The quirky Lakh

One of the more interesting nuances of currency conversion in Myanmar (and more broadly in India) is the concept of the Lakh.

So the “Lakh” is a numerical value of 100,000 but is actually written as 1,00,000 according to the digit grouping convention.

The usage of the Lakh (or Lac) is surprisingly commonplace if you visit any South Asian country which includes Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Bhutan).  So when discussing large-ish amounts of money, I was initially confounded trying to make conversions in my head when people would mention “10 Lakhs” instead of “1 Million” or “half a Lakh” instead of “50 Thousand”.  To the point that I considered creating a new calculator app or site that convert Lakhs to “metric” values.

But there you go.  Might come in handy the next time you do business in South Asia.

 

Cryptocurrencies

An interesting offshoot of blockchain technologies, and one of the key drivers and catalysts for it’s adoption and popularity – is the crypto currency.   As of writing, the booming crypto market has just had a recent correction but still holding ground. Nothing like the predicted bloodbath, but that’s not to say it one isn’t around the corner.

To quench my curiosity I’ve gone in bought some Ethereum, Ripple, and NEO to spread the portfolio.   I have stayed away from Bitcoin for the time being, as it just feels clunky and over valued – not that there’s any basis for value to be attributed to any crypto currency.   However, I have chosen the three currencies for the following reasons:

  • Ethereum – in my view is primarily a blockchain platform which doubles as a cryptocurrency in order incentive miners to process the chain.   It’s backed a significant consortium of industry heavy weights which lends credence to the platform.
  • Ripple – is unique in that it’s a closed system controlled by Ripple that facilitates transactions between financial institutions.  In many ways it represents the antithesis of blockchain’s purpose of being de-centralised.  However it has the backing of large financial institutions.
  • NEO – is China’s largest open source blockchain initiative.   Given most of the mining operations take place in China, it seems to have a good basis to succeed.  At the same tine, it also poses some potential risk if heavy Chinese government regulation comes into play.