Ripple Starts $250 Million Fund to Woo Would-Be NFT Creators

(Bloomberg) -- Ripple Labs Inc. is starting a $250 million fund to help creators of non-fungible tokens, in another sign of just how hot the NFT market has gotten.

The Creator Fund will provide NFT originators with the financial, creative and technical support to explore and craft premium NFTs and other tokenization projects on the XRP Ledger, Ripple said in a statement Wednesday. While the best-known NFTs tend to be art and collectibles, the fund will aim to support other use cases as well, like interactive experiences and fractional ownership, the according to the statement. Mintable, mintNFT and VSA Partners will also be involved, Ripple said.

“While NFTs have opened the door for a tokenized future, actually navigating these concepts is a different ballgame for many,” said Monica Long, general manager of RippleX at Ripple. “By starting with marketplaces and creators, our fund seeks to take the guesswork out of NFT projects to unlock unexplored tokenization use cases on the XRP Ledger.”

NFTs have burst into public consciousness this year, with high-profile transactions like the $69.3 million purchase of a Beeple artwork grabbing attention, and projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club seeing big gains. It’s also the case, however, that many NFT prices don’t live up to lofty expectations. Still, some in the industry see great potential for the assets going forward, including as the revenue model for the metaverse.

“NFTs have the potential to accelerate new revenue streams and business models, while deepening creators’ relationships with the communities, people, and things they care about,” Long said in an interview. “Through our creator fund, we want to help bring new, high-profile creators and brands into the NFT space.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs in December for selling the XRP digital token without properly registering it as a security. Ripple has disputed the allegations. 

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