amitabh bachchan NFT: NFTs both an investment & means to authenticate digital works: Arun Pandey, BeyondLife.Club

New Delhi: Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs transform digital artworks into unique verifiable digital assets that are tradable on the blockchain. Global sales of NFT have shot up to $2.5 billion in the first half of this year, from a negligible amount in 2020. In August, talent management company Rhiti Sports and decentralised NFT exchange platform GuardianLink.io jointly launched a NFT platform in India – BeyondLife.club – which will list celebrities, athletes and brands from across Southeast Asia.

Bollywood mega star Amitabh Bachchan is the first Indian celebrity to roll out his NFT collection through BeyondLife.Club. In an e-mail interview Rhiti Group chairman Arun Pandey, also co-founder of BeyondLife.Club says, “NFT space has been dominated by the crypto-savvy people and this is where we strive to differ from the rest by eliminating the complexity of participation in the space.” The company has developed a Drop Wallet that supports multiple forms of digital transactions from debit cards to crypto, making the auctions accessible to both the tech-savvy as well as non-crypto users. Pandey discusses BeyondLife.Club model, growing popularity of NFTs and more. Edited excerpts:

What is the focus of BeyondLife.Club? How do you ensure the uniqueness of works?
With BeyondLife.Club we want to create an NFT platform where celebrities and influential people from various domains can upload their art and other creative assets, mint it, publish it, price protect it and even set up the auctions. The platform focuses on auctioning rare digital masterpieces that are protected by Anti Rip AI Spyder Technology – An Artificial Intelligence-based real-time spyder technology designed to empower users with the ability to monitor their NFTs across the web for duplicates, rip-offs and copycats.

What is the revenue model? How much business do you expect in the first year?
The revenue model is driven through a percent share of the total sale proceeds. It might sound a bit ambitious but looking at the massive growth potential that the NFT exchange space has in India, we are expecting to build a multi-million-dollar business in the very first year itself.

What all of Amitabh Bachchan’s works will have NFT? How can people buy them?
The NFT’s includes golden verses from the legendary Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala accompanied by backstories, the inner voices and the findings of human relationships, love and the universe narrated by Amitabh Bachchan himself. Apart from these the NFTs will also feature personally signed posters highlighting the biggest milestones of Mr Bachchan’s career, and rare digital cherishables from his past and the present.

Can the transaction amount be paid in cryptocurrencies? If not, why not?
For years the NFT exchange space has been dominated by the crypto-savvy people and this is where we strive to differ from the rest by eliminating the complexity of participation in the space. Our platform enables its users to carry out transactions not only through crypto but also through other conventional modes of payment such as credit cards and debit cards.

What is the potential of NFTs? Is it an investment or a means to authenticate digital works or both?
Over the past decade or so, the world has witnessed a massive surge in the rise of unconventional modes of currencies and digital assets and it’s a well-known fact that these Digital assets have aided people to build a fortune out of nothing. NFT is the newest member to enter this domain and it has gained plenty of traction over the past few years. As per recent reports, the volume of NFTs that are traded in the market has increased by 43% from April 2021 to June 2021.

NFTs are both an investment as well as a means to authenticate digital works. The NFTs are not only limited to works of art as they can also be used to authenticate and auction other types of collectibles as well. For example, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is selling his first tweet as an NFT in a charity auction and how can we forget Beeple, Everydays digital art piece “The First 5000 Days” which was sold at an auction for $69.3 million. So yes it’s safe to say NFTs are not merely a means to authenticate digital works but also an enormous space for investments.