By Ramkumar Subramaniam
The rise of India in the arena of global economics, especially over the past few decades, has been nothing short of phenomenal. Being less than 80 years young ever since it had the responsibility to take over its own economy, India has made massive progress by leaps and bounds, capitalizing on the right segments at the right time. We could look back at the recent history of Indian economy and see that manufacturing, agriculture, technology, research, and education, have all contributed to the growth of Indian economy.
At the juncture when the world is going digital, India is not missing a beat to work its way into dominating the globe in digital economy. While the dream of a $5 trillion economy for India might seem marginally lofty, the fact that $800 billion has been earmarked for digital economy seems a lot more realistic. Digital payments have exponentially grown in the past few years, and Internet penetration has left no nooks and corners of even the remotest rural regions of the country.
The interesting and intriguing challenge with “digital” is the fact that it is rapidly changing. While “digital” meant mobile applications a few years ago, today we are looking at futuristic possibilities with blockchain and Web3.
Unlike other zones of technology, Web3 and blockchain have been readily embraced by a lot of Indian companies, and it is not surprising to see some Indian blockchain companies become the choicest blockchain for some of the world’s most renowned media companies, and NFT marketplaces with their technical base in India become the number one NFT marketplace on Polygon, beating even the likes of OpenSea. Such is the dominance of India in this space, and the momentum does not show any signs of attenuation in the near future!
While technology by companies has been steadily progressing, a lot of experts will agree that the real progress lies when technology and its manifestations reach the common people. Fortunately, Web3 and the metaverse have faced their fair share of impedances, but have, at the same time, also been catalyzed in their growth by the right factors at the right time. The consumption pattern of gaming assets as NFTs, the understanding that Indians have about the possibilities in the metaverse, and the growing regulatory certainty in this space have contributed to the notion… albeit with backing data, that the metaverse and Web3 have the potential to considerably contribute to the $800 billion digital economy of India.
There are different methods and modes in which Web3 and the metaverse can contribute to the digital economy.
Digital assets have a certain and definite value. We are not talking about the value that it would fit in terms of its monetary intensity but more about the fact that the rarity and the authenticity of the digital asset are provable beyond question, thanks to the inherent immutability of the blockchain. Therefore, just like how people invest in any other class of asset, they are also likely to invest in digital assets, and such purchases in large numbers from a large quantity of people, even if it is small in value, contribute heavily to the economy.
Looking beyond the inherent value of digital assets, we can also look at the utility they have got to offer. For example, there are gaming assets that have a defined utility in a gaming ecosystem. Based on its attributes, some gaming assets may be more valuable than others within the game. It is such competitive metrics that promote healthy trade and aggressive participation. Needless to say, games that utilize Web3 and its possibilities also open up avenues for people to earn by playing games, commonly abbreviated as P2E. This opens up a cycle of investing, earning, and reinvesting in digital ecosystems, contributing to the rise of the digital economy.
Metaverses have become a lot more holistic and self-sustained. Metaverses also have the capacity to attract Gen-Z audiences because of the intensity of immersiveness they offer. With so many possibilities in the metaverse, it also has the capacity to position itself as a strong and impactful advertising medium. Once we bring in such advertising capacities, possibilities of commercial expansion grow exponentially. This will start bringing in a lot of brands, and just like how we saw the explosion of Internet advertising over the past decade and a half, we are quite likely to experience a similar wave it’s not a wave with a greater intensity with respect to metaverses.
Above everything, one of the most promising features of Web3 is the fact that it is the closest we have ever gotten to complete and true decentralization. This decentralization would completely democratize access to the network. This would be that it will no longer be about just a few brands dominating the advertising landscape and business arena… But more about equal opportunities being given to everyone.
An economy like India has always thrived on small and medium businesses in large numbers parallel to large businesses in small numbers. Given such parameters and the vastly growing availability of technical talent in India, especially with respect to Web3 and blockchain, we are looking at a very bright, promising, and scintillating future for India and promising times for the Indian economy.With a considerable and crucial chunk of it being contributed to by the digital space, and the growth of the digital space being fueled by the rapid adoption of NFTs and metaverse, and Web3 at large!
The author is CEO, co-founder, Guardianlink