Nigerian NFT Artists Thrive Despite Bubble Fears and Persistent Central Bank Anti-Crypto Restrictions – Altcoins Bitcoin News

Nigerian artists are now growing their fortunes by leveraging the art world’s lucrative pivot to non-fungible tokens (NFT). According to reports, this move to NFTs is taking place despite the Nigerian central bank’s renewed anti-crypto stance.

Concerns About NFT Bubbles

As a recent CNN report explains, the growing interest shown by Nigerian artists in NFTs comes with warnings of a possible drop in sales. For example, Bitcoin.com News has previously reported that NFT sales have plummeted 90% since the market’s record sales on May 3rd. The same report also showed that the number of active NFT wallets fell from 12,000 per day to 3,900, which is a loss of just under 70%.

Similarly, Bitcoin.com News has extensively covered the renewed efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) against cryptocurrencies, which began after it issued an order directing financial institutions to end relationships with crypto companies.

Despite these concerns, some Nigerian artists insist that NFTs have become an important part of the art scene. For example, Osinachi, who is a former librarian and one of Nigeria’s most bankable digital artists, according to CNN, explained how NFT markets have rebounded since 2019. Osinachi said:

I went in and explored the marketplaces and it took until 2019 when the markets picked up and we saw the boom. The pandemic helped because collectors couldn’t go to physical galleries so many of them discovered the NFT room. And then (from) 2020 to 2021 the Christie’s auction took place and everyone screamed NFTs.

Osinachi now says, “He can have up to five-digit numbers for his NFT work,” and he points out that his ability to “put my work in a place where a lot of people would see them” adds to his Increase Revenue.

Not everyone is optimistic

Despite the NFT excitement, not everyone shares Osinachi’s optimism. Ferdy ‘Ladi Adimefe, the founder and CEO of Magic Carpet Studios, believes that many artists cannot enter this space as they still face many economic obstacles. He explained:

I think African artists are quick to embrace the NFT space and come on board, but let’s not forget that there are quite a number of people on the continent who are still not in the data economy.

Another artist, Kenyan Rich Allela, laments the fees on the NFT trading platforms and the lack of technical know-how as other important barriers to entry.

In the meantime, Adimefe says, he is now creating workshops and platforms “where we can help traditional artists acquire the digital tools they can now digitize and monetize their art”. It remains to be seen, however, whether such workshops can lead to increased NFT participation by African artists.

Do you agree with the claim that NFTs are a bubble? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, mundissima

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