IPO bound Paytm’s Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora said the company may consider Bitcoin offerings if it was to become “fully legal” in the country.
“Bitcoin is still in a regulatory grey area if not a regulatory ban in India,” Deora said in an interview to Bloomberg TV. “At the moment Paytm does not do Bitcoin. If it was ever to become fully legal in the country, then clearly there could be offerings we could launch.”
The Reserve Bank of India had banned cryptocurrencies but the order was struck down by the Supreme Court in March 2020.
Government has pointed towards regulation of cryptocurrency and that it is working with different stakeholders. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam had told The Economic Times that the union government is “not against cryptocurrency and will instead look into ways it can help the country’s fintech sector.”
The same publication also reported Paytm Payments Bank had moved to disallow cryptocurrency transactions on its platform from May 21 evening as it “will stop dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges.”
The biggest initial public offer in the history of the Indian capital markets by Paytm is poised for a post-Diwali launch between November 8 and 10.
The price band for the IPO has been kept in the range of Rs 2,080- Rs 2,150.
Paytm is currently India’s second most-valuable internet company, last valued at $16 billion when it raised a billion dollars in November 2019 led by T Rowe Price, Discovery Capital and D1 Capital.
The public offer is expected to take the company’s valuation to $20 billion.