Digital Art, Virtual Metaverse Properties Drawing Indians to NFTs, Blockchain Gaming: STAN CEO

The Web3 sector in India is exceeding adoption expectations beyond just cryptocurrencies. Blockchain gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are also attracting tech-savvy Indians with what they have to offer — ranging from digital properties in the metaverse to copyright and royalty rights over purchased NFTs. Parth Chadha, the CEO of Indian Web3 firm STAN said this boost in the NFT sector will help creators to protect their intellectual properties and reel in revenue for their craft from this advanced tech stream.

“Indian players are obtaining in-game items and characters as NFTs, which possess utility and value within the gaming universe. These NFTs bring liquidity option to their holders and the fact that they can be developed, monetised, or resold makes them a practical as well as potentially profitable investments,” Chadha told Gadgets 360.

India hosts the third largest number of NFT companies in the world with a five percent of global share of NFT companies, community platform NFT Club had claimed in its report last year. People are utilising NFT investments for an array of purposes in India.

Last year, for instance, Bollywood actor Vishal Malhotra funded his directorial debut film titled ‘Ilm' by selling NFTs. Banking on the growing NFT culture, Malhotra, 42, began collaborating with Indian NFT artists since June 2021. By selling these NFTs, the actor gathered the funds to produce his film, making it the first NFT-funded movie of India.

One way or another, STAN CEO said, NFTs were helping homegrown artists and creators in their ventures.

“Indian musicians, authors, and other creative professionals are using NFTs to tokenise and market their copyrighted material. This allows them to maintain a share of future royalties and potentially gain from the resale of their creations,” Chadha noted.

Earlier this year, backpacker hostel chain Zostel decided to present Bengaluru's NFT community a physical spot to meet, greet, and create together. This led to the birth of the Zo House. The initiative has managed to garner promising feedback from the Web3 community.

India's gaming sector was estimated to have over 507 million gamers as of November 2022. The valuation of the Indian gaming sector was worth $2.6 billion (roughly Rs. 21,502 crore), an Interactive Media Venture Capital Fund Lumikai had reportedly said a study. By 2027, the Indian gaming sector is expected to skyrocket the valuation of $8.6 billion (roughly Rs. 71,106 crore).

However, India's regulatory unclarity stands in the way of widespread adoption of NFTs and blockchain gaming. While the country is working on formulating laws to govern the crypto sector on an international level, Indian authorities have maintained a stark silence on the categorisation of NFTs.

An official clarification on whether NFTs are digital assets or not would help investors make a wise decision.

“We believe that it is important for India to embrace this technology and create a clear regulatory framework for NFTs that promotes innovation and protects the interests of all stakeholders. As the non-fungible token market expands, Indians are likely to discover even more innovative ways to benefit from the practicality and value of NFTs. Currently, NFTs are already being used to represent event admissions or one-of-a-kind experiences, ensuring secure, authentic, and easily transferable entry to special events hosted by the community,” Chadha added.

STAN, that started as a Bengaluru-based esports fan engagement platform, expanded into a community marketplace in February 2023. The aim of this marketplace is to create a one-stop destination for blockchain gaming fans to trade digital collectibles.

Meanwhile, the blockchain gaming sector is projected to explode in the coming times with newer players entering the arena to intensify competition with established players.

In its latest research report, DappRadar said the Asian nations of India, China, Japan, and South Korea collectively have over 1.7 billion video game players, and this big number has attracted the Web3 gaming community to lay their focus in this market on priority. Over 55 percent of the global gaming community resides in Asia. The continent contributes over $72 billion (roughly Rs. 5,88,229 crore) in annual gaming revenue.

A recent Chainalysis report also highlighted that in the second quarter of 2022, 58 percent of web traffic from Asian nations to crypto services was NFT-related. Another 21 percent traffic was related to play-to-earn blockchain games.

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