Casey
New member
Bringing Dash to India
With a population of over 1.3 billion people and a demographic of 65% under the age of 35, India is an untapped market for cryptocurrency. Coupled with its high remittance rate of $69 billion dollars, Indians struggle with high transaction fees, unreliable cash services, and inaccessibility to new technologies.
Bringing Dash to India would solve all the issues that keep Indians from thriving in an increasingly competitive economy.
Current Regulations in India
I wrote an extensive article for Argentina’s second most read news website, InfoBae, about the Reserve Bank of India’s status on cryptocurrencies. Here is the text: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AM53j2KBahYDw9cPQQAREJ5osfjgldnyas_e6RW5eCg/edit?usp=sharing
Solutions
There are many ways to avoid the temporary regulations by the banking industry in India. It is important to keep in mind the following:
· Exchanges like BuyUCoin, Bitcoin-India who accept Dash, and ZebPay, Koinex, CoinDelta, ThroughBit, and CoinDCX who currently do not use Dash, can still operate as a crypto-to-crypto trading platform.
· Only businesses that are connected to the Central Bank of India cannot process fiat funds used to buy or sell cryptocurrency.
· Independent card swipe shops provide cash-in hand services that can be recruited to use Dash without being regulated.
· The ban is not a final ban on cryptocurrency and does not make it illegal to hold, buy, or sell cryptocurrency.
· The RBI has praised cryptocurrency for it potential. Their decision to remove the ban is based on decisions of how to regulate it use in order to prevent black market transactions, scams, and tax evasion.
Proposal
Objective
Inform the population of India about Dash by introducing them to cryptocurrency technology.
Goals
· Create a Dash India website
· Promote Dash through news outlets
· Create ambassador training program
· Host a conference and meetups
· Engage local businesses and card-swipe services
How and Why?
Create a Dash India website
Having a direct source to target the younger generation of India is essential with the growing use of smart phones, social media, and digital communication. This web site would introduce Dash to the community and include:
· Tutorials: how to set up a wallet and trade, buy, and sell Dash
· Events: local Dash meetings and conferences
· Get involved: how to become an ambassador
· Blog: news about Dash and general cryptocurrency updates regarding India regulation and bans
· Forum: share and discuss topics
· Dash connection: useful links to the Dash community and main news source
Promote Dash through news outlets
The news likes to sensationalize cryptocurrency by highlighting money laundering, scams, and arrests. To counteract this narrative, there needs to be a positive message associated with cryptocurrency. Since most of the negativity is surrounded by bitcoin, using Dash specifically can be the positive message people need to trust cryptocurrency. Being simple, to the point, and relatable can help build trust in Dash throughout India. Some of the ways to promote Dash include:
· Billboards- In major cities across India, roads and highways are being built and billboards remain an important aspect of reaching a large audience. This could be a cost-effective way to market Dash with a quick message that sticks in people’s mind.
· Local newspapers: To create an authority and a reputation, it is necessary to advertise and provide editorials to paper and online news outlets. It can provide a back story to Dash in more detail and offer anecdotal evidence of its success.
· Social Media: Targeting groups online can be highly successful as we can pinpoint interests in cryptocurrency. Since crypto advertisements are banned on most social media platforms, we would use Dash India articles to inform readers.
Create ambassador training program
We need manpower to spread Dash across India. Holding meetups and promoting an ambassador program on the web site and throughout college campuses can be the best way to get young people involved with Dash. This can occur through targeting social media groups, school clubs, and career fairs where merchandise giveaways, wallet set ups, and other incentives can aid in the recruitment of local ambassadors.
Host a conference and meetings
Large and small promotional events can create excitement as well as legitimacy. We plan to host a conference in Delhi. It will include speakers from within India as well as some of the Dash team members (TBD). Two local meetups will include more intimate wallet set ups and Q and A meetings. There will be at least one information session for businesses to learn about Dash for their company including independent card swipe merchants (see next section).
Engage local businesses and card-swipe services
Provide brochures and information packets to share the benefits of using Dash as a form of payment. Swipe card services are a common way to access cash in India. ATMs are unreliable and often broken or out of money. Tourists as well as locals use independent card-swipe services to withdraw large amounts of cash as many businesses do not accept credit/debit cards. We will host a separate information session just for these businesses to get to know more about Dash and set up business wallets.
Timeline
Phase One- Web site (Timeframe: 1 month)
1. Set up the Dash India website
2. Write articles for web site and share throughout social media
3. Purchase SEO service (search engine optimization) to rank the web site
Phase Two- Advertise and Inform (Timeframe: 1 month)
4. Host two meetups and recruit ambassadors
5. Hire PR professional for advertisement and press releases
6. Submit advertisements and create billboards
Phase Three- Conference and Business Meeting (Timeframe: 1 month)
7. Engage with local businesses and card swipe services- host a separate information session for businesses (invite participates to the conference in Delhi)
8. Secure times, dates, locations, and speakers for conference in Delhi
Budget for 3 months
Total budget: $13,500 + 10% insurance for market fluctuation = approx. $15,000
Total ask amount: 33.5 Dash + 5 Dash proposal fee = 38.5 Dash
Disbursement
We will use an escrow service to distribute the budget monthly for each phrase of the proposal.
Our Team
We are a team of partners who live in India operating a cryptocurrency news site: coincolony.net. Since the launch of Ripple in India we have been monitoring the success of cryptocurrency in the country. After learning about Dash and writing several articles (this one was shared on Dash.org), we realized that Dash would be the catalyst to boost the use of cryptocurrency in India. We are extremely excited to tell people about Dash’s potential to improve India’s economy.
Casey Connelly
I am a professional writer and event organizer. My experience includes non-profit management, grant writing, fundraising, and event coordination. I graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a master’s degree in liberal arts that focused on intensive research and writing of a wide range of topics. The writing skills developed through academia, non-profit jobs, and freelance writing led me to become a cryptocurrency researcher and writer. Here is my LinkedIn profile with more of my experience. I will be bringing my skills as an event manager, volunteer coordinator, and writer to organize the conference, recruit ambassadors, and develop content for the Dash India web site.
Rahul Pandey
I am a self-taught web site developer with 8 years of experience. My journey with computers began when my father gave me a computer with a Pentium 3 processor and 256 MB RAM. I started experimenting with web site development. India was in its infancy stage for the internet and owning a computer was a luxury. I was able to grasp the importance of information technology and get a head start before the internet become popular. Now I have diversified my interest into SEO and mobile app technology. I will be using my skills to create and bring traffic to the Dash India web site and technology knowledge to meetups.
Partnerships
We will be partnering with Dash Africa for guidance and inspiration. Dash Africa has been very successful in introducing Dash throughout countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. We hope to follow their model of achievement with this proposal.
Blake Chamness, known for his Dash Bus Tour across the U.S., will also be guiding us throughout the process.
With a population of over 1.3 billion people and a demographic of 65% under the age of 35, India is an untapped market for cryptocurrency. Coupled with its high remittance rate of $69 billion dollars, Indians struggle with high transaction fees, unreliable cash services, and inaccessibility to new technologies.
Bringing Dash to India would solve all the issues that keep Indians from thriving in an increasingly competitive economy.
Current Regulations in India
I wrote an extensive article for Argentina’s second most read news website, InfoBae, about the Reserve Bank of India’s status on cryptocurrencies. Here is the text: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AM53j2KBahYDw9cPQQAREJ5osfjgldnyas_e6RW5eCg/edit?usp=sharing
Solutions
There are many ways to avoid the temporary regulations by the banking industry in India. It is important to keep in mind the following:
· Exchanges like BuyUCoin, Bitcoin-India who accept Dash, and ZebPay, Koinex, CoinDelta, ThroughBit, and CoinDCX who currently do not use Dash, can still operate as a crypto-to-crypto trading platform.
· Only businesses that are connected to the Central Bank of India cannot process fiat funds used to buy or sell cryptocurrency.
· Independent card swipe shops provide cash-in hand services that can be recruited to use Dash without being regulated.
· The ban is not a final ban on cryptocurrency and does not make it illegal to hold, buy, or sell cryptocurrency.
· The RBI has praised cryptocurrency for it potential. Their decision to remove the ban is based on decisions of how to regulate it use in order to prevent black market transactions, scams, and tax evasion.
Proposal
Objective
Inform the population of India about Dash by introducing them to cryptocurrency technology.
Goals
· Create a Dash India website
· Promote Dash through news outlets
· Create ambassador training program
· Host a conference and meetups
· Engage local businesses and card-swipe services
How and Why?
Create a Dash India website
Having a direct source to target the younger generation of India is essential with the growing use of smart phones, social media, and digital communication. This web site would introduce Dash to the community and include:
· Tutorials: how to set up a wallet and trade, buy, and sell Dash
· Events: local Dash meetings and conferences
· Get involved: how to become an ambassador
· Blog: news about Dash and general cryptocurrency updates regarding India regulation and bans
· Forum: share and discuss topics
· Dash connection: useful links to the Dash community and main news source
Promote Dash through news outlets
The news likes to sensationalize cryptocurrency by highlighting money laundering, scams, and arrests. To counteract this narrative, there needs to be a positive message associated with cryptocurrency. Since most of the negativity is surrounded by bitcoin, using Dash specifically can be the positive message people need to trust cryptocurrency. Being simple, to the point, and relatable can help build trust in Dash throughout India. Some of the ways to promote Dash include:
· Billboards- In major cities across India, roads and highways are being built and billboards remain an important aspect of reaching a large audience. This could be a cost-effective way to market Dash with a quick message that sticks in people’s mind.
· Local newspapers: To create an authority and a reputation, it is necessary to advertise and provide editorials to paper and online news outlets. It can provide a back story to Dash in more detail and offer anecdotal evidence of its success.
· Social Media: Targeting groups online can be highly successful as we can pinpoint interests in cryptocurrency. Since crypto advertisements are banned on most social media platforms, we would use Dash India articles to inform readers.
Create ambassador training program
We need manpower to spread Dash across India. Holding meetups and promoting an ambassador program on the web site and throughout college campuses can be the best way to get young people involved with Dash. This can occur through targeting social media groups, school clubs, and career fairs where merchandise giveaways, wallet set ups, and other incentives can aid in the recruitment of local ambassadors.
Host a conference and meetings
Large and small promotional events can create excitement as well as legitimacy. We plan to host a conference in Delhi. It will include speakers from within India as well as some of the Dash team members (TBD). Two local meetups will include more intimate wallet set ups and Q and A meetings. There will be at least one information session for businesses to learn about Dash for their company including independent card swipe merchants (see next section).
Engage local businesses and card-swipe services
Provide brochures and information packets to share the benefits of using Dash as a form of payment. Swipe card services are a common way to access cash in India. ATMs are unreliable and often broken or out of money. Tourists as well as locals use independent card-swipe services to withdraw large amounts of cash as many businesses do not accept credit/debit cards. We will host a separate information session just for these businesses to get to know more about Dash and set up business wallets.
Timeline
Phase One- Web site (Timeframe: 1 month)
1. Set up the Dash India website
2. Write articles for web site and share throughout social media
3. Purchase SEO service (search engine optimization) to rank the web site
Phase Two- Advertise and Inform (Timeframe: 1 month)
4. Host two meetups and recruit ambassadors
5. Hire PR professional for advertisement and press releases
6. Submit advertisements and create billboards
Phase Three- Conference and Business Meeting (Timeframe: 1 month)
7. Engage with local businesses and card swipe services- host a separate information session for businesses (invite participates to the conference in Delhi)
8. Secure times, dates, locations, and speakers for conference in Delhi
Budget for 3 months
Total budget: $13,500 + 10% insurance for market fluctuation = approx. $15,000
Total ask amount: 33.5 Dash + 5 Dash proposal fee = 38.5 Dash
Disbursement
We will use an escrow service to distribute the budget monthly for each phrase of the proposal.
Our Team
We are a team of partners who live in India operating a cryptocurrency news site: coincolony.net. Since the launch of Ripple in India we have been monitoring the success of cryptocurrency in the country. After learning about Dash and writing several articles (this one was shared on Dash.org), we realized that Dash would be the catalyst to boost the use of cryptocurrency in India. We are extremely excited to tell people about Dash’s potential to improve India’s economy.
Casey Connelly
I am a professional writer and event organizer. My experience includes non-profit management, grant writing, fundraising, and event coordination. I graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a master’s degree in liberal arts that focused on intensive research and writing of a wide range of topics. The writing skills developed through academia, non-profit jobs, and freelance writing led me to become a cryptocurrency researcher and writer. Here is my LinkedIn profile with more of my experience. I will be bringing my skills as an event manager, volunteer coordinator, and writer to organize the conference, recruit ambassadors, and develop content for the Dash India web site.
Rahul Pandey
I am a self-taught web site developer with 8 years of experience. My journey with computers began when my father gave me a computer with a Pentium 3 processor and 256 MB RAM. I started experimenting with web site development. India was in its infancy stage for the internet and owning a computer was a luxury. I was able to grasp the importance of information technology and get a head start before the internet become popular. Now I have diversified my interest into SEO and mobile app technology. I will be using my skills to create and bring traffic to the Dash India web site and technology knowledge to meetups.
Partnerships
We will be partnering with Dash Africa for guidance and inspiration. Dash Africa has been very successful in introducing Dash throughout countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. We hope to follow their model of achievement with this proposal.
Blake Chamness, known for his Dash Bus Tour across the U.S., will also be guiding us throughout the process.
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