He Built India's First Bitcoin Exchange Before Anyone Knew What Crypto Was | Sathvik, Unocoin

India's crypto journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster — and no one knows it better than Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder & CEO of Unocoin, one of India's oldest and most trusted Bitcoin exchanges, founded in December 2013.
In this episode of the Crypto Times Podcast, Sathvik sits down with Gopal to share the unfiltered story of building a crypto exchange in India from scratch — before the word "crypto" even existed, battling the RBI's banking ban all the way to the Supreme Court, surviving 30% taxation & 1% TDS, and what he truly thinks about Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and the future of crypto in India.
What we cover:

• How Sathvik discovered Bitcoin in 2012 while solving a PayPal fee problem
• Founding Unocoin at India's first Bitcoin conference (2013)
• The RBI banking ban and their Supreme Court victory
• India's 30% tax + 1% TDS — is relief coming?
• Why India ranks #1 in crypto adoption but lags in regulation
• Bitcoin price predictions & institutional adoption
• Real World Asset Tokenization, Stablecoins & DeFi — which narrative wins?
• One-word takes on Solana, Ethereum, XRP, Tron, Polygon & more
• Advice for crypto beginners in 2025

Disclaimer: Nothing in this video constitutes financial advice. Always DYOR.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction & Welcome
00:26 - Sathvik's Journey: From MBA to Discovering Bitcoin (2012)
01:28 - Finding India's First Bitcoin Meetup & Meeting Co-founder Sunny
02:19 - Why Unocoin Was Founded (India Needed Its Own Coinbase)
03:28 - Starting Unocoin in December 2013
04:11 - India's Crypto Regulation: The Good & The Bad
05:35 - How Indian Crypto Regulations Have Changed Over 10 Years
06:34 - Rights vs Obligations: The Unfair Burden on Crypto Exchanges
07:50 - RBI's Warning After Unocoin's Launch (2013)
08:35 - The 2018 RBI Banking Ban & Fighting It in the Supreme Court
09:53 - 2022 Income Tax Rules: 30% Tax + 1% TDS Explained
10:29 - Is Crypto Treated as a "Sin Business" in India?
11:30 - Why India Moves Slowly Despite Global Crypto Adoption
13:29 - Why India Lags in Crypto Regulation vs the US
14:07 - Breaking Down India's #1 Crypto Ranking — Is It Real?
16:06 - Will India Ever Get Tax Relief on Crypto?
17:37 - How TDS is Killing Price Discovery & Market Makers
18:33 - Moving to Global Markets: Bitcoin's Future in Next Few Years
19:42 - Pension Funds, ETFs & Institutional Adoption Coming
21:17 - Stablecoins, DeFi & Real World Asset Tokenization — Which Wins?
22:43 - Blockchain Hype vs Real Use Cases (Lessons from 2017)
24:02 - Rapid Fire: Bitcoin vs Altcoins — Sathvik Picks His Favourites
25:20 - One Word for Every Crypto: Polygon, Solana, Tron, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin
26:46 - Advice for Crypto Beginners — Don't Just Chase Money
30:37 - Closing Statement: How Much Should You Invest in Crypto?
31:49 - Outro & Thank You

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Видео He Built India's First Bitcoin Exchange Before Anyone Knew What Crypto Was | Sathvik, Unocoin канала The Crypto Times