Crypto Will Be One Of The Biggest Markets In India, Long-Term Investment Platform Carret Co-Founders Say As It Raises Funding
Carret is a crypto investment platform that offers annual percentage yield (APY) to customers on their crypto holdings.
Cryptocurrencies are slowly gaining traction in India as a feasible investment platform. However, given the recent crypto market meltdown, which coincided with the taxation of all crypto gains that went into effect in the country on April 1, there’s a general uncertainty about the future of cryptocurrencies here. However, the co-founders of long-term crypto investment platform Carret remain hopeful that crypto will indeed emerge as one of the biggest markets in the country, once companies won’t feel the need to leave the country to do business. Carret recently concluded a pre-seed funding round from angel investors including the likes of Amestan Capital, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, and former BlackRock executive Yan Wu.
What is Carret? How much APY does it offer?
Carret is a crypto investment platform that offers annual percentage yield (APY) to investors on their crypto holdings. To put it simply, if you own 1 Bitcoin (BTC) on Carret, you will get a return of 1.08 BTC after a year. Carret provides up to 17 percent APY to crypto holders on its platform, in the form of cryptocurrencies instead of regular fiat currency.
In October 2021, Carret was founded by IIT BHU and IIM Ahmedabad alumni Neha Kumari and Shuja Hussain — both of whom worked in the crypto industry for over five years — and the platform became operational in February 2022. 24Carret, the platform’s interest-generating product, offers investors a return of 17 percent on USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT) stablecoins, 9 percent on Ethereum (ETH), and 8 percent on BTC.
“It is as transparent as it sounds,” said Hussain when asked about any fine print involved in the returns. “For the past six months, we have been able to generate a certain yield in a sustainable way.”
ALSO SEE: Crypto Tax In India: A Tale Of Control Or Caution?
Does Carret have a contingency plan?
In May this year, the crash of the LUNA token (caused by the de-pegging of the TerraUSD stablecoin) led to a wipeout of $1 trillion in investors’ wealth, leading to a massive crypto market meltdown, effects of which are still felt in leading crypto prices to this day. So, does Carret have a contingency plan in place for such an event in the future?
“Our choice of a stablecoin is a contingency plan in itself. The USDC and USDT stablecoins have the lowest risk factor among others, which is why we decided to go ahead with them,” Hussain said. “Crypto, as an asset class, is anyways risky in itself. However, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins are blue-chip assets and hence can be considered for long-term investments.”
So, how does Carret plan to spread the word?
As per Kumari, community plays an important role when it comes to spreading the word on crypto. Carret has been building a strong community with a regular presence on social media platforms as well as general marketing tools. It also conducts Twitter Spaces interactions regularly, where users can raise their queries in ask-me-anything-style sessions.
Carret mainly aims to target younger users — GenZ and recently employed individuals — to invest in its platform.
“We also plan to launch the Carret Academy soon, which will be a repository of content on everything crypto,” Hussain added. “The information will help the general public get a better understanding of crypto and investing in the sector. Not just in text format, we will also post small videos to help quickly explain things to users in a clear manner.” Carret will also put up a whiteboard on its website and app, where users can post their queries for a quick reply.
Carret is depending on complete transparency — with its users as well as with government bodies when it comes to regulations.
Plotting a clear path through crypto regulations
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is currently coming down hard on crypto exchanges over reports of faulty KYC procedures and alleged money laundering activities. On August 5, the ED conducted searches on the premises of one of the Directors of Zanmai Lab Pvt Ltd, which owns the popular cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, and issued a freezing order to freeze their bank balances to the tune of Rs 64.67 crore. This action led the ED to 10 crypto exchanges.
“There has been a lot of misunderstanding in the country on crypto and crypto companies due to reports of such probes. However, we must point out that crypto platforms are doing their best to comply with all regulations, properly co-operating with official bodies during investigations,” said Hussain. “Speaking for Carret, we do comply with all the norms that are already in place. We also adhere to the 12-point ASCI guidelines on marketing to avoid any miscommunication. And in the future, we plan to partner with established crypto firms and organisations as well.”
Future of crypto in India
The very fact that cryptocurrencies are recognised as virtual digital assets (VDAs) and are taxed in India shows that the government isn’t too looking to outrightly banning crypto in the country, but is keen on understanding the crypto sector and its various facets and effects first before taking a call. India’s plan to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) this year — which could be called the ‘Digital Rupee’ or ‘eRupee’ — also suggests that crypto may not be banned in the country anytime soon. The Carret co-founders agree.
ALSO SEE: Digital Rupee: Why India Is Keen On Introducing A CBDC
“We don’t think [crypto] will get banned in India. Crypto is a globally recognised asset,” said Hussain. “Even our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that global collaboration is needed on evaluation of risks and benefits first.”
Hussain believes that once crypto companies won’t need to leave the country to carry out their business operations and grow by operating within the country, “cryptocurrencies will become the biggest market in India” within a year or two.
Carret’s pre-seed funding, path ahead
As mentioned earlier, Carret raised an undisclosed amount from a handful of angel investors. “This amount is being used to scale up our tech. We plan to get 1,000x more customers on our platform and so we need to scale up our infrastructure to support smooth operations,” Kumari said. “We plan to expand to the Middle East and Southeast Asian markets, so we will need to build up our team accordingly.”
When it comes to young investors — like people who just started with their jobs, or people who recently graduated — people are searching of new investment options. “Nobody young wants to invest in gold,” said Hussain. “However, when it comes to crypto, the fairness of the entire cryptocurrency system is alluring to young investors. We have so many investors for whom crypto is their first-ever asset class.”
Carret has seen a 10x user growth, and that’s due to word-of-mouth promotion among the crypto community. As per Hussain and Kumari, Carret looks to continue building upon that.
Carret can be accessed via its own website, or via its Android or iOS app.
Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is subject to market risks. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and read offer document(s) along with related important literature on the subject carefully before making any kind of investment whatsoever. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made shall be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.
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