Barry Silbert invests $250k in Unocoin, India eyed as ideal Bitcoin market

Barry Silbert, who recently resigned as SecondMarket's CEO to focus exclusively on digital currency initiatives, has announced his investment of $250,000 in India's Unocoin.

Excited to announce my first Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term investment in India, @unocoin https://t.co/bOkt1hoAFD via @WSJ @mikejcasey — Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) August 11, 2014

Unocoin can be likened to a Coinbase for India. It provides a high security wallet and Bitcoin buying/selling capabilities. The service was spawned by a July 2013 meetup to bring Bitcoin awareness to the India public, and officially launched in December. Almost immediately thereafter, it suspended services when the Reserve Bank of India warned about virtual currencies. It relaunched in January after an upbeat presentation by the Bitcoins Alliance India (BAI) and an assessment that with adequate business practices, it will not face a regulatory crackdown.

Silbert, an early investor in now dominant Bitcoin companies like Coinbase and BitPay, is hoping to replicate his success in India. The country of 1.2 billion is viewed as ripe for Bitcoin development. An estimated half-billion are unbanked. A large number of emigrants work abroad and send remittances back home. There is also an estimated 200 million tech savvy middle class citizens, and it is hoped that they will adopt and develop a greater cryptocurrency economy.

India also reportedly has an archaic currency-exchange infrastructure. Said Silbert:

“The catalyst that will drive bitcoin adoption in India is significantly more Liquidity Liquidity The term liquidity refers to the process, speed, and ease of which a given asset or security can be converted into cash. Notably, liquidity surmises a retention in market price, with the most liquid assets representing cash.The most liquid asset of all is cash itself.· In economics, liquidity is defined by how efficiently and quickly an asset can be converted into usable cash without materially affecting its market price. · Nothing is more liquid than cash, while other assets represent The term liquidity refers to the process, speed, and ease of which a given asset or security can be converted into cash. Notably, liquidity surmises a retention in market price, with the most liquid assets representing cash.The most liquid asset of all is cash itself.· In economics, liquidity is defined by how efficiently and quickly an asset can be converted into usable cash without materially affecting its market price. · Nothing is more liquid than cash, while other assets represent Read this Term and trading in and out of rupees. No one is going to use bitcoin to send money to their family in India if there is no way to use it or no place to exchange it.”

While the investment is small relative to major multi-million dollar funding rounds, if growth proceeds according to expectations, the next round may be much, much larger.