The NFT (non-fungible token) market in the UAE is set for high growth, with the market projected to reach over $4.7 billion by 2028, with blockchain ventures such as artèQ bullish on the country, amid dooms predictions about a crypto winter globally.
Bold and the market-friendly government policies, coupled with the growing demand for NFT products such as arts and sport videos, are among the major factors driving new NFT players to foray into the UAE market.
“Within the industry, the UAE is already considered a major crypto and NFT hub. The UAE’s innovative advantage is clearly visible in the industry, which is why there is a lot of potential for any NFT company,” Farbod Sadeghian, founder of artèQ, a Dubai-based blockchain company dealing with NFT projects and digital artworks, told Arabian Business.
“Many institutions drafting regulations are trying to make crypto fit into existing financial regulations, though cryptos are revolutionising the financial industry and need regulatory boundaries that are adapted to such revolutionary technology,” Sadeghian said.
He said his venture chose to locate its HQ in the UAE as it takes an educational approach to the sector.
“Rather than living in fear of change, the UAE sees the great opportunities that come with this technology,” he said.
artèQ also runs an art gallery in Vienna that displays digital masterpieces from top artists and advises creative industries on how to leverage Web3.
“Everyone who knows anything about art and the digital world comes here [UAE] to see what’s possible, what’s being tried and to learn,” Sadeghian said.
He said the UAE and the larger Middle East markets are of great importance to artèQ, as also to the innovative Web3 industry.
Sadeghian also revealed that his art platform planned to work with Emergeast next year to help emerging MENA artists make their way into NFT art.
“We strive for collaborations with artists, galleries, and museums to make digital arts into the next big thing globally,” said the founder of artèQ which works to create a premium art market, while profiting financially from the increase in rate by trading in art digitally and analogously.
“Our goal is to connect the physical and digital worlds – or ‘phygital’,” he said.
The artèQ platform is into developing the entire ecosystem of services centred on art to assist players in the art world in resolving issues.
“That is how we make money,” Sadeghian said.
artèQ owns a diversified portfolio of expertly vetted works curated by a leading industry expert team.
Sadeghian said his venture intended to introduce emerging artists who are shaping the history of the Middle East today to a wide global audience.
“Beginning February next year, we will see projects that aim to integrate digital art from the GCC and Middle East into the collections of young or experienced collectors, just as physical art does,” he said.
When it comes to buying art, collectors’ minds will eventually be influenced by the inclusion of digital art, he said.
“Rather than the medium itself, it is about continuing to illuminate storytelling and the stories of Arab male and women artists will enrich the entire world,” Sadeghian said.
According to TechInsight360, the NFT market in the UAE is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 32 percent until 2028 to reach $4.74 billion market size.
The current NFT market in UAE is estimated to see a jump of 45.5 percent to hit the $1 billion mark this year.
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