What's Happening With Bitcoin In India? - Santosh V - #608

— Santosh's background: Born in India, spent 10 years in Middle East (Bahrain, Dubai), moved to Canada at 11, worked in corporate consulting and SaaS for a decade before leaving to pursue Bitcoin full-time.

— The 100-day Bitcoin challenge: Santosh stood on streets with a whiteboard offering free Bitcoin demos to spark curiosity (not educate) in Calgary, completing 96 interactions and learning that most people don't care but some merchants might adopt Bitcoin as a payment method.

— Africa sabbatical and circular economies: Traveled Cairo to Cape Town overland with Anuja, finding strongest Bitcoin adoption in Kenya (M-Pesa familiarity), Uganda (three-merchant circular economy), and Victoria Falls, Zambia (150+ merchants). Built Juicy D juice shop in Uganda accepting Bitcoin—still operating after two years.

— India accelerator program: Launched 12-week Bitcoin accelerator in January 2026 with nine teams, using personal sats to fund it. Winners include Reddit (Bitcoin EMI lending), Bitcoin Siege (in-person brand presence via events), and 256D (Bitcoin integration with UPI payment rails).

— Bitcoin Mela conference planned: October 31–November 1, 2026 in Mumbai (tentatively); reimagining Bitcoin conferences by blending traditional panels with music, art, film, and food to attract creatives and broader audiences.

— Philosophical observations: Critiqued the term "Bitcoiner" as alienating; emphasized hiring founders by business sustainability and revenue over grants; highlighted global South's underrepresentation in Bitcoin innovation despite exporting top developer talent.

— Show don't tell: When introducing others to Bitcoin's utility, demonstrate real-world use cases (like observing M-Pesa adoption in Kenya) rather than preaching ideology. Santosh's wife only grasped money's problems after witnessing capital controls and circular economies in Africa.

— Prioritize revenue and sustainability over fundraising: Santosh advised accelerator participants that lasting businesses achieve profitability across multiple market cycles (12+ years, spanning three halvings) rather than relying on grant dependency or venture capital with short time horizons that pressure pivots and mission drift.

— Build adjacencies, not just Bitcoin products: The upcoming India Mela will attract creatives by framing submissions around themes like "art about time" and "films about money" rather than explicitly demanding Bitcoin content—a lesson about on-ramping audiences through their existing interests.