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India’s push to secure place in global chip supply has ‘secret weapon’: its people

India’s push to secure place in global chip supply has ‘secret weapon’: its people
India is betting big on domestic manufacturing of semiconductors – the microscopic brains that power everything electronic from cars to AI processing – in an ambitious bid to slash imports and boost its local industry.

But observers say the country should set its sights even higher upstream on the value chain by mobilising its “secret weapon” – a talent pool that could realise its dream to turn “Make in India” into “Engineer in India”.

New Delhi earlier this week launched the second phase of its mission with a budget of US$13 billion to build an industrial ecosystem spanning chip design to manufacturing. Building on the first phase, which focused heavily on foundational industrial set-up, the second expands support across the entire supply chain, including developing a large manpower pool.

The move on Monday comes as other countries in the region, such as Japan and Singapore, outline multibillion-dollar development plans for their semiconductor industries following chip shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic that exposed dependency on a handful of East Asian manufacturers.

Delhi has already approved 12 semiconductor manufacturing projects across six states. Three – Micron, Keynes Semicon and CG Semi – have started commercial production this year. They primarily handle assembly, testing and packaging rather than advanced wafer fabrication.

An industrial partnership between India’s Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation plant in the western Indian state of Dholera is targeting to roll out its first batch of chips in December. Tata also signed a US$11 billion memorandum of understanding with Dutch technology giant ASML on May 16 to make advanced chips for industries ranging from car manufacturing to AI.

In for the long-term

Analysts say that building a semiconductor industry ecosystem requires strong implementation and planning over the long term because it needs a complex value chain divided into design, fabrication, as well as assembly and testing.

“Establishing a complete semiconductor ecosystem is a marathon, not a sprint,” said Anndy Lian, a Singapore-based adviser to governments on information technology systems.

He suggested that India build not only fabrication units for complex microchips and integrated circuits but also downstream systems to handle back-end processing after they are made. “These are less capital-intensive and faster to operationalise than fabs, allowing the country to build a skilled workforce and supplier network while major fabs remain under construction.”

Hard infrastructure is also vital because highly sensitive semiconductor manufacturing needs pure water, uninterrupted power and specialised chemicals. “A single voltage fluctuation can ruin a wafer batch. India must create plug-and-play industrial parks where utilities are guaranteed to international standards, not just promised,” Lian said.

Though India has lagged behind in semiconductor manufacturing such as the US, China and Taiwan, it has a strategic advantage because it has been a hub for semiconductor research and design. It has the world’s largest pool of chip design engineers – but lacks fab-floor operators – responsible for day-to-day manufacturing of silicon wafers – and process engineers who transform raw silicon into working microchips.

Bolstering its large talent pool would be a crucial “secret weapon” for India in gaining a competitive edge, Lian said, urging public-private partnerships with universities offering specialised semiconductor curricula. “The goal should be to move from Make in India to Engineer in India.”

According to a report by government think tank NITI Aayong in May, India imports 90 to 95 per cent of its semiconductors. This dependence could become a major economic and strategic vulnerability as domestic demand is projected to exceed US$200 billion by 2035.

India’s Information Technology Minister Aswini Vaishnaw told reporters earlier this month that the country had set a target of developing 100,000 engineers for the semiconductor industry. The global semiconductor industry is projected to face a shortage of about 1 million workers by 2032.

India has already achieved its target of developing 85,000 semiconductor engineers in four years, against a target timeline of 10 years, according to the minister. Semiconductor design programmes are now offered in 355 universities across India, including institutions in smaller towns and cities.

Chip consciousness

In addition, the federal government runs programmes subsidising up to 50 per cent of project costs for semiconductor manufacturing, supplemented by support from state governments.

Indian policymakers were conscious about the criticality of semiconductors in technology systems, said Sunil Sinha, an economics professor at the Institute for Development and Communication in Chandigarh.

“That is why there is a serious effort to increase semiconductor production in India. Still, the issue is not just production of chips but what generation chips you are producing. Is it something on which AI can ride upon?” he asked.

Raj Kapoor, founder and CEO of India Blockchain Alliance said that the second phase of India’s semiconductor mission showed there was growing recognition that the challenge would be to not just build fabrication facilities but an entire ecosystem to support them.

While the Tata-ASML agreement showed India’s intent for advanced chipmaking, the true test would be translating that into access for the country’s longer-term semiconductor ambitions, he said.

India’s strategy is notably different from the technological race pursued by the global semiconductor leaders to produce cutting-edge chips. Delhi appeared more focused on manufacturing chips where “demand remains substantial and barriers to entry are lower”, Kapoor said.

Still, Sinha said, even the most basic chips would have a significant economic impact because that meant local industries would not need to import them.

Source:
 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

A House Of Cards Built On Bitcoin: Why Strategy Inc. Can’t Outrun Its 90-Day Clock

A House Of Cards Built On Bitcoin: Why Strategy Inc. Can’t Outrun Its 90-Day Clock

Let me begin by saying this. I have nothing against Bitcoin, but did see flaws in the treasury model. I have also voiced that out in an earlier article, too.

There is a certain seduction in the story of Strategy Inc., the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, that has bewitched investors, pundits, and even seasoned crypto natives for years. On the surface, it appears to be a grand corporate embrace of digital gold: a publicly traded entity hoarding Bitcoin not as a speculative side bet, but as a strategic treasury reserve. In a world drowning in fiat inflation and institutional timidity, Strategy Inc. seemed to offer a rare act of conviction, a bold bet on a post-fiat future. But look closer, and the illusion evaporates. The company reported just 54 million dollars in cash on hand, yet faces more than 640 million dollars in annual preferred dividend obligations. Its legacy software business, once the engine of its existence, remains cash-flow negative. There is no internal engine generating the capital needed to sustain its promises. Instead, Strategy Inc. has built a financial house of cards powered entirely by external capital markets, one that only functions so long as investors are willing to keep buying in.

And for a while, they did. From January through September 2025 alone, the company raised 19.5 billion dollars, not to buy more Bitcoin, but to refinance existing debt. This is not innovation. It is recursion. It is a system where new equity and debt issuances are used to pay dividends to prior investors. The only reason this did not feel like a Ponzi scheme was that Strategy’s stock consistently traded at a significant premium to its Bitcoin net asset value. At a 2x premium, every new share issuance effectively increased per-share Bitcoin ownership for existing holders, a virtuous loop that masked the underlying insolvency of the model. But that premium has now vanished. As of late 2025, Strategy trades roughly at par with its Bitcoin net asset value. The magic is gone. Issuing new shares no longer enriches existing shareholders. It dilutes them.

This shift is catastrophic for a model that depends entirely on perpetual capital inflows. Without a premium, there is no arbitrage advantage to issuing equity. Without equity issuance, there is no way to fund those monstrous preferred dividends, especially now that management has raised the dividend rate from 9.0 percent in July to a jaw-dropping 10.5 percent by November. This is not confidence. It is panic. The structure includes no cap on the dividend rate, meaning that every time the common share price dips below 100 dollars, the yield automatically ratchets higher to attract buyers. It is a feedback loop of compounding desperation: lower price, higher yield, greater capital burn, greater pressure on price. The math is accelerating toward a cliff.

The most immediate existential threat is not market sentiment or macro volatility. It is mechanical. On January 15, 2026, MSCI will implement a rule change excluding any company with more than 50 percent of its assets in digital currency from its indices. Strategy Inc. holds 77 percent of its balance sheet in Bitcoin. This is not a judgment call. It is a binary, algorithmic exclusion. JPMorgan estimates the delisting could force passive funds to dump 2.8 billion dollars in Strategy stock immediately. If other index providers follow suit, the total outflows could swell to 8.8 billion dollars. In a stock where 15 to 20 percent of its market cap is already tied to algorithmic strategies that trade on technicals rather than fundamentals, such a forced selloff could trigger a death spiral.

We got a preview of this vulnerability on October 10, 2025. In just 14 hours, Bitcoin dropped 17 percent, order book depth evaporated by 90 percent, and 19 billion dollars in leveraged positions were liquidated across the ecosystem. The event laid bare a fundamental truth: Bitcoin’s market, for all its headline size, remains structurally shallow. The notion that Strategy Inc. could offload 1 billion dollars of Bitcoin annually without moving the market is pure fantasy, shattered not by theory but by real-time data. If the company is forced to sell even 100,000 of its 649,870 coins to meet obligations, it would not just depress the price. It could ignite a systemic cascade, especially if leveraged players interpret the sale as a signal of institutional capitulation.

This is not a critique of Bitcoin, far from it. Bitcoin, as a decentralized, censorship-resistant, apolitical monetary network, remains as compelling as ever. It will likely outlive Strategy Inc., the Federal Reserve’s current chair, and possibly even the dollar’s global reserve status. The issue is not the asset. It is the attempt to graft Bitcoin’s infinite time horizon onto a corporate entity bound by quarterly earnings, SEC disclosures, and 90-day liquidity windows. Sovereign treasuries have operated for centuries. Corporations operate on credit cycles. You cannot run a company like a nation-state, especially when that company has no real operating income and is leveraged to the hilt on a volatile asset.

Strategy Inc.’s entire thesis rests on the assumption that capital markets will remain infinitely accommodating, that investors will always be there to buy newly issued shares or bonds to fund its preferred dividends. But markets are not infinite. They are cyclical, emotional, and brutally efficient at exposing leverage masquerading as strategy. The moment the premium disappeared, the model broke. The moment the index exclusion became inevitable, the countdown began.

We will know the outcome by March 2026. Either Strategy Inc. will be forced into a humiliating restructuring, slashing its preferred dividend, selling Bitcoin at a loss, and retreating into a shadow of its former self, or it will collapse entirely, taking with it the credibility of the entire corporate Bitcoin treasury narrative. Some will call it bad luck. Others will blame macro headwinds. But the truth is simpler: this was never sustainable. It was a high-risk financial structure dressed in the language of conviction, powered by recursive capital raises and investor FOMO.

The data is public. The mechanics are transparent. The outcome is not uncertain. It is mathematically inevitable. What remains is our collective willingness to finally see the 48 billion dollar illusion for what it is: not a visionary bet on Bitcoin, but a self-reinforcing error that mistook leverage for legacy, and market timing for strategy. In the end, Strategy Inc. will not be remembered as a pioneer of digital treasury management. It will be remembered as the cautionary tale of what happens when financial engineering masquerades as principle, and when a company confuses a bull market for a business model.

 

Additional Notes:

– Reduce digital assets to 49% to stay in the indices

– Sell short-term, hold long-term

– If the biggest treasury fails, the snowball sell effect

– If the biggest treasury fails, what about the rest of the treasuries

– Additional funding

 

 

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/Opinion/25/11/49059248/a-house-of-cards-built-on-bitcoin-why-strategy-inc-cant-outrun-its-90-day-clock

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Profit-taking and peril: Equities consolidate, bonds turn hawkish, and Bitcoin tests its limits

Profit-taking and peril: Equities consolidate, bonds turn hawkish, and Bitcoin tests its limits

The past week has seen a noticeable retreat in global risk appetite, with traders and institutional investors adopting a more cautious stance ahead of the third-quarter earnings season. This consolidation phase reflects a natural pause following a strong rally in equities, with market participants reassessing valuations and positioning themselves for potential volatility once corporate earnings reports begin to roll in.

US equities closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 0.5 per cent, the S&P 500 down 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite slipping 0.1 per cent. These modest declines underscore a broader theme of profit-taking rather than panic selling, suggesting that the market remains fundamentally sound but increasingly selective.

Adding to the uncertainty, key US economic data releases have been disrupted by the ongoing government shutdown. Weekly jobless claims and wholesale trade figures, initially scheduled for Thursday, remain delayed, depriving analysts of timely insights into labour market resilience and inventory trends. Market attention now shifts to Friday’s release of the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for October.

Given that consumer confidence often serves as a leading indicator of spending behaviour and economic momentum, this report could significantly influence near-term market direction, especially if it reveals a sharp deterioration in household outlooks amid persistent inflation concerns or rising borrowing costs.

Meanwhile, the bond market continues to reflect a nuanced outlook on monetary policy. US Treasury yields edged higher, with the benchmark 10-year yield climbing 2.1 basis points to 4.138 per cent and the two-year yield rising 1.2 basis points to 3.593 per cent. The modest uptick in yields suggests that investors are recalibrating expectations for future Federal Reserve rate cuts, possibly in response to resilient economic data or hawkish commentary from central bank officials. This dynamic places additional pressure on equities, particularly growth-oriented sectors that are sensitive to higher discount rates.

Currency and commodity markets also mirrored the prevailing risk-off mood. The US Dollar Index strengthened by 0.6 per cent to reach 99.54, benefiting from its traditional safe-haven status during periods of market caution. Conversely, gold retreated 1.6 per cent to US$3976 per ounce after briefly touching a record high.

The pullback in the precious metal appears driven by profit-taking rather than a fundamental shift in its appeal as a hedge against uncertainty. Similarly, Brent crude oil settled 1.6 per cent lower at US$65.22 per barrel, pressured by easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the broader retreat from risk assets.

In Asia, equity markets displayed a mixed performance. The Chinese CSI 300 index surged 1.48 per cent on Thursday, its first trading day following the week-long National Day holiday. The rally was led by sectors tied to artificial intelligence and gold, reflecting both domestic policy optimism and global commodity trends.

However, early trading sessions on Friday showed more subdued activity, indicating that the initial post-holiday euphoria may be giving way to more cautious positioning. Notably, US equity index futures point to a higher open on Wall Street, suggesting that the recent dip may have created attractive entry points for bargain hunters.

Amid this backdrop, Bitcoin has emerged as a focal point of intense speculation and technical scrutiny. The cryptocurrency is currently trading above US$121,000, yet it faces mounting bearish pressure that could trigger a test of critical support levels. On Thursday, Bitcoin briefly dipped below the psychologically important US$120,000 mark, reaching an intraday low of US$119,810 before recovering slightly. This move, which represented a nearly three per cent decline in a single session, highlights the asset’s vulnerability despite its lofty valuation. Technical indicators reinforce this cautionary tone.

The hourly chart reveals a developing bearish trend line, with resistance forming around US$122,750. Bitcoin now trades below both the US$121,500 level and its 100-hour Simple Moving Average, signalling weakening short-term momentum. Immediate resistance sits at US$121,750, while the hourly MACD shows increasing strength in negative territory and the RSI has fallen below the pivotal 50 level, both classic signs of bearish dominance.

The derivatives market further underscores this fragile sentiment. Total derivatives volume plummeted by 15.24 per cent to US$478.15 trillion, while open interest in perpetual contracts declined by 1.29 per cent. This contraction coincided with Bitcoin’s drop below US$124,000 and triggered approximately US$700 million in liquidations.

The high leverage embedded in the system, evidenced by open interest standing at US$1.12 trillion, amplified the downside as leveraged positions were forcibly unwound. Traders appear to be reducing exposure in response to stretched technical conditions, with the 14-day RSI hovering near 69.88, just shy of overbought territory. Moreover, the spot-to-perpetuals trading ratio of 0.22 indicates that derivatives activity continues to dominate the market, rendering it especially susceptible to sharp swings and cascading liquidations.

Compounding Bitcoin’s challenges, the altcoin ecosystem is experiencing its own wave of selling pressure. New token launches such as ASTER and MIRA have faced immediate post-listing declines, driven by large-scale airdrops and token unlocks. ASTER’s Phase 2 airdrop released four per cent of its total supply, prompting whales to offload 28.3 million tokens and driving the price down by 10 per cent.

Similarly, MIRA’s circulating supply surged by 191 million tokens following its Binance listing, overwhelming market demand. These events highlight a recurring pattern in the crypto space: token unlocks often lead to immediate sell-offs, particularly when projects lack robust utility or sustainable demand drivers. The Altcoin Season Index has consequently fallen by 11.76 per cent, signalling a clear rotation of capital back into Bitcoin as investors seek relative safety within the digital asset class.

Regulatory uncertainty adds another layer of complexity. In the United States, Senate negotiations on comprehensive crypto market-structure legislation have stalled, with Democratic proposals on decentralised finance (DeFi) oversight meeting resistance from Republican lawmakers. This legislative gridlock prolongs the regulatory limbo that has long plagued the industry, creating headwinds for institutional adoption and altcoin valuations.

However, there remains a counterbalancing bullish narrative. Former President Donald Trump’s recent overtures toward establishing a US strategic Bitcoin reserve have reignited speculation about potential pro-crypto policies should he return to office. While purely aspirational at this stage, such rhetoric provides a psychological floor for long-term Bitcoin bulls who view regulatory clarity, even if delayed, as inevitable.

In sum, the current market environment reflects a delicate equilibrium between optimism and caution. Equities are consolidating after a strong run, bonds are pricing in a more hawkish Fed, and commodities are reacting to shifting risk sentiment. Bitcoin, despite its record-breaking price, shows clear signs of technical fatigue and structural vulnerability.

Yet, beneath the short-term turbulence lies a persistent belief in its long-term potential, particularly if it can overcome key resistance levels and navigate the evolving regulatory landscape. For now, investors remain in a holding pattern, awaiting the next catalyst, whether from corporate earnings, economic data, or policy developments, to determine the next major market move.

 

Source: https://e27.co/profit-taking-and-peril-equities-consolidate-bonds-turn-hawkish-and-bitcoin-tests-its-limits-20251010/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j