Siddarth Bharwani: Why Jetking Adopted Bitcoin as Treasury Reserve Despite India’s Crypto Rules

Siddarth Bharwani, CFO of Jetking, the first Indian publicly listed company to adopt the Bitcoin standard, said his company adopted the cryptocurrency

Jetking, an Indian company, has become the first publicly listed entity in the country to adopt the Bitcoin standard. According to Siddarth Bharwani, the company’s chief financial officer (CFO), this decision was made following extensive research and observation of developments in the technology.

Bharwani explained that Jetking decided to adopt Bitcoin after considering several mainstream assets, including real estate, gold, and others. Among these, Bitcoin stood out due to the limitations observed in other asset classes. As a result, Jetking decided to enter the digital asset market in 2022.

The company initially allocated 25% of its investable surplus to Bitcoin, as stated by Bharwani. Jetking continued to explore the dynamics of the crypto industry until March 2024, around the time several ETFs were launched in the US, signaling the institutionalization of Bitcoin. Despite India's stringent rules, Jetking went ahead and adopted Bitcoin as its treasury reserve asset.

When asked about Bitcoin's volatility and the bear market that unfolded after 2022, Bharwani noted that his company remained confident even when BTC fell to around $15,000 after they purchased their initial allocation at about $45,000. According to the CFO, this confidence stemmed from a historical study of Bitcoin's price behavior and its tendency to rebound after significant pullbacks.

Currently, Bharwani noted that Jetking has adopted a Bitcoin investment policy that is similar to Michael Saylor's strategy. The company intends to continue buying Bitcoin without focusing on the prevailing price, considering it has a Bitcoin investment plan that could span over 20 years.

According to Bharwani, Jetking did not enter the Bitcoin market as a trader attempting to profit from price fluctuations. Instead, the company approached it as an investor, focusing on the digital asset's long-term growth.