What Does it Take to Make the NFT Consumption Climate Better Than it is Now?
NFTs? Jpegs? Beeple NFT? Utility? Community? Art? 🤔
When was the first time you got these questions popped into your mind?
Never did I know that this Crypto adoption in India would be massive enough to become the second-highest among the heavy users of cryptocurrencies.
Let’s talk about NFTs that surged up to 640% in the last 6 months building the future industry.
Roleplay of Digital Image in the Digital World 👨🏻💻
The global market capitalization is around $40B for NFTs which is on the way to beating the entire market cap of art totalling $50B. Although we could see the rapid growth of this market, there seems to be a gap between creators and consumers in developing countries like India.
When famous Beeple NFT holder known as ‘MetaKovan’ asked the reason for buying NFT at such a huge price.
He says, “ To support the artist and showcase the technology. A digitally native medium to monetize art is here to stay. Its not just be a piece of art, it can become thousands of other things. But I won’t be selling it anytime soon.”
Non-Fungible Tokens market adoption is still quite speculative among users and investors. The hype is real, the market growth is exponential, yet the core value of NFTs has not reached its target.
NFT Marketplaces in India
In June 2021, WazirX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, launched an NFT marketplace predominantly for Indian users. From Small-scale Artists — creators found a great platform to showcase their creatives monetized. There are 1000+ artists in the WazirX Indian community with 20K+ waitlist artists lined up.
The cultural diversity of people and art is enriched in India where it is not considered as an asset class but as a representation of one. This Identity can be transformed by bringing the NFTs to the limelight. In short, the awareness of this space should be widespread.
Metaverse plays along 🤖
A recent study shows that gamified or Play-To-Earn models are attracting many users inside the system. Relatively, India’s gaming sector has exploded in the last year, recording 170% growth between 2020–21 alone.
All stakeholders are now looking to this sector to integrate NFTs to drive the ecosystem better.
“NFT collectibles may have value globally but not for Indians. Crypto gaming is massive and in India play-to-earn games do really well. This is where India might find the right product-market fit for NFTs.” — says Kalidindi, CEO of Ikonz-a metaverse project
Content utility (NFT) with gamified models will be most preferred by Indians. Sure that the experimentation in the country accelerates, it will be intriguing to see how India’s behaviour changes toward NFTs.
The Marketplace for Digital Identities 🛒
NFT marketplace OpenSea hit an all-time high of $5 billion USD in trading volume between Ethereum and Polygon in January. Owing to its lack of community support and high fee collection, NFT peeps looked for other reliable launchpads.
- WazirX — the Indian Cryptocurrency exchange started an NFT platform, allowing anyone to create their own NFT marketplace. Users can buy, sell and auction their pieces at a low fee.
- Foundation — a NFT marketplace for all small scale to big artists.
- Wall.app — an own social media platform hinged on NFTs, to not just share art on their platform but to build a community.
The necessity for marketplaces increases as creators take off, for fulfilling the thirst, investors and founders are rooting for it.
Slum-dog Millionaires & Cricketers 🤑🏏
The Introduction of digital buzz to India was first initiated by the launch of Celebrity NFT. Bollywood’s biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachhan, AKA “Big B,” launched an NFT collection under the company, GuardianLink.
It was auctioned and sold for 7.2 Crores. A great sale in the case of India but not as much as it compared to the international sale of NFTs that could sell for some millions easily.
What’s lacking? Obviously, the potential collectors and utilities.
- Pint of Emotion — To witness the embark of NFTs, there should be an emotional touch from people for the art to own it as collectibles.
- Utility — Use cases of NFT should develop along with NFT in categories like PFP, art, or photos representing a moment.
- Bridge the gap — The supply and demand of non-fungible tokens are to be balanced. Nevertheless to build trust within the community.
Collectibles 🫱🏻🫲🏾 Games!
It has been reported that NFT integrated gaming models are seeing a high rise of users across the world. People from the Philippines are running their financial life playing an NFT game called Axie-infinity. The Play-To-Earn model allows them to upgrade their avatars, breed, and create more while earning passively. By doing so, a strong connection is embedded in people around the economy.
The same gamified model can be implemented in India — relating to evergreen sports like Cricket or even any. Cricket has the highest fan following with ROI. And so, the development of gameplay from Indian start-ups could incentivize users for the better.
Famous cricketers can be encouraged to launch their own NFT marketplaces to have a bond with their beloved fans. Eventually, a huge fan base can be tapped into spreading awareness of NFTs and a Win-Win situation on both sides giving fulfilment to collectors.
Aurora NFTs
To celebrate the launch of Aurora+, Lomakin, a street and digital artist put his talents to work to create the Aurobots — an exclusive collection of 111 NFTs, launched on Endemic, that was given away to the community by raffle.
The image is now posed as official mascot. Not just that, Aurora+ members who hold a AuroBot NFT benefits 10x boost of monthly free transactions.
By this way, the artist, the project and the community grabs their own form of takeaways either by value it provides or brand name in itself. A proof that sits in blockchain forever.
Web2 →Web3 — The New Normal 🚀
Back in the 1990s, the internet was a hard-to-explain concept to people and it was hilarious to few. You know the situation now. The commotion will not demean technology by any means.
Crypto-enthusiasts will leave no stone unturned until the NFT sector settles nicely with the people. Many tech giants like Reddit, Nike, Amazon, etc, had recognised the incredible potential in NFTs.
It is never a competition. More the community collaboration entrusted, more the trust is built within the brand.
To be honest, this is early. The earlier we build the space, the better will be the history of this New-Normal world. What’s more, soon NFTs will break the ice among people to witness the outbreak. In a nutshell, NFTs will be the future of art and ownership.
“Web3 is coming, embrace it”
