Mainstreaming NFTs Will Open Up Huge Opportunities, Opine Industry Leaders

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the latest craze in India’s digital space. An NFT is a digital asset like real-world objects such as art, music, in-game objects and videos, to name a few. Opportunities are tremendous. But challenges are also numerous, in terms of regulation, taxation and acceptance of NFTs in the mainstream. Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), a council under the aegis of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), organized a major virtual conference, NFTIndia, on February 24, to discuss such opportunities and challenges in the way ahead for mainstreaming NFTs in India. Leading figures of the NFT and metaverse world took part in the conference. 

The world of NFTs is truly diverse. India’s digital art space, for example, is witnessing a revolution through NFTs. Indian celebrities, including movie stars, sportspersons, musicians and people from various other fields are increasingly creating and selling digital arts. Artists are creating their own exclusive NFT collections. As Om Malvia, president, Tezos India, pointed out, “Artists won't have to worry about galleries, they have the convenience of exhibiting and selling their art with NFTs in open market places.''

Highlighting the potential of NFTs for the sports industry, Harsh Jain, co-founder and CEO of Dream11 and Dream Sports said, “With the largest number of sports fans in the world and over 140 million already within Dream Sports’ platforms, India has the potential to become the world’s largest NFT industry.  Sports NFTs will help every member of the sports ecosystem namely boards, leagues, teams and players to unlock and monetize tremendous value in the near future.”

Among others who put forward their valuable thoughts on the subject were Ankit Wadhwa, CEO and co-founder of Rario, Preeti Syal, Senior Specialist, NITI Aayog, Kristin Boggiano, President and Co-Founder, CrossTower, Swaneet Singh, CEO Xfinite, and Yat Siu, CEO, Outblaze, Animoca Brands.

In general, speakers discussed in details why we needed NFTs, why it was valuable and what were the regulatory impediments that such a nascent industry might encounter.

About Blockchain and Crypto assets council (BACC)

BAAC, is a council under the aegis of the Internet and Mobile Association of India. It represents the interests of the crypto ecosystem in India. With over 30 members from the crypto and NFT space in India, the committee has been in the forefront of crypto advocacy today and creates thought leadership content for the industry from time to time. BACC has also set up a self-regulatory code of conduct for the industry.

About Internet and Mobile Association of India

Established in 2004, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a not-for-profit industry body and the country's only organization representing the digital services industry with over 350 Indian and multinational corporations as its members, which include established companies in diverse sectors of the digital ecosystem as well as start-ups. Its mandate is to expand and enhance the online and mobile value-added services sectors. It is dedicated to presenting a unified voice of the businesses it represents to the government, investors, consumers and other stakeholders. IAMAI represents varied sectors such as digital advertising, digital entertainment, TravelTech, online gaming, digital payments, Fintech, digital commerce, Edutech, Healthtech, Agritech, blockchain, Big data, ML, AI & IoT, AR/ VR, LogisticsTech and so on.