Totality Corp CEO explains why India is still largely untapped for NFTs
Despite the emphasis on "social status" in India, holding a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT impresses no one.
Interview
Despite being ranked among the biggest users of cryptocurrency among emerging markets, the majority of the Indian market has yet to embrace non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Totality Corp Founder and CEO Anshul Rustaggi explained that social and cultural barriers, as well as anti-crypto regulations, prevent the mass adoption of NFTs, especially in some of the lower level cities of the country.
India has 1.38 billion people and is the second most populous country in the world, just behind China. Last month, the United Nations predicted that the country would overtake its competitor in 2023.
However, Rustaggi explained that crypto trading and collecting NFTs are considered speculative investments – a concept frowned upon in Indian culture and which sits in a similar boat to gambling.
“India has a very love and hate relationship with speculation. So all of Asia, including India, loves speculation. he said.
Rustaggi explained that even his time as a hedge fund manager in London was viewed by his own mother at the time as "essentially playing with other people's money".
"With NFTs, the only way to make money was speculation [...] As a society, we have not yet accepted digital goods."
While studies have shown that most NFTs are purchased due to their speculative nature, some collections can be seen as a 'signal' of wealth and status, as in the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection NFT which boasts a long list of celebrities and crypto heavy hitters as hodlers.
However, Rustaggi says this concept did not take off in India in the...
Despite the emphasis on "social status" in India, holding a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT impresses no one.
Interview
Despite being ranked among the biggest users of cryptocurrency among emerging markets, the majority of the Indian market has yet to embrace non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Totality Corp Founder and CEO Anshul Rustaggi explained that social and cultural barriers, as well as anti-crypto regulations, prevent the mass adoption of NFTs, especially in some of the lower level cities of the country.
India has 1.38 billion people and is the second most populous country in the world, just behind China. Last month, the United Nations predicted that the country would overtake its competitor in 2023.
However, Rustaggi explained that crypto trading and collecting NFTs are considered speculative investments – a concept frowned upon in Indian culture and which sits in a similar boat to gambling.
“India has a very love and hate relationship with speculation. So all of Asia, including India, loves speculation. he said.
Rustaggi explained that even his time as a hedge fund manager in London was viewed by his own mother at the time as "essentially playing with other people's money".
"With NFTs, the only way to make money was speculation [...] As a society, we have not yet accepted digital goods."
While studies have shown that most NFTs are purchased due to their speculative nature, some collections can be seen as a 'signal' of wealth and status, as in the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection NFT which boasts a long list of celebrities and crypto heavy hitters as hodlers.
However, Rustaggi says this concept did not take off in India in the...
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