percent and 1 percent TDS on the transfer of cryptos. In the next Union budget, we can expect the introduction of a regulatory framework that will help reduce the uncertainty associated with crypto markets. It is believed that 2023 will offer more clarity on the regulatory front, addressing the concerns of the crypto industry.
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are my own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
