Digital currency firms in India go big on ad blitz for festive season

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The festive season in India has kicked off and digital currency companies are prepared to spend big on multimedia ads as well as giveaways, with many touting digital currencies as the best gift for Indians to their loved ones.

The festive season begun on September 10 with the Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of Lord Ganesh to earth. It kicked off a season of giving, festivities, and celebration. For digital currency exchanges in India, it opened a window of opportunity that they believe could as much as quadruple their user base if approached right.

These exchanges have launched massive marketing campaigns, partnering with online shopping firms to offer digital currency payments. They are also ramping up hiring and planning new product launches during the season to leverage the increased interest by free-spending consumers, local paper Economic Times reported.

Speaking to the paper, Unocoin exchange CEO Sathvik Vishwanath noted, “Indian market is all about saving and spending and gifting during the festive season. If approached right, bitcoin, and gift vouchers can be an interesting option for users to consider as more awareness activity is expected across the industry. We are making our platform technically and operationally prepared for the festive season.”

One of the most popular bets for the exchanges is giveaways. Unocoin, for instance, had a coupon worth Rs 200 ($2.70) to gift its users for the September 10 holiday. In addition, it has partnered with online shopping firms in the country allowing users to make payments in digital currencies.

Other exchanges have revealed that there has been a surge in interest during the festive season. WazirX, which is owned by the embattled Binance and faces legal violation probes of its own, has seen an uptick in new signups, its vice president of marketing Rajagopal Menon told the newspaper.

“Crypto gifting is a part of our product roadmap. This will give Indians the opportunity to send crypto to their loved ones as easily as they send emails,” he remarked.

The expectations are sky high for the exchanges. CoinSwitch, considered one of the biggest platforms in the country with over 10 million users, expects to quadruple organic traffic with the additional advertising campaigns during the festive season.

The ad blitz comes despite the lack of definitive regulations for the industry. India’s digital currency community is in a much better space after a ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India was overturned by the Supreme Court. However, there have been reports that the Indian government still intends to ban digital currencies, or at the very least impose strict policies.

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