Indian cryptocurrency exchange ZebPay launches NFT marketplace as FOMO gathers pace

The oldest cryptocurrency exchange in India, ZebPay, announced the plans to launch the proprietary non-fungible token, NFT, and start its marketplace. 

The trading platform will become India's first company to have its non-fungible token, Dazzle – the word states for the herd of zebras. According to Mr Rahul Pagidipati, CEO at ZebPay, Dazzle holders will be entitled to various discounts on ZebPay trading fees and partnership websites, including e-commerce businesses, streaming and food delivery services. 

Commenting on the news, Pagidipati said the following as cited in Financial IT:

We have announced project Dazzle, which will generate non-fungible tokens, one-of-a-kind digital collectibles. These will be given out to members through various programs. The difference between a conventional (fungible) crypto token like Bitcoin, Ether, or Ripple and non-fungible tokens is its rarity and uniqueness. It can grow in value not just because demand for it grows but also because it can acquire new properties and benefits over time. Investors can either hold their NFTs or sell them.

The next big thing after DeFi

ZebPay's CEO is very optimistic about the new initiative. He believes the NFT market will become the next fastest-growing segment of the cryptocurrency industry after the DeFi boom subsides. He noted that in 2020, the global NFT market value surpassed $100 million and the growth is set to continue exponentially. Pagidipati added:

It is being compared to the time when Bitcoin first reached the $100 million milestones and then exploded. 

While the real use-case for Dazzle remains unknown, Pagidipati notes that NFT may be beneficial for various people, including investors, artists, gamers, collectors and digital content creators. Recently, FXStreet reported that art and collectibles market with non-fungible tokens has evolved from a tiny segment into a vast industry with multi-million turnover. Currently, even big players like the NBA create their NFTs.

Market fever is on the way

Non-fungible tokens are a type of digital assets with unique characteristics that cannot be equally exchanged. One of the most famous NFT projects, Cryptokitties, nearly crashed Ethereum blockchain at the end of 2017 as the network was overloaded with Cryptokitties-related transactions. While the digital kittens are out of fashion now, new NFT assets are entering the market.

According to Joel Comme, the author of Bad Crypto podcast, NFTs may create a new tsunami that will shake the cryptocurrency industry. The same happened during the ICO boom in 2017 and the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) craze in 2020.

The first symptoms of fever are already evident. The trading volume of SuperRare, one of the most popular NFT market places, exceeded $4 million in October, while the total trading volume in the industry surpassed $7 million. According to the NFT data aggregator NonFungible.com, the number of sales reached 88,000.