eNews
Bybit backs India blockchain tour 2025 as title sponsor
MUMBAI — Crypto exchange heavyweight Bybit has inked a deal to become title sponsor of the India Blockchain Tour (IBT) 2025 — a high-octane, eight-city Web3 campaign led by Octaloop, aimed at turbocharging India’s decentralised future. It kicked off in Hyderabad on 28 June and will culminate in Bengaluru on 30 November. The tour’s centrepiece is Metamorphosis 2025, slated for 27–28 September in New Delhi.
The move marks a deepening of Bybit’s long-term bet on India’s blockchain ecosystem. “India is one of the most dynamic landscapes for blockchain innovation,” said Bybit India head Vikas Gupta. “By partnering with IBT, we reaffirm our commitment to empowering India’s crypto community through education and builder support.”
Each tour stop — spanning Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi — promises a high-impact blend of policy panels, builder workshops, startup showcases and fireside chats with global blockchain leaders. With immersive activations in five Indian languages, the series aims to bridge geographies and cultures, extending well beyond tier-1 bubbles.
Bybit’s Gupta is set to headline a keynote session titled From Fomo to Fundamentals: Fixing India’s Crypto Literacy Gap, unpacking the disconnect between India’s booming adoption and its patchy financial literacy. He will spotlight Bybit’s efforts to plug the gap through its Bybit Learn initiative, university tie-ups with IITs Delhi and Kharagpur, and deeper community engagement.
The 2025 edition also sees Metamorphosis, Octaloop’s flagship summit, move from Bengaluru to the capital — a calculated shift to blend the buzz of community energy with policymaking gravitas.
The title sponsorship follows Bybit’s registration with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), signalling its intent to play by the rules and stay the course in the world’s fastest-growing Web3 market.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
