iWorld
GUEST ARTICLE: The role of crypto in facilitating the content creator economy
Mumbai: With technology opening myriad opportunities across sectors, it has ushered in an era of growth for the creator economy. Content creators today have a new means of monetising content, which is empowering them to become the sole owners of what they produce and engage directly with the audiences. Blockchain is revolutionising how content creators can make money from their creativity and hard work online. In the past, they relied on brands by engaging, promoting or representing them. Despite having millions of followers or influence on social media, they have to depend on brands to make money from their content.
With the growth in digital spheres such as streaming platforms and even the metaverse, for instance, they are now able to explore new avenues to showcase their work, establishing a link with audiences and earning directly. At present, the total creator economy market size is over $100 billion, and it also states that 46 per cent of creators generating content for over four years are earning more than $20,000 annually.
Undoubtedly, the creator economy empowers content creators by giving them ownership. They now do not have to think much about the ever-changing online algorithms, worry about how much brands will value them, and can depend on their actual supporters, fans, or audiences for income. They can decide where and when to work and how to engage with audiences directly to make money. Thus, cryptos are democratising the ecosystem by unlocking many options to make, share, and sell content across platforms.
How is blockchain boosting the creator economy?
The rise of creators, consumers, and engagement on social media have made these online platforms leverage emerging and new-age technologies to offer realistic, advanced, and real experiences to their users. It is vital to make sure that creators get paid for their hard work without relying on anyone else as the ecosystem grows. With the advent of technology like blockchain, decentralisation is happening, and as users are gaining ownership of what they create online, it is making the ecosystem more equitable for them by linking consumers and producers through a direct exchange.
Blockchain, which is the basis of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies, has made it possible to track or record transactions or exchanges in real-time. Content creators today are using NFTs to digitally trade their assets and collect royalties. Once issued, the NFTs assign a monetary value to these digital assets. Also, a token is tied to the content that makes it the original piece. The owners then sell or auction off these NFTs with cryptocurrencies, which can be later converted into real money.
How does it bring additional benefits for creators?
The most significant advantage of blockchain technology for content creators is that it empowers them by allowing them to earn directly from their audiences without the use of intermediaries. They get full control, complete rights, and visibility of their earnings. The content creators, thus, by engaging, are able to earn, which greatly boosts the creator economy. Moreover, the benefit of crypto is that it stores the value of financial incentives with the distributed ledger to decentralise each financial transaction with the help of blockchain. The networks don’t hold or store a centralised source of original information, which makes it safe from hacking or exploitation.
Taking a step ahead, the creators can use creator tokens to create and offer unique resources and provide unique experiences to their followers for community building. For example, they can offer member passes to grant greater access to fans and create new income pathways. Also, such tokens let fans get closer to creators by paying extra. The creators will subsequently be able to expand their income source by possibly investing their earnings in crypto assets. Today, there are leading platforms such as Taki, Chingari Clubhouse, and others that are providing opportunities for content creators to earn money. This sector is gaining huge traction, and as technology, demand, and awareness develop further, it can definitely provide an alternative source of income and possibly higher returns to content creators.
The way forward
It is indeed welcoming to see that the Indian government hasn’t banned but regulated the crypto ecosystem, leaving scope for learning and understanding to bridge the trust deficit and address the hesitations. As per reports, the creator economy in India has grown to Rs 1,300 crore in the last couple of years as many small, medium, and even global brands are actively opting for social media creators and influencers to promote their products, which shows that the future is bright. The country, which is on its way to emerging as a resilient digital economy, has to formulate its policies to adopt the innovations and trends to not miss this bus at this juncture. India is witnessing a rise in its internet and social media population, and a conducive ecosystem for the development of blockchain, NFTs, cryptos, and web 3.0 can empower the content creators by making them sole owners of their content and selling it directly to their loyal fan base.
The author of this article is Taki co-founder Sakina Arsiwala.
iWorld
Netflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
MUMBAI: Netflix is celebrating ten years in India with a slick anniversary film voiced by Shah Rukh Khan, a nostalgic sprint through a decade that rewired how the country watches stories. The campaign doubles as both tribute and reminder: streaming did not just enter Indian homes, it quietly rearranged them.
Roll back to 2016 and television still dictated schedules. Viewers waited weeks, sometimes months, for favourite films to appear on prime time. Family-friendly filters narrowed options further, and piracy often filled the gaps. Then Netflix arrived, softly but decisively, carrying a catalogue of international titles rarely seen in Indian theatres and placing them a click away. Old blockbusters and new releases suddenly coexisted on the same digital shelf.
The platform’s real inflection point came in 2018 with Sacred Games, a breakout series that refused to dilute India’s grit for global comfort. Audiences embraced its unvarnished tone, signalling readiness for stories that did not need box-office validation or censorship compromises. What followed was a steady procession of relatable narratives. Competitive-exam anxiety fuelled Kota Factory. College relationships unfolded in Mismatched. Everyday pressures, not grand spectacle, proved bankable.
Language barriers thinned as foreign series arrived with Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubbing, expanding viewership beyond urban English-speaking pockets. Marketing mirrored the shift. For global releases such as Squid Game, Netflix leaned on regional creators and influencers to localise buzz and make international content feel native.
The library widened beyond fiction. Documentaries stepped out of festival circuits into living rooms. Stand-up comedians found scale. Established filmmakers, including Sanjay Leela Bhansali with Heeramandi, embraced the platform’s long-form canvas. Subscriber numbers swelled to 12.37 million in India, according to Demandsage, and behaviour followed suit. Late-night binges became routine. Friday release rituals loosened. Watch parties turned solitary screens into social events.
Economics demanded adjustment. Early subscription pricing carried a premium aura that deterred many households. Over time, Netflix recalibrated plans to align with Indian spending sensibilities, conceding that accessibility is as critical as content. To extend momentum around marquee titles, the platform also experimented with split-season releases, stretching anticipation and watch time.
The anniversary film, narrated by Shah Rukh Khan, captures the linguistic shift that mirrors the cultural one: from “Netflix pe kya dekha?” to “Netflix pe kya dekhein?” The question moved from recounting the past to planning the next binge. In ten years, Netflix morphed from foreign entrant to familiar fixture, exporting Indian stories abroad while importing global ones home. The remote no longer waits; it chooses, clicks and moves on. In the streaming age, patience is out, playlists are in, and the next episode is always one tap away.
e-commerce
Tulasi Mohan Padavala elevated to Associate Director at Blinkit
Gurugram: Blinkit has elevated Tulasi Mohan Padavala to associate director, capping a three-year climb inside the quick-commerce firm and signalling confidence in an executive steeped in ecommerce, category management and on-ground sales execution.
Padavala shared the update publicly, saying he was “happy to share” the promotion, a succinct announcement that nevertheless marks a notable step up within one of India’s fastest-moving delivery platforms. The new role follows nearly three years at Blinkit, where he most recently served as senior category manager from February 2023 to January 2026, focusing on strategic sourcing and assortment planning.
The promotion places Padavala in Blinkit’s mid-to-senior leadership tier at a time when the company continues to expand its rapid-delivery footprint and sharpen category economics. His brief tenure as associate director began in January 2026, with responsibilities expected to span category growth, supplier strategy and cross-functional execution.
Before Blinkit, Padavala spent a short but intensive stint as global ecommerce manager at Wholsum Foods, the parent of Slurrp Farm and Millé, between November 2022 and February 2023. There he worked on digital marketplace expansion and online retail operations, adding a direct-to-consumer and international ecommerce layer to his résumé.
A longer stretch at Amazon shaped much of his cross-border commerce experience. As business development manager for Amazon’s India Global Selling programme from February 2021 to October 2022, Padavala helped Indian D2C brands enter the North American market. His remit ranged from seller recruitment and category revenue management to coordination with industry bodies, regulators and logistics partners. Key outcomes included launching more than 50 D2C consumable brands in the United States, driving a cumulative gross merchandise sales figure of $1m in FY21-22, tripling sales for participating brands during Prime Day through marketing and visibility levers, growing the monthly recurring revenue of more than 10 newly launched sellers from zero to an average $20,000 each, and negotiating ecommerce partnerships that reduced initial launch costs by 20 per cent.
Padavala’s earlier career was forged in the field rather than the dashboard. At Coffee Day Group, he spent close to five years across multiple sales leadership roles. As sales manager in the Greater Delhi Area from July 2019 to January 2021, he led vending-machine and consumables sales for small and medium enterprises with a team of more than 15 assistant and territory sales managers, managed over 2,000 clients, drove upselling and cross-selling, maintained channel partnerships and ensured timely collections. Prior to that, he served as area sales manager in Delhi between May 2018 and June 2019, handling south and east Delhi markets, and earlier in Hyderabad from April 2016 to May 2018, where he led Andhra Pradesh sales for the vending division, supervised service and logistics functions and managed a base of more than 600 machines with a four-member team.
His professional arc began with internships that combined analytics and process improvement. At Boehringer Ingelheim in 2015, Padavala analysed the impact of brand extension on the drug Pradaxa, identified key performance indicators through market research and assessed sales forecasts, recommendations that drew positive responses in pilot studies. Earlier, at Genpact in 2014, he automated manual sales-order backlog reporting using VBA and Excel, increasing efficiency by 800 per cent, and worked on benchmarking metrics within supply-chain planning processes.
From automating spreadsheets to scaling cross-border ecommerce and now steering quick-commerce categories, Padavala’s trajectory tracks the evolution of India’s retail economy itself. Blinkit’s bet is clear: blend data, discipline and delivery speed. The promotion formalises what his career already suggests. In the race for instant commerce, experience that moves from warehouse floors to global dashboards is no longer optional. It is the engine.
e-commerce
Bharatpe plays a super over as Rohit Sharma fronts T20 push
MUMBAI: When the stakes rise and seconds matter, even payments need a match-winning finish. That’s the cue for Bharatpe, which has rolled out Super Over, a nationwide campaign led by Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma, timed neatly ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The campaign draws a straight line between the pulse of cricket and the pace of everyday digital payments. A new brand film taps into India’s emotional bond with the game, while positioning UPI as the quiet hero that keeps daily transactions ticking along at match speed.
As part of Super Over, users making payments via Bharatpe UPI can bag daily rewards ranging from match tickets and signed merchandise to a chance to watch a T20 World Cup fixture alongside Rohit Sharma himself. Both consumers and merchants are also assured Zillion Coins on every eligible transaction, adding a little extra sparkle to routine payments.
Behind the scenes, Bharatpe is also batting for safety. The platform is backed by Bharatpe Shield, a fraud-protection layer designed to offer enhanced security, comprehensive coverage and dedicated support aimed at helping users transact with greater confidence as digital payments scale up.
Announcing the campaign, Bharatpe head of marketing Shilpi Kapoor said Super Over mirrors the aspirations of everyday Indians, combining speed, security and instant rewards to make UPI transactions feel both reliable and rewarding.
The campaign will play out across digital platforms, social media and on-ground activations nationwide, staying live through the T20 World Cup season proof that in cricket, as in payments, timing is everything.
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