Indian cryptocurrency exchanges in US interest rates and  the impact of the political  turmoil in Kazakhstan, a country with considerable  cryptomining operations.  Bitcoin and Ethereum pric es have fallen nearly 10%  in 2022, while some other  coins like Sandbox and  Cardano have fallen more.  Bitcoin is down almost 35%  from its November peak.

Total ban on cryptos ruled out

A total ban on cryptocur rencies in India would be  ‘difficult’ to implement,  and would only increase illegal activities through  cryptos, according to econ omist Ashima Goyal.  Goyal said that it would be a  better idea to regulate cryp tocurrencies as tokens. To have taken a shine to Non-Fungible  Tokens (NFTs). At least half a dozen  crypto platforms are foraying into the NFT space, assuming that it would not be out lawed as NFTs hold an underlying asset that  is traded in digital form. In fact, cryptocurrency exchanges that  offer NFTs have grown 40-50% month on  month, albeit on a smaller base. NFTs are  a unique and non-interchangeable digital  representation of art photo, video, text – that  exist on a blockchain

The global market for NFTs hit $22 billion  in 2021, according to DappRadar, a global  app store for decentralised applications. In  March last year, a digital collage created by  artist Mike Winkelmann, known profession ally as Beeple, was sold for $69. 3 million. Indian creators sold NFTs worth `Rs 2. 4  crore on the WazirX NFT marketplace till 20  December. According to sources, the (NFT)  space is evolving every day, with categories  ranging from art, music, sports/ games,  utility, brands, influencers, literary, movie/ entertainment, among other things.

1. Indians buying paintings, videos, memes  and antiques sold as NFTs 
2. NFT is a unique token on blockchain that  must have an underlying asset to be sold 
3. Many tech companies have started offer ing travel and real estate NFTs to Indians 
4. Many Bollywood stars such as Amitabh  Bachchan and Salman Khan have hopped  on to the NFT bandwagon 
5. There is no regulatory clarity around NFTs 
6. There is no clarity on income tax and GST rates on purchase and sale of NFTs

Crypto exchanges are rushing in to offer  NFTs. This is also a way to hedge their bets in  case the government decides to ban crypto currencies. “NFTs will drive more usage of  crypto currencies and give crypto a tangible  value when used at its full potential,” said a  source.

Many new players in the space are experi menting with real estate, hospitality, and  travel NFTs, apart from the usual ones such  as paintings, dialogues, and videos. Global  platform LynKey, for instance, is planning to tokenize and offer NFT solutions for travel  and tourism using smart contracts.