Indian couple asks for unusual wedding gift - Bitcoin
With only 15 of the nearly 200 wedding guests opting for traditional gifts, Sharma estimates they received Bitcoin worth $1,559. Photo: BBC
(Web Desk) – For many couples tying the knot, preferred wedding gifts may not be as unusual as it was for one Indian couple Prashant Sharma and Niti Shree.
Founders of a digital start-up, the south Indian couple decided to ask their guests to gift them Bitcoin for their wedding.
“So we thought of merging technology with gifting for the future,” said Sharma while speaking to the BBC. “We explained it to our parents and they were very receptive.”
The wedding that took place on December 9, just four days after India’s central bank issued its third warning cautioning investors against buying Bitcoins, didn’t seem to discourage their friends and family to give in to the couple’s request.
With only 15 of the nearly 200 wedding guests opting for “traditional gifts”, Sharma estimates they received Bitcoin worth 100,000 rupees ($1,559).
“The concept is good,” said one relative who gifted them Bitcoin. “I am sure its acceptance will improve though many governments may not like it now.”
“Prashant and Niti did not decide on Bitcoin as a gift in the last couple of weeks,” said Ravi Shankar, another guest. “It was planned a couple of months ago.”
But the recent surge in the price of Bitcoin has also made many wonder if it is a bubble. “If you buy something to sell it later then you are creating a bubble. We bought Bitcoin because we wanted to see how this technology moves forward,” he said.
Sharma said he and his wife will sell the Bitcoins they have received to fund initiatives that educate underprivileged children, reported the BBC.
However, there is concern. “Regulators find that there is not enough transparency in the ownership and management of cryptocurrency,” said Pranjal Sharma, an economic analyst. “Governments just want to be careful,” he said.
