‘Most of India’s $1.1 tn growth in 11 years can come from digital biz’
WASHINGTON: Most of India’s $1.1 trillion in total economic growth in the next 11 years can come from ancillary digital asset-related businesses that are yet to be invented, according to a report released here on Monday. In 2013, the market capitalisation of the digital asset market was approximately $1.5 billion. The report, released by US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Crosstower, suggests that today, the market capitalisation is at nearly $3 trillion.
While the USISPF is a top India-centric American business advocacy group, CrossTower is one of the world’s fastest and leading crypto and digital asset exchanges.
According to the report, most of India’s $1.1 trillion in the total economic growth in the next 11 years can come from ancillary digital asset-related businesses that are yet to be invented.
The report shows how India can leverage the digital asset opportunity by adopting Web 3.0 and why blockchain technology is self-sufficient for digitising India’s financial ecosystem. “India is poised for growth to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Digital assets are expected to have tremendous potential in the next 11 years across countries, due to their rapid adoption. They are expected to help India achieve the GDP of $5 trillion economy,” USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said.
Kapil Rathi, co-founder and CEO of CrossTower, said data shows that Indians tend to be natural visionaries and with Web 3.0, India has the opportunity to harness its core resources -- its technologically savvy youth -- to be a global leader in digital assets and Web 3.0.
“With the right policies and regulatory framework, India’s regulators can bring safety, combined with hope and prosperity to India,” he said.
The report noted that the adoption rate of digital assets (as reflected by accounts opened on centralised cryptocurrency exchanges) is growing nearly twice as fast as that of the Internet.
It took the Internet approximately 7.5 years to go from around 100 million users to one billion users. The same growth at cryptocurrency exchanges will take about four years, it said. “Web 3.0 can drive $1.1 trillion economic growth for India over these 11 years, but only with the right policies and regulatory framework. The global financial services market is estimated to be over $22 trillion in 2021 and will grow to over $28 trillion by 2025,” the report said.
“From digital art to ticket sales, music, collectables, luxury items and gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) could transform the way people interact day-to-day. While still nascent, NFTs are projected to emerge into a market of $1 trillion or more,” it said.