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Nepal Bankers’ Association, the umbrella organisation of the commercial banks, has said that crypto, virtual currency and network marketing business and transactions are illegal in Nepal.

Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the Association urged the people not to involve in the transactions related to virtual currency and networking as these are illegal in Nepal.

It warned of action as per the existing laws against any individual or institution found involved in such activities.

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country’s Central Bank, on January 29, had also warned of action against those found involved in virtual currency and networking transactions. It is said transactions of cryptocurrency and illegal networking transactions such as Networking Hyper Fund, Jocial, Crowd1, SolMax Global etc are found taking place in Nepal in recent days.

The Department of Revenue Investigation on Tuesday filed a case against four people including three members of the same family for their involvement in these illegal transactions. It has claimed more than Rs 370 million from them. RSS

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned of taking action against those involved in the business of virtual currency and networking.

Issuing a press statement on Sunday, the NRB said anyone found involved in the business of cryptocurrency and pyramid-based networking as a hyper fund, jocyal, crowd1, soul max and global would be punished.

“Virtual currency is not given legal recognition in Nepal. So, people can be defrauded by such virtual currency and networking. It also leads to illegal capital outflow,” the NRB said, adding that even the foreign citizen if founded in this illegal act, would be punished as per law. RSS

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged by 99.86 points to close at 2820.65 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index fell 18.08 points to reach 526.03 points.

A total of 17,063,833 units of shares of 228 companies were traded for Rs 8.888 billion.

Likewise, all sub-indices saw red in today’s market with the Life Insurance index leading the table with 569.9 points

At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.98 trillion.

It started as a fun activity to help his mother out in her nursery. The concept has now morphed into ‘I am the Gardener’, a retail brand that sells a wide variety of plants, pots, fertilizers and gardening tools. In the process Biraj Khadka, its co-founder and director, created Nepal’s first modern gardening center. 

They grow and sell more than 250 plant species: flowering, indoor, outdoor, rare, exotic, seasonal, to cacti and succulents. “We wanted to simplify things for all plant lovers out there and help them grow their plants better,” says Khadka. “We advise them on how to invest the least amount of time in taking care of plants”.

Khadka belongs to a family which has for generations been into agri-business. Twenty years ago, his mother had opened Khadka Nursery, which became their family business. In 2014, when he started helping his mother with accounts of Khadka Nursery, he discovered big loopholes in the way plants were being retailed in Nepal.

“At first, I wasn’t very enthusiastic and didn’t think I would continue working for the nursery,” he admits. “But while helping in the nursery, I found that this sector was still to really develop in Nepal.” Khadka started researching and found that the market couldn’t absorb their products in the absence of a medium to connect with customers. “Local nurseries were only catering to their areas and making a living out of it,” he says. There was no way for you to get the plant you wanted, where you wanted it.

While researching global trends, he found a whole new market size, market structure and technology. It made him realize floriculture in Nepal was yet to be established and there was a need for more than just small-scale businesses.

Gradually, more local nurseries started finding a platform in ‘I am the Gardener’ to retail their products and make them more accessible to the people. This was where growers and buyers met. It became a sister company of Khadka Nursery.

The company started growing but three of the five co-founders quit because of long hours and hard work. Now it was up to Khadka and Upreti to handle it all—and how have they done it!

The Khadka Nursery as well as the head office of ‘I am the Gardener’ are located in Mandikhatar, Kathmandu. The plants are grown and taken care of in their warehouse. Local nurseries also send their products to the warehouse, for distribution to different outlets and for online sale.

The warehouse is designed to grow and sustain all kinds of plants. The plant prices depend on the time they take to grow, external facilities, fertilizers, and pesticides, among other expenses. “When getting plants, you are not just buying them but also the time and patience they need,” Khadka says.

“We wanted to raise the standard of floriculture by giving people a sampling of quality plants,” he adds. “At the same time, our aim was to get more and more people interested in plants and their diversity.”

Also read: A thriving business that is also socially aware 

In 2016, when ‘I am the Gardener’ was in its infancy, they opened their first outlet in Dhumbarahi. It started as a space with a variety of plants in every corner, where people could sit and read books made available there. They could be around plants, and buy them if they so wished. They got wonderful customer feedback for this ‘plant library’.

Unlike most other businesses, ‘I am the Gardener’ boomed during the pandemic. Having to stay at home all the time, people craved for natural stuff, making them tilt towards plants. A brand solely dedicated to retailing plants was what the market needed as well, and their social media reach increased organically.

“Although, in terms of operation it was challenging to function as a retail company during the lockdown, we took the opportunity to brand our products and develop our app and website,” Khadka says.                                                                                                   

By this date, ‘I am the Gardener’ has served more than 100,000 customers. It has six outlets—Chakrapath, Kalanki, Bhatbhateni, Labim Mall, Gyaneshor, Bhaisepati—with the seventh one in Kupondole in the offing.