(Kitco News) - Indian weddings are known for their display of gold, but this young couple asked guests to give them bitcoin as a wedding present instead.
The Indian wedding season is usually a great occasion to buy gold, sometimes even influencing the precious metal’s prices around the world. But, is this tradition going to be threatened with the rising cryptocurrency craze?
The latest example is Prashant Sharma and Niti Shree’s wedding. A tech-savvy couple, which founded a digital start-up in India, asked all their friends for bitcoin as their main wedding present.
“We thought of merging technology with gifting for the future,” Sharma told BBC. “We explained it to our parents and they were very receptive.”
Friends and family attending the wedding, which took place on December 9, respected the couple’s wishes, with only 15 out of 200 guests giving “traditional gifts.”
It was estimated that the couple received 100,000 rupees ($1,563) worth of bitcoin during the wedding.
One guest said: “The concept is good. I am sure its acceptance will improve, though many governments may not like it now.”
This year, bitcoin rose from just under $1,000 in January to an all-time high of nearly $20,000. The digital currency was last seen trading at $16,182, down 1.48% on the day, according to Kitco’s aggregated charts.
View image on Twitter
The unprecedented surge led to an explosion of demand as well as warning calls of a classic bubble.
India raised its concern over the cryptocurrencies as well, with the country’s central bank issuing the third warning to investors in December, advising against buying bitcoin.
But, Sharma is optimistic, saying that bitcoin is a present they will store, not sell.
“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. “Bitcoin is not the only thing that has potential. Blockchain technology is the real deal.”
By Anna Golubova
For Kitco News