When Amitabh Bachchan Hosted its first non-fungible token (NFT) auction last month, the response was overwhelming. The auction, which included NFT versions of Bachchan reciting his father’s work ‘Madhushala’, among other collectibles, Crossed cumulative sales of $966,000 or approximately Rs 7.18 crore, But more importantly, for GuardianLink, the no-code NFT platform that helped power the auction, it was a testament to the fact that the NFT market, when mixed with a big one, can become a big hit in India. There are possibilities.
“GuardianLink is an NFT ecosystem firm. We build the technology for the bands and artists we work with and provide them with a launchpad and marketplace to launch their NFTs. We are the end-to-end for the NFT ecosystem. take care of the end-to-end services,” explains Rama Subramaniam, CEO and Co-Founder, GuardianLink indianexpress.com
The platform provides an integrated solution for any brand or celebrity who wants to capitalize on NFT events, where a digital file or asset, be it a JPEG or a music file, is assigned a monetary value. Ownership of NFTs is recorded on a blockchain or public ledger, and cryptocurrencies are often used to purchase these digital assets. And just as cryptocurrency has seen a boom in recent times, so has it Aroused interest in the NFT world.
The Chennai-based company, which also has offices in Japan and Singapore, is working with brands from across the world. In India, it is working with MTV, the Big Bang Social Influencer Network as well as a leading news brand to help them set up their NFT platform.
Rama Subramaniam, CEO and Co-Founder, GuardianLink.
The platform helps other brands curate their NFTs, or help them discover which assets or assets can convert to NFTs and become a source of revenue. “Let’s say a media brand wants to go ahead and launch their own NFT marketplace. We will try and help them understand what assets they have that might be NFTable and how to position the brand in a particular way. help package it in such a way that it can be NFTD,” says Subramaniam.
The way Subramaniam sees it, NFTs are a new form of monetization, and this potential is being seen by brands and celebrities. This is the reason why celebrities like Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Sonu Nigam Everyone is joining the trend in India.
GuardianLink is also hoping to stand out from other players in the market, who offer similar solutions. A different factor they are touting is their Anti-Rip Spider Technology, which the company claims can crawl through marketplaces and expose duplicate NFTs using proprietary AI/ML solutions.
“We started with the understanding that in this market, big players need to come in to make it more legit. While we are only looking at individual artist collectibles and consumables, we wanted to bring in the big names. whatever it is Sony, etc,” explains Arjun Reddy, Chief Technology Officer, GuardianLink.
He gave the example of iTunes, and how it came at the right time, convincing the music industry that it was time to go digital without losing the copyright of their content. The company is looking to emulate with its technology when it comes to NFTs and wants to be on the front lines of the legalization of NFTs, though Reddy admits that there are challenges.
The company claims that it is scanning millions of NFT records every minute to check if there are any duplicates. If they find any, they will inform the brand to help them make a decision.
,Apple Brands and labels were assured that their work would not end with iTunes. So we want to bring it to the stage where we take media files from brands or labels or addresses and we have multiple proprietary processes, both centralized and decentralized, whichever suits the brand better. We will implement this so that only holders of NFTs can view or access it or consume it.”
The way the company envisions it, NFTs will expand to more than just an item crypto enthusiasts are collecting, and will, instead, become a key component of mainstream brand strategy.
According to the CEO, this is already happening as films are being launched as NFTs such as the Anthony Hopkins thriller ‘Zero Contact’, which is being auctioned by the NFT film distribution platform VuL.
He believes that NFTs have already evolved to have some utility beyond collectibles. One example he gives is the Stoner Cats web series announced by Mila Kunis, where purchasing NFTs will give users access to exclusive content. In this case, the NFT has already made $8 million and becomes a ticket to watch that series.
But is regulation a concern, especially with talks of a new cryptocurrency bill? Subramaniam is confident that NFTs will not face the same legal hurdles as cryptocurrency, and he hopes the market will explore other forms of payments should the worst happen.
“I would really like the Indian government to see this as a new export asset class that does not pollute. NFTs are not a digital currency. I do not see them as an issue from a legal point of view, although in the long run, I also have to go for NFTs. Rules come,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that because NFTs have always been viewed as the same bucket as cryptocurrencies, a collapse in the crypto market could affect NFTs as well. But he is confident that as brands and celebrities offer utilities with NFTs, the thinking around them will change and that this is what will ultimately drive the market, not speculation and their association with cryptocurrencies.
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