The popularity of NFTs is massive. Last year, we witnessed an explosion in NFTs that were being sold for millions of dollars. Hitesh Malviya is one of the top NFT collectors in the country, who runs an online NFT art gallery, called India.crypto. Hitesh has acquired 200+ NFTs, so far from different collections and artists.
Q1. Tell us about your journey, from the beginning when you thought of entering the crypto world and establishing Itsblockchain.com & IBC Capital till now.
HM: I started writing on cryptocurrency, and blockchain in 2016. During the same time, I started a media publication website: itsblockchain.com, It was India’s first media publication dedicated to cryptocurrency, blockchain-related news and educational articles. The Crypto market saw a massive price rally in the 2017 Bull market, I also started offering crypto advisory, and investment services under itsblockchain.com. I used to charge in Bitcoins for my services & products. My media venture also became a huge hit, we used to get million page views every month at its peak.
I started IBC Capital last year. IBC Capital is an early-stage venture fund investing in Web3, and Crypto startups from all across the world. We invested over $4M in 30+ Deals last year. Some of our portfolio companies include Strips Finance, Pegaxy, Enjinstarter, etc. We have a plan to invest over $10M in 100+ web3 companies in 2022.
Q2. Being a crypto guru and an investment expert, many people come to you for various advice. Sometimes, they know very little about the crypto and NFT marketplace or have the wrong information. Please explain to us what exactly NFTs are and is it safe to invest in them?
HM: An NFT is typically a piece of digital information secured by strong encryption and recorded on a blockchain ledger. This recorded information is hard to be replicated, easy to transfer, and it provides a certificate of ownership.
Digital information can be in any format: Images, Videos, GIFs, Emails, tweets, Simple Texts. We call them NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) after they are recorded on a blockchain.
Digital Artworks are one of the primary use-cases of NFTs. Artists Mint their artwork as NFTs and sell/auction them on NFT Marketplaces like opensea, rarible, etc.
Since the value of any kind of artwork depends on the price a buyer is willing to pay, sometimes it could be a million-dollar or one dollar. So rules are the same in the NFT Playground too, Some of the NFTs get sold at millions, others never get a buyer, and eventually, become worthless.
Also, it’s a niche market right now, we have less than 500K NFT Collectors worldwide at the current stage, but the potential is so huge, NFTs can tap in more than 60% of the internet users in the next 10 years.
Before investing in NFTs, you need to understand their associated risks, and you need to do due diligence before making any investments. NFTs are illiquid, and 95% of them will become worthless in the next three years. So choose your bet accordingly. Research more, Manage your risk and Play safe.
Q3. As we have seen so many celebrities entering the NFT market. What’s your take on that? Also, What’s the current state of NFTs, and are they here to stay?
HM: NFTs are brilliant business opportunities for those people who have a large base of social media followers, they can sell anything and people will buy. Influencers and celebrities have started monetizing their influence on followers by offering their own NFT Collections. I believe this trend will become so huge in the coming months, I can safely assume that we would see at least 1000+ NFT Collections launches by various celebs and influencers in India.
NFTs are here to stay but they will go through a major correction cycle, 95% of the nft collections you see today will become worthless in the next three years, but 5% of them (who has talented team, great community, and access to funds) will become huge in near future.
Q4. NFTs are everywhere right now, from celebrities to fashion brands to gaming. What according to you are the future of NFTs?
HM: NFTs will become a part of our daily life, the same way digital payment applications became. NFTs will be everywhere from movie tickets to gift coupons. Brands will leverage the potential of NFTs to communicate with their customers, they will use NFTs for every single digital information they share with their customers from invoices to promotional offers.
Q5. Where do you see NFTs in 5 years and what all new trends you’re expecting to be introduced in the future?
HM: In the next 5 years, Some of the major universities will start issuing degrees as NFTs.
Some of the major lifestyle brands will start offering rewards in NFTs. Some of the major cinema hall will start issuing movie tickets in NFTs. Some of the major event organisers will start doing tickets in NFTs. Movies/songs will be released as NFTs. So much potential out there, endless possibilities, NFTs will mark their presence everywhere from the physical world to metaverses.
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Source: The Print