At a time when the whole world has jumped on the blockchain bandwagon, India seems to be slowly catching up to this trending technology. It was only recently that its central bank started acknowledging the potential of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.

Fintech Storm India Summit 12-13 May will be hosting the first international blockchain symposium in India this Thursday in Mumbai at The St Regis. A dedicated half-day workshop is being hosted for the benefit of banks, FIs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), policy-making bodies, payments and fintech startups and blockchain enthusiasts in India - with confirmed participation of RBI, NPCI, and PayPal.

This is a part of the 2-day summit that is set to explore dedicated tracks such as the evolving payments landscape, digital banking and technology-driven trends such as robo advisory, online lending and crowdfunding industry, disintermediation of financial services, convergence of banking, e-commerce, telecommunications etc.

"I am bringing the blockchain euphoria to India. I am excited about the appetite for blockchain in India, from banks, NPCI and RBI, in a departure from other technologies where startups are the only early adopters. The more I researched the subject, the more I was convinced that here was a game changer that could reinvent banking and transform every known process of financial services transactions having worked across retail, corporate and investment banking globally”, Ms Arifa Khan, Founder of Fintech Storm, said. She envisages playing a key role in bringing the pervasive benefits of blockchain technology to the common man in India.

In addition to Ms Khan, the blockchain workshop is being co-chaired by Prof Marc Pilkington, Professor at University of Burgundy France. Prof Pilkington said that through this research he found that though extraordinary, bitcoin was not the end of the unfolding, the real innovation being the technology underpinning bitcoin – the blockchain.

"I am delighted to co-chair the blockchain symposium with Ms. Khan, and help launch the Global Blockchain Think Tank on the occasion of the Fintech Storm India Summit in Mumbai on 12-13th May 2016 in Mumbai”, Prof Pilkington said.

The RBI is increasingly taking interest in blockchain technology to understand its implications on the banking and financial services institutions in India and is in the process of constituting an internal committee to liaise with banks, fintech and to decide on regulatory policy on upcoming sectors such as P2P lending marketplaces, virtual currencies etc. It is also looking to assess the financial risks of adopting the new age financial technologies in India where the average consumer still needs to be safeguarded.

Ms Khan said that the RBI has deputed a cross-department team to participate in fintech deliberations at Fintech Storm India Summit 12-13 May to understand the market sentiment.

The blockchain symposium is expecting to attract blockchain leaders such as IBM, Microsoft Azure, banks, IT firms, strategy consultants and young innovators to benefit from it to facilitate cross-sector brainstorming of ideas to conceive innovations unique to India such as financial inclusion, governance, subsidies etc.

Fintech Storm was the first to host a public blockchain-dedicated workshop in London in June 2015. The firm has since hosted six workshops in London featuring notable crypto sciences and blockchain firms such as blockchain.info, Coinsciences, Magnr, Safello, Everledger, SETL, Helperbit and young innovators such as Nicolas Cary, Gideon Greenspan, Colin Kwan, Leanne Kemp etc.

At Fintech Storm India Summit 12-13 May, startups can showcase their ideas and get valuable feedback, collaborations and outreach at India Funding Conclave on 13 May. Besides intellectually stimulating debates at India Financial Forum on 12 May featuring PayPal, Fino Capital, Bandhan Bank.