Budget boost to blockchain will push large-scale adoption of NFT by brands: Experts

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement on Tuesday in the Union Budget regarding the introduction of the RBI’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as India’s official digital rupee in 2022-23 is being viewed as a progressive step by leaders cutting across the industry lines. 

The announcement comes after months of speculations around the introduction of a blockchain-based official digital currency of India and amid rumours that private cryptocurrencies will be deemed illegal. 

The introduction of digital rupee by using blockchain technology is likely to boost the key emerging technology on blockchain such as NFTs, advertising experts say. 

Rahul Vengalil, Managing Partner of Isobar, hopes that the acceptance of blockchain technology will increase the adoption of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) which is currently a rage among Indian celebrities and sports persons. 

“The government’s decision to adopt blockchain and digital rupee means there is clarity on crypto currency. This further adds to the large-scale adoption of  NFTs by brands,” Vengalil told e4m. 

The NFTs are digital assets owned as code. They are supported by blockchain technology that also backbones the cryptocurrency to run. There are several NFT marketplaces such as Beyondlife.club, WazirX and Alwatsfirst.io where creators or businesses list their NFT projects for sale. NFTs are traded through cryptocurrencies. 

Since late 2017, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on NFTs across the world. 

In India, NFT’s use has exploded over the past year. Amitabh Bachchan, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma are among those who have already entered the NFT marketplace to sell their NFTs. Millions of fans love to buy digital assets of celebs as prized possession which can be traded digitally. 

“The list of NFT creators will grow exponentially in the coming days as several top brands are likely to jump on the bandwagon, use the power of its user community and launch their NFTs - through memorabilia, collectibles, capturing their history, success story or iconic ads,” industry insiders say. 

Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder & CEO, Chingari App, which has recently entered NFT space with $GARI, said, "Investing in and utilizing advanced technologies like blockchain is what helps the nation grow at par with the other countries globally. With $GARI Social Tokens listing on 19 global crypto exchanges and Chingari transforming the Web3 universe for its creators, we are proud to be a part of the digital and crypto revolution.”

Global news agency The Associated Press (AP) launched a NFT marketplace on Monday that allows collectors to purchase the news agency’s award-winning contemporary and historic photojournalism. In India, Viacom18 has joined the list. 

To cash in on the craze, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is preparing to allow the posting of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its social networks and the creation and trading of digital assets via a new marketplace. 

Facebook intends to begin allowing users to post NFTs as their profile images and to upload or "mint" their own NFTs via a prototype system that will generate the required tokens needed to turn a simple image file into this new form of digital asset. 

Meta is also planning its own marketplace for buying, selling, and trading NFTs. If true, this would place the company in direct competition with existing NFT trading outlets like OpenSea valued at $13 billion. 

Transactions of NFTs can potentially revolutionize e-commerce and even the commerce of physical assets through “hybrid” as well, market experts say.