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smalltownrifle 1y ago 💬 4

Not a single person in my economic network in India use USD-backed stablecoins or the US Dollar.

Everyone uses the Indian Rupee.

Hundreds of millions of people have access to digital payments over this state-run payments protocol called the UPI, which is nearly ubiquitous.

UPI is far more accountable to Indians than Tether or Circle will ever be.

The Rupee doesn't depreciate rapidly enough vs the Dollar for people to consider USD as a store of value.

Bitcoin is the real alternative.

US Dollars are irrelevant in India's local economy.

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Oren ☂️ 1y ago

What about gold? Do you see Indians replacing gold with Bitcoin as a store of value?

It’s interesting that Indians maintained the culture of saving via self-custody gold, while most other countries gave up on self-custody and switched to leveraged real-estate and stonks.

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smalltownrifle 1y ago

Can't speak for 1.4 billion people, but those in my network do hold Gold in self-custody yeah.

It's considered very important to do so, no matter the alternatives the market offers.

Whether Bitcoin will replace it entirely is doubtful. Can possibly be used in addition to Gold sure.

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BitcoinDarjeeling 1y ago

In 2020, #India's forex reserves were $500B. And then Trump printed 25% more USD (~$125B).

Obviously, that action there also devalued #INR here immediately. Effects of it took longer to get witnessed. 2024 reserves are $650B which has risen in the same rate. INR is loosing its value as the same rate. We Indians don't realize this quickly. But INR and USD are very tightly connected.

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smalltownrifle 1y ago

This impacts mostly exchange rates and those who engage in foreign trade.

My point is nobody I know uses USD as a currency to save, transact and measure value.

Besides, the devaluation of the Rupee in India has more to do with the actions of the Indian govt than a foreign entity. Debt issuance, deficit spending, lowering of benchmark interest rates by RBI, stimulatory monetary policy play bigger roles than what the US did. Forex is a factor, sure. But one of many.