India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will commence a pilot for a wholesale version of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) on November 1. Digital rupee pilots for the retail segment will begin within a month.

There are currently 450 Web3 startup in the country, including four unicorns.

According to a new study published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), a nonprofit organization in India with over 3,000 members, the country currently possesses 11% of the world’s Web3 talent. The figure makes India the world’s third-largest regarding its Web3 workforce, employing nearly 75,000 blockchain professionals today. Furthermore, the industry group expects the talent pool to grow by over 120% within the next two years.

India is also home to 450 Web3 startups, four of which are unicorn companies. Through April 2022, the Indian Web3 ecosystem has raised $1.3 billion in funding. Moreover, over 60% of Indian Web3 startups have expanded their footprints outside of the country.

The vast majority of firms listed in the study are building applications in decentralized finance, gaming nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces, metaverses, decentralized communities, on-chain coordination mechanisms and so on.

Within the next few years, NASSCOM remains optimistic about Web3’s growth outlook in the country, stating that it expects the number of Indian internet users to increase by 150 million and 5G users in India to increase to 500 million. Debjani Ghosh, president of the NASSCOM, commented:

“India’s rapid adoption of new-age technologies, its growing startup ecosystem, and large-scale digitally skilled talent potential is cementing the country’s position in the global Web3 landscape. It is heartening to see that industry and government stakeholders in India are taking a very pragmatic approach toward blockchain tech, with use cases being explored in areas ranging from health and safety, finance, enterprise tech and land registry to education.”