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India sidesteps crypto and stablecoins at world’s largest fintech summit

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At India’s massive fintech conference in Mumbai, attended by over 100,000 participants and 800 speakers, two global financial buzzwords were conspicuously absent: cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Despite Bitcoin’s record-breaking surge past $125,000, the three-day event — headlined by the prime ministers of India and the U.K. — avoided any discussion of digital assets amid the government’s cautious regulatory stance.

A speaker document obtained by Reuters explicitly instructed participants to “avoid political, crypto, religious, or personal remarks”, underscoring India’s reluctance to embrace the sector. While economies like Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore are racing to become crypto hubs, India remains hesitant, opting instead to spotlight its central bank digital currency, the e-rupee, and other fintech innovations.

The Reserve Bank of India showcased pilots for deposit tokenisation and fintech sandboxes, while companies like PayPal and Revolut unveiled new products tailored for the Indian market.

Experts say the policy vacuum is chilling innovation. “Regulators need an iterative approach instead of complete aversion to stablecoins,” said Joseph Sebastian of Blume Ventures, who suggested limited adoption through U.S. dollar stablecoin remittances.

India’s fintech funding fell to $3.5 billion in 2023, its lowest since 2020, as entrepreneurs increasingly incorporate overseas to escape regulatory uncertainty. “It’s becoming real whether we like it or not,” said Vivekdeep Gupta, a digital assets consultant.

India launches pilot to enable e-commerce payments through ChatGPT

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India’s National Payments Corporation (NPCI) and Razorpay have teamed up with OpenAI to launch a pilot program that enables AI-powered e-commerce payments directly within ChatGPT. The initiative leverages India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), allowing users to make purchases without leaving the chat platform.

The project represents the country’s first integration of agentic AI payments, where artificial intelligence systems can independently execute transactions on behalf of users. “With agentic payments, we’re transforming AI assistants from simple discovery tools into full-fledged shopping agents,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO of Razorpay.

The pilot will test how AI agents can securely manage user payment credentials to autonomously complete purchases using UPI’s new ‘reserve pay’ feature, which sets aside funds for designated merchants.

Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank are serving as banking partners, while Bigbasket, owned by Tata Group, has become the first e-commerce platform to enable ChatGPT-based shopping. OpenAI’s Oliver Jay said the partnership aims to combine “advanced AI with one of the world’s most trusted real-time payment networks.”

UPI currently processes over 20 billion monthly transactions, making it the backbone of India’s digital payment ecosystem. The pilot could pave the way for AI-driven commerce, transforming chatbots into autonomous retail platforms.

India’s Paytm Eyes Profitability by June as Losses Narrow Post ESOP Charge

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Indian digital payments giant Paytm said Tuesday it expects to become profitable in the April-June quarter, following a sharp reduction in losses after adjusting for a one-time employee stock option (ESOP) charge.

Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma stated during the company’s post-earnings call that Paytm is “at the verge of PAT profitability” and is confident that the coming quarter could mark its first profitable period if current trends hold.

For the quarter ended March 31, Paytm reported a net loss of ₹5.4 billion ($64 million), wider than the previous quarter’s ₹2.08 billion loss. However, this included a one-time ESOP-related charge of ₹4.92 billion after Sharma gave up his stock options.

Excluding this charge, the company’s net loss narrowed to ₹230 million, signaling improving financial health.

Other highlights from the report:

  • EBITDA excluding ESOP costs turned positive at ₹810 million, compared to a loss of ₹410 million in the previous quarter.

  • Revenue from operations rose 4.6% sequentially to ₹19.12 billion.

  • Financial services revenue (including lending) increased 9%.

  • Payments services revenue grew by 4%.

Looking ahead, Paytm expects ESOP costs to decrease to ₹750 million–1 billion in the April-June quarter, down from ₹1.69 billion, contributing further to its path to profitability.