The Indian economy is counted among the largest economies of the world. It is currently projected to grow by 10% compared to the previous year when the NFTs and cryptocurrencies began to gain global traction among the audiences.
The vast majority of the Indian population currently owns various digital means of communication which amounts to over 600 million internet users. This demographic contains numerous users who have a keen interest in investing their money using digital platforms like options, stock, and various forms of crypto assets to multiply their earnings.
Since the art sector of India has flourished prominently despite the ages, it aims to expand further by the existence of the lucrative global NFT market. Several auction houses have collectively boosted artwork sales to combined revenue of over 30% compared to the previous years, which exceeds that of other Asian countries.
In such a scenario, the prospects offered by the NFT marketplaces and platforms can be beneficial for many Indian artists and crypto enthusiasts who want to grow their popularity and capital returns.
India Crypto Finance Climate
Despite the government banning crypto mining practices, the use of cryptocurrency is largely unregulated, and the same can be said for the ownership and sales of NFTs.
Although the nationwide adoption of cryptocurrency is yet to happen, purchasing them and selling them is not capped. All this translates to an open market of sorts that the Indian audience can access. Let’s then see how Indian users can participate in the trade of digital art via crypto NFTs.
NFT Marketplaces for India
NFT platforms like Rarible, OpenSea, Foundation, Nifty Gateway, etc., already exist on the internet that currently caters to hundreds of millions of crypto users and other audiences that use fiat money.
Their success has encouraged many Indian startups to build similar or better NFT marketplaces that also facilitate crypto finance exchange so that Indians can convert the Indian Rupee(INR) to crypto bitcoins. All so Indians can buy and sell digital art on the fly. So let’s check out India’s top NFT platforms.
Currently, only two Indian-based NFT Market Places exist. Still, these are the top NFT Marketplaces in India:
- WazirX
- Wall.app
- OpenSea
- Foundation
- Nifty Gateway
WazirX
Hailing as India’s first NFT market, WazirX uses the Binance Smart Chain, its parent company and one of the largest crypto exchanges after Ethereum. At its launch phase, the marketplace hosts artworks from a few notable personalities like Tyler, Arjun Menon, Vimal Chandra, Ishita Banerjee, etc.
Launching with a small list of 15 top creators, the platform has whitelisted 300 creators among the 15,000 applications it has received from applicants residing in different states within India. Currently, it only charges $1 as gas fees to mint NFTs on its platform and welcomes both NFT buyers and sellers.
While the market desires to allow users and buyers to convert their fiat money to bitcoin for purchasing NFTs, it presently allows users to move their WazirX NFTs onto other blockchains like Ethereum to offer interoperability. Furthermore, without demanding a listing price, the platform only allows fixed price sales with no word about adopting a sale by bids model.
Wall
The marketplace is yet to launch, but it has gained the attention of Indian users awaiting the release of more crypto platforms that offer NFT trade and crypto trade options. Using the polygon platform, the Wall is slated to become a social commerce platform focusing on allowing creator interactions with viewers aside from offering NFT sales.
Alike the first Indian NFT marketplace, it also aims to offer reduced gas fees for minting NFTs to encourage users to join the platform and contribute to it. The website currently boasts of impressive projects like brand drops, collectibles, NGO impact drops, and others featured to release soon after the platform officially launches in the upcoming September.
OpenSea
It is one of the largest global NFT trade platforms offering millions of NFTs from famous personalities and revered auction houses. It currently allows linking wallets to perform transactions on the platform and features NFTs ranging from artwork to virtual collectibles and much more.
Indian users wanting to access the platform will undoubtedly have to concern themselves using a different platform first to acquire ether coins because NFTs offered here are sold via ether coins based on the Ethereum blockchain. Regardless, Indian users have accessed the platform and went through a few hurdles in acquiring their favorite NFTs.
Foundation
The platform offers NFTs through auctions where users can bid on their preferred NFTs, and currently, the Foundation only features creators that are accepted via exclusive invites. However, audiences can visit the platform to make purchases.
Several notable NFTs have been sold via the Foundation platform, allowing the creators to change their NFTs if a bid hasn’t yet been placed. Still, each transaction and price change demands a gas fee, but it hasn’t discouraged creators from offering multiple editions of rare NFT collectibles.
Nifty Gateway
The only platform to have multiple high-profile NFT sales is Nifty Gateway, which regularly features top NFTs. It allows NFT sales in various forms, unlike most platforms that only sell via fixed-price or bids. One beneficial feature of this platform is that users can buy limited edition drops which are otherwise sold for higher costs through regular purchase methods.
Naturally, the platform only offers Ethereum blockchain NFTs, but users can make purchases through Debit & Credit Cards, which essentially only use Fiat money. Additionally, creators can choose to make unlimited editions of their rare collectibles for a fixed time that can each sell for a fixed price. Such availability has allowed multiple popular artists to make millions of dollars within mere ten to fifteen minutes.
This is one of the best among NFT Marketplaces in India that any beginner can try.
Challenges for Indian NFT Market
India is a vast country with dissimilar progressing areas where digital infrastructure is unequally distributed. Cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad have better digital access that offers their artists to stay connected on the internet easily. In contrast, traditional artists residing in rural areas do not have equal access or means.
In such instances, auction houses have previously been the key to exploring and featuring the local talents and artwork across the nation. With NFTs, these artists still have a learning curve to understand and implement, preventing them from using the NFT platforms to their advantage, thus increasing their reliance on Indian NFT auction houses.
Furthermore, using Decentralized Finance (DeFi), understanding the use of smart contracts and other connected terms is still jargon for most of the Indian population. While the Indian education system catches up with the times, it is safe to conclude that Indian crypto artists will rely on global NFT platforms for trading NFTs. Choosing so will also allow them to reach a global audience.
Read More: Popular Global NFTs Marketplaces
Final Words
NFTs poses a fantastic opportunity for the thousands of Indian artists, big or small auction houses, and even Indian OTT platforms to increase their economic potential. Until the laws and regulations for owning crypto assets are defined in a watertight manner, the market is open and full of possibilities.
However, the reality in which these assets are banned isn’t a far-off possibility considering that the nation is itself adopting digital financial management standards and can possibly release its own cryptocurrencies. Regardless, investing in NFT is currently beneficial for Indian investors, artists, and collectors who seek to grow their financial portfolios.
In coming days, there will be many NFT Marketplaces in India where users can create and sell their arts.