Ripple Labs, founders of blockchain-based payments solution XRP, wants in on the NFT action. And it’s setting aside a US$250 million creator fund to make it happen.

The company launched the new NFT-focused fund in a Wednesday announcement as part of Apex, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) Developer Summit.

Its aim is to provide targeted support for creators, brands and marketplaces to explore new use cases for NFTs on the XRPL blockchain, “leveraging its innate advantages of speed, cost and sustainability”.

No doubt recognising the huge opportunity in NFTs while it’s been on the sidelines watching the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems boom, Ripple says it believes “the future will be tokenised”. And it says non fungible tokens are an important part of that vision.

The likes of Tom Brady, Doja Cat, Snoop Dogg and just about every major sports code would agree.

It’s a vision that’s “fast becoming a reality” according to the influential crypto company. “In fact, the World Economic Forum projects that 10% of the world’s GDP will be tokenised by 2027,” reads the Ripple statement.

Ripple also revealed it’s teaming up with the creative agency VSA Partners and NFT platforms such as mintNFT and Mintable to help get the ball rolling on its new ecosystem and marketplace.

 

Also in the news: Free DC NFTs; FOMO rally; Volcano BTC mining

• Fancy some free NFTs? DC Comics is potentially giving away millions of Ethereum-based non fungible tokens, in partnership with Palm NFT Studio.

• Bobby Lee, brother of Litecoin founder Charlie, and former CEO of the BTCC exchange, has told Bloomberg he’s expecting a huge “FOMO rally” before the year’s out.

• The first crypto fund has been officially approved in Switzerland. The Crypto Market Index Fund will track the performance of 10 top crypto assets.

• Payments fintech Affirm says it’s planning to enable customers to buy and sell crypto, making the reveal as part of its Investor Forum this week. One by one…

• El Salvador is progressing with its plan to mine Bitcoin using the geothermal power of its volcanoes, taking its “first steps”, according to President Nayib Bukele.

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