There is currently no stack on users because there is no availability at the time of purchase. One point is that users in India are looking for on- and off-ramps in the market, especially for sending USDT or other stablecoins. For example, if some of our cousins are living and working in the US and want to send money home, they're usually taxed. This creates another small piece of the market.
Next, regarding the user base: non-centralization is becoming more important, but people are still learning about wallets and how to manage them independently. There's a significant learning curve. If we can track that progress, we could celebrate self-sustaining trading. Some users already understand Web 3.0 and self-managed trading, and they prefer using debit options, which are free. However, many people are still trying to understand other aspects, like futures trading and using on- and off-ramps. Most users in India are currently focused on these features, and we see a decent amount of volume.
Many centralized and local exchanges in India act as aggregator exchanges, gathering liquidity, refinance, and exchange rates. That’s the current market scenario. For example, local centralized exchanges get liquidity from platforms like Binance. Coinbase has also entered the Indian market and obtained a license. There is another futures exchange in India that helps with FIU licenses, and I know the founders well, including those from Coinbase and others. If needed, I can reach out for help with licensing for Indian exchanges, which could help us promote BitGate wallet together.
Everyone in India uses UPI for payments. I often wonder where a crypto wallet fits in this landscape, since people can pay for anything with UPI. As a crypto wallet, I want to find our product-market fit. Centralized exchanges are just starting out, but if we want to become something like a dollar account for everyone in India, for savings or sending money home, where should we start? Who should be our first onboarded users, excluding the crypto-savvy traders?
Our wallet could offer more than just trading. Users could also perform various actions such as trading, managing cryptocurrency, and more within one interface. Currently, no other wallet offers this. Many users have to switch between windows and use the same IP address, which is why centralized exchanges are preferred. We are still new to the market. For example, I've been in crypto since 2017, and for new users, they like to see all their crypto in one place. I personally don't use centralized exchanges anymore, especially when traveling. Many users are now booking flights and making other purchases with crypto, which is growing.
We should start by attracting trading users to the wallet, offering them more traction and promoting it as a safer, better way to manage their assets. Users can on- and off-ramp, and handle other tasks as well. Centralized exchanges do provide a better user experience, and the learning curve is steep. Traditional traders who just moved to decentralized exchanges can benefit from features like social login through Gmail or Apple ID. With these, users can create wallets easily and don’t have to worry about gas fees. They can send USDT or USDC directly to any address.
If we want to offer a USD account with a virtual account to receive USD, USDC, or USDT in our wallet, is this important locally? Personally, I don’t think it’s a high priority. Using the internet, people can log in through platforms like Facebook. Opening the market is a bit difficult. I have shared my vision of preparing accounts through social logins, though my English might not be perfect for a deep discussion. If you have time, please write a document about your insights on social features, market share, our first users, product-market fit, and go-to-market strategy, especially once we have a virtual account. It's very important to know who is doing interesting work in India and whom to watch.
To find our first real users, we can begin by partnering with community-based apps focused on trading, gaming, purchasing, and blogging. Their end users follow them directly, and if they use something new, their followers usually follow along. For example, Vesta, a futures exchange, targets Web 2 influencers who trade and brings their followers into crypto trading on their platform. This is how they’re capturing the market. We can also look for crypto influencers who have established themselves and use them as key entry points.
Is there a user group we can approach directly, like freelancers working for US or European companies? These could be our target users. Personally, I’m still figuring out whether to prioritize obtaining licenses for our product, and when best to scale. In India, having on- and off-ramps is essential. Our purchase plans are promising, and there's good initial excitement for features like cards. Once launched, I’d like to scale up, add new skills, and work with the marketing team.
Looking ahead six months, I hope to see strong progress and determine if our approach is working. South Asia is our most important market, so if you have questions or feedback, please reach out. I hope we can work together to build a great product for this market and help users with a reliable USD account. I believe centralized exchanges currently offer a better user experience, but with the right approach, features like a USD account and PayFi could provide real value and solve everyday problems. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to working together.
