NFT sellers are steadily ditching cryptocurrencies

livemint.com:

Earlier this week, online travel platform MakeMyTrip forayed into the non-fungible token (NFT) market. While MMT’s foray was covered widely, a curious aspect of MMT’s NFTs was that they didn’t involve cryptocurrencies.

Each NFT on MMT’s platform is priced at Rs. 14,999 and buyers need neither a cryptocurrency wallet nor crypto holdings in order to purchase them. However, once bought, they can choose to trade these like any other NFT, either on MMT’s own platform or on OpenSea, one of the largest NFT platforms in the world. They can even choose to trade using cryptocurrencies once the NFTs have been bought.

The MMT NFTs is an example that has been brewing in the industry for quite a while now. While both NFTs and cryptos are based on blockchain technology, experts have often argued that NFTs should not be subjected to the same rules and regulations as cryptocurrencies.

As a technology, NFTs use blockchain technology to signify the ownership of a digital item. In simple terms, they’re the digital equivalent of a deed, which shows that a person owns a physical item. MMTs platform isn’t the first to use fiat currency for NFT sales, but it is amongst the biggest.

In December 2021, auto-maker MG Motors also sold NFTs using fiat currency, while production house UV Creations and online gaming platform Spartan Poker have conducted similar sales. MakeMyTrip and MG Motors did not respond to requests for comments.

All of these firms used a platform called nGageN, built by a homegrown blockchain firm KoineArth, which was also the firm behind the digital passport feature on the MG Astor automobile.

According to Praphul Chandra, chief executive officer of KoineArth, the nGageN platform is built to answer a common concern amongst