NFTs are the most creative use case of crypto, and as much as its adoption is surging, there’s a high chance it will be marked as unstoppable. NFTs are onboarding a new set of demographics into the crypto space, and now it’s quite the craze!

The global market for NFTs surged to newer highs, with around $2.5 billion sales so far this year, compared to $13.7 million in the first half of 2020.
The pandemic accelerated the NFT boom, but youths driving it was inevitable. In the current scenario, digital creators are embracing NFTs as their long-lost baby. Not only that, influencers like Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have jumped into the NFT frenzy as well – Dorsey sold his first tweet for $2.9 million, and Musk sold his tweet ( a song about NFTs as an NFT) for $1.1 million. We have been seeing amazing artists, musicians, digital creators going for it, and now it looks like the movies are also going to be a critical part of the NFT game.

NFTs in India

India is one of the early adopters of NFTs, with its only NFT marketplace as the open forum for an amalgamation of talented creators and ‘an eye for detail’ collectors. WazirX NFT marketplace, also touted as South Asia’s largest NFT platform, is mesmerized by the innovation the artists have to offer. 

The NFT marketplace notched a level up when it recorded one of the fastest sales of collaborative artwork posted by visual artist Santanu Hazarika and singer-songwriter Ritviz. It couldn’t have happened on a better day, as it was World Music Day when the masterpiece got sold for 300 WRX tokens. WazirX’s youngest NFT artist, Laya Mathikshara, a 13-year-old girl, minted her first animated short-film NFT called ‘Gratitude,’ which will be screened at Busan International Film Festival. Very recently, India’s leading Beat Boxer, Abhishek Bhaskar, dropped his first beatboxing-generated digital art on our marketplace. Other names associated with WazirX NFT Marketplace are Vimal Chandran, Prasad Bhat, and many more.

Global NFT Craze

When we talk about global NFT expansion, on average, buyers or collectors have outnumbered the sellers on the Ethereum blockchain, as per nonfungible.com. So far, the most expensive NFT sales have been the one at Christie’s, sold for $69.3 million, followed by the one by CryptoPunk sold at $11.8 million at Sotheby’s. People are even selling memes as an NFT, so you know where it’s going, right?

NFTs swooped in like a boon for the digital creators amidst the pandemic. The global marketplace is enabling artists to monetize their creativity by showcasing their work, which in turn is helping the collectors with a valuable unique possession. Artists like Justin Aversano made over $130,000 in five months selling NFTs. In his bullish statement, he said “Artists can take the power back and put their art in a platform that will actually help them be abundant financially.”

Celebrities Joining The Crypto Art Craze

The NFT ecosystem is growing exponentially, with brands and celebrities quickly following suit. Several celebrity names associated with NFTs are Logan Paul, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry, Lindsay Lohan, and much more. 

Brands and corporations such as NBA and Taco Bell have also jumped on board, with NFT drops garnering mass media attention. The South American Soccer cup ‘Copa America’ trophy is also in plans to be minted as an NFT, in partnership with Ethernity Chain. 

Famous TV Host Ellen DeGeneres joined the NFT gold rush with her first NFT, which in itself is an explanation of NFT. On earning around $33,000, she donated the entire thing to a food relief organization.

Celebrities like Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne took this opportunity to advocate women empowerment. Most of the celebrities donated money from selling their NFTs to causes like COVID relief, LGBTQIA+, environmental causes, fighting institutional racism, etc.

Twitter also joined the NFT craze giving away 140 NFTs, which had different images with the Twitter logo, through the Rarible marketplace. 

The all-time famous animated series Rick and Morty creator has announced that they are planning to create an NFT-enabled show called Krapopolis. Even Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins’ new film Zero Contact is going to premier as a non-fungible token (NFT) on Vuele. Last but not least is the Israeli government embracing NFTs – welcoming their 11th president with the oath as an NFT.

Barriers to Mass Adoption, Which Can Be Easily Taken Care of In The Days to Come

Whatever said and done, there have been some barriers to NFT adoption. 

• NFT marketplaces need the buyers and sellers to have a crypto wallet, and as per data by blockchain.com, around $70 million people, which is less than 1% of the world’s population, own a crypto wallet. This gap will be filled as more people understand crypto widely.
• Gas fees are something creators, and collectors have to deal with. Nifty Gateway co-founders are working on making digital assets more accessible and attainable to the masses.

One of the co-founders, Griffin Cock Foster, said, “We’re trying to make a space where anyone can be an art collector.”

Nifty’s other co-founder, Rodriguez-Fraile, said, “A few years from now, this could just be how people own art.”

For NFTs, this is just the beginning; there might be a day when it will be considered a store of value, just like Bitcoin. This way, there will be not only more adoption of crypto. It will also illuminate the creative space with high employment rates as people will be at their free will to showcase their talent, for which they’ll get recognition as well.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is currently unregulated. Kindly ensure that you undertake sufficient risk assessment when trading cryptocurrencies as they are often subject to high price volatility. The information provided in this section doesn't represent any investment advice or WazirX's official position. WazirX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change this blog post at any time and for any reasons without prior notice.