Despite being one of the emerging markets that adopts cryptocurrencies the most, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have yet to be adopted by most of the Indian market.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Totality Corp founder and CEO Anshul Rustaggi explained that social and cultural barriers, as well as regulations against cryptocurrencies, are preventing mass adoption of NFTs, especially in some of the country’s lower-tier cities.
India has a population of 1.38 billion people and is the second most populous country in the world, just behind China.. Last month, the United Nations forecast that the country could overtake its competitor sometime in 2023.
However, Rustaggi explained that Cryptocurrency trading and NFT collecting are considered speculative investments, a concept that is frowned upon in Indian culture and is positioned similarly to gambling.
“India has a love-hate relationship with speculation. So all of Asia, including India, loves speculation. But morally, we like to say bad things about it,” he said.
Rustaggi explained that even his time as a hedge fund manager in London was seen by his own mother at the time as “basically gambling with other people’s money”.
“With NFTs, the only way to make money was speculation […] We have not yet accepted digital goods as a society.”
Although surveys have revealed that most NFTs are purchased due to their speculative nature, some collections can be considered a “sign” of wealth and status, as in the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, which has a long list of celebrities and crypto industry heavyweights as holders.
Nevertheless, Rustaggi states that this concept has not caught on in India, despite the strong emphasis on “social status” in Indian society.
“In India, social status matters enormously; the biggest expense we have in India is marriage. On average, 34% of your lifetime expenses are for your children’s marriage. And the thing is, it’s a social event, you want to show the best of yourself to the world. So social status is important.”
Rustaggi claims that the speculative nature of NFTs has prevented them from achieving the same level of social “signaling” as a luxury car or a Rolex watch, but notes:
“I think the time will come in India for NFTs to become big signage. I don’t think it’s here yet, but it will.”
At the end of 2021, Totality Corp launched its first NFT Lakshmi, inspired by the goddess of wealth and fortune. Rustaggi said this was “by far” the biggest NFT launch in India, earning a total of $561,000 from a collection of 5,555 NFTs.
Rustaggi said that the launch was successful because it promoted USD Coin (USDC) staking rewards as an incentive to hold NFT, making it a “guaranteed return” rather than “speculation.”
In general, however, Rustaggi believes that cryptocurrency adoption will remain a challenge in India as long as there is regulatory uncertainty.
The Indian government has maintained a strong anti-crypto stance since 2013. Earlier this year, the government proposed and implemented two crypto tax laws which have since caused trading volumes to plummet and many crypto unicorns to leave the country.
“The government of India definitely does not want more cryptocurrencies […] The government is openly saying ‘we like blockchain but we don’t like crypto,’ but it’s a bit ridiculous.”
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