Tiger Global keen to invest in Rajasthan Royals, a book on the crypto storm and more
Tiger Global, in talks to invest in the IPL team, Rajasthan Royals
The New York-based Tiger Global, which invests in technology startups, has surprised the market with its interest in picking up a stake in a cricket team company, a Business Standard report said.
What it implies: The IPL tournament is perhaps the biggest draw among cricketing nations across the globe. Its valuation keeps rising with an annualised growth rate of 24 per cent, while the growth rate for NBA is around 16 per cent and NFL 10 per cent.
TigerGlobal plans to invest around $40 million in Rajasthan Royals for a valuation of $650 million. In June last year, RedBird Capital bought a 16 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals at a $200 million valuation. The IPL’s brand value itself is worth $8.4 billion. Hence, it is natural that the tournament will attract interest from VCs and PEs because of the high returns, which even marquee startups don’t give.
RBI governor says ₹2,000 note will continue to be legal tender
The RBI governor Shakikanta Das has clarified that the ₹2,000 currency note will continue as legal tender. He said the announcement of the exchange of ₹2,000 bank notes is part of RBI’s currency management.
Also read: Motive, post-Sep 30 status: Unanswered questions of 2,000-rupee note withdrawal
What it implies: The clarification raises obvious questions. If the ₹2,000 note will continue to be legal tender, then there is no need to set a deadline for returning it. It would have been enough if the central bank had said that the ₹2,000 notes would no longer be printed. The announcement has led to a panic situation, with several retail outlets refusing to accept these notes and in certain cases, those holding these notes are being forced to pay a premium to get rid of them. There was also no need to limit the exchange to ₹20,000, which actually triggered off the panic.
Financial investors being tapped to bid for Go First
Potential investors and private equity funds are being approached to revive Go First which filed for insolvency with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in early May.
What it implies: There is a concerted bid to revive Go First, but more importantly, the government agencies and the civil aviation ministry should not allow a repeat of whatever happened to Jet Airways, an Economic Times report said.
What the crypto storm can bring
Book launch: ‘Crypto Storm: How India became ground zero of a financial revolution’. Author: Sandeep Khanna
The colour of money is changing to crypto. With the regulatory environment struggling to keep up, there has been prolonged ambivalence on the legality of cryptocurrencies. This has led to chaos and allowed a few to make unprecedented gains.
Like all bubbles, there is a looming threat of a big-bang bust, and with stories emerging of people losing lifetimes’ savings, serious fallouts should be considered. Even so, cryptos are an idea whose time has come. This is why no central bank now dares to place a complete and comprehensive ban on them.
With Bitcoin, which kicked off this revolution, now valued at a trillion dollars and many other virtual currencies worth billions, the genie has left the bottle. From being agents of chaos, cryptos have gone mainstream and regulators are stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Before reason and rationality dawn, though, there will be ferment. Of the thousands of cryptocurrencies today, only a handful will survive. The ones that don’t will spell ruin for millions of gullible Indians.
The first book on the ‘crypto storm’ sweeping India, this non-fiction reports stories of ordinary people whose lives have been touched and, in some cases, irrevocably changed by the promise and threat of cryptos. The individuals in this book populate a ‘new India’. They believe they have seen a way to uplift their lives, unencumbered by governments and regulators. Their voice needs to be heard because it is the sound of tomorrow, which we ignore at our own peril. (Content courtesy: HarperCollins)