New investment asset uncovered – Indian citizens
On 3 January 2018, cryptoinvestors around the globe took a collective gasp of surprise as an alleged hack of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in mid-2017 has now exposed global investors to a whole new breed of asset.
This hack (“-which
did not happen,” says the UIDAI) has resulted in this new asset – tentatively
named Indian Citizen (INct) – now being priced at a little under USD 0.000000008[1].
New investors, who used the IM service WhatsApp as an exchange platform, hailed
the asset’s ease of access and purchase as sufficient proof of its long-term
potential.
Potentially
ground-breaking, INct was first unveiled by an Indian daily The Tribune[2],
bringing fierce competition and – most importantly – inherent value (albeit
slightly under-priced value, according to one delighted investor) to the
crypto-investment market that is currently reeling under extreme volatility and
regulatory speculation brought about by the popularisation of cryptocurrency
trading[3].
The UIDAI,
a statutory authority established by the Government of India to issue biometrically
secured identification to Indian citizens (not the asset), has denied all knowledge of this new development, as well as of the
startup behind this breach. The hack was, however, later revealed only to
be the birthing pains of a new kind of investment market. The UIDAI’s response
has, for some reason, encouraged newbie investors to jump into these untested
waters in the hope of turning into the first trillionaires.
With a
present market supply of 1.19 billion[4],
another potential 156 million held at ransom, and a market cap of a very
affordable USD 7.89 (INR 500), this competitively priced offering from as-yet unnamed
entrepreneurs looks set to disrupt the trading market as it is also supported
by eye-catching early-bird offers such as free biometric IDs of all 1.19
billion assets, residence addresses, phone numbers, and so on.
Could this
be the start of a paradigm shift where the lines between investors and their
assets blur? The future will tell, and probably sooner than we think.
[1]
Math.
[2]
The Internet.
[3] Every cryptocurrency investor.
[4] As of 30 November 2017; from no less
a source than Wikipedia. Last edited on 5 January 2018 at 4:11. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aadhaar)
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