Muted Enthusiasm at NFT.NYC 2023

Muted Enthusiasm at NFT.NYC 2023

Builders founded NFT.NYC in 2018 as a space for the growing non-fungible tokens (NFT) community. Their first event launched in February of the following year.

By 2022, NFT.NYC drew over 16,000 attendees, representing more than 70 countries.

Attendee numbers weren't as robust this year, but still impressive --

  • 100+ Partners
  • 200+ Reporters
  • 500+ Brands
  • 1,500+ Speakers
  • 2,000+ Artists
  • 6,000+ Attendees

No alt text provided for this image

As Yahoo Finance reported, NFT.NYC is back to deliver the Woodstock of NFTs

No alt text provided for this image

Spanning 12-14 April, C-suite executives, VIPs, artists, and enthusiasts gathered for meet-ups, panels, gamified contests, invite-only dinners, and afterparties.

No alt text provided for this image

Sponsors included OpenSea, PwC, and Amazon Web Services.

No alt text provided for this image

Event partners hosted metaverse exhibitions, art galleries, and networking lounges for degens to meet one another in the physical world.

No alt text provided for this image

Speakers covered topics such as intellectual property (IP), NFT regulation, fashion, gaming, art, health and the metaverse.

No alt text provided for this image

While Yuga Labs and CyberKongz and Yuga Labs have had a presence at prior major NFT events, both were absent for this annual Web3 event in New York City.

No alt text provided for this image

Tezos, however, offered a two day summit at Spring Studios on Varick Street, away from the main event held at the Javits Convention Center.

No alt text provided for this image

Tezos aimed for "a dynamic gathering of creatives, innovators, and enthusiasts at the intersection of artistic inspiration, community networking and developer innovation... fun and interactive talks, workshops, portfolio reviews as well as various activations by Tezos NFT projects and much more."?

No alt text provided for this image

BK Crypto Co-Founder Kimberly Maultsby has personally collected limited release NFT versions of songs by The Weekend and Justin Blau, a DJ professionally known as 3LAU. Her NFT art collection includes pieces by Mike Parisella pka @Slimesunday on Instagram, and she is a Moon God level collector of former Major League Baseball player Micah Johnson's Aku Dreams Chapters and Akutars. She holds Token Metrics' Astrobot NFTs which come with lifetime access to the Token Metrics crypto ratings platform, Meta Angels, which fosters and encourages networking and collaborations among women.

"The use of NFT's is poised to impact and streamline various industries including direct to consumer music sales by artists, event ticketing, digital art, gaming, validating both physical and virtual real estate ownership, and more. Land ownership will also be more easily transferable without the use of such things as a title company," says Maultsby.

"Gaming will be a fast road to crypto adoption for the masses. Holding Aku Dreams provides gated access to aspects of the forthcoming Aku Dreams metaverse, among other things. Likewise, Aku, and many top projects occasionally expand their ecosystem?by airdropping free NFTs...

Since only about 21% of the US adults have owned or invested in crypto currencies, entering the crypto world can be lonely; thus, it's important to connect with a community.?While we welcome all, BK Crypto was initially created to be a hub for black and brown people because there are few of us investing in crypto. BK Crypto strives to create a network where new crypto investors feel safe and are?welcome."

Late last year, BK-Crypto launched a crypto-themed apparel line, as shown on the center hoodie, in the photo above.

No alt text provided for this image

Yorkseed Founder Jessica Sophíā Wong, pictured above, spoke with an artist who wants to move to Germany.

No alt text provided for this image

Less glamourous events were held in apartment buildings, co-working spaces, and dive bars.

No alt text provided for this image

The NY Post reported:

Since its inaugural run in 2019, purveyors of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have spent millions on splashy events. They have hired celebrity DJs like Diplo and rented out pricey venues like the trendy downtown club Tao, the Dream Hotel’s rooftop PHD and the members-only club Spring Place.?
This week, NFT.NYC – held Wednesday through Friday – has been more of a low-budget affair. Most events had multiple sponsors to share the cost and some events were held in free or inexpensive venues – like common space in apartment buildings or dive bars.
While there is an?official conference?hosted at the Javits Center, NFT insiders said the outside events are much more important. Still, insiders say all the money companies had spent in years past didn’t necessarily help Web 3.0’s cause.?
No alt text provided for this image

Lume Studios, Eden Loft celebrated the final night of NFT NYC with live auctions, giveaways and four NFT exhibits.

No alt text provided for this image

While he found a lot of the?works interesting and?beautiful, PhD Candidate Hamadi Henderson, pictured above, would?not be interested in purchasing the?NFT alone. He would only consider buying a piece if the NFT was an accessory to a physical painting or object. "Additionally, among the works there were items that were statement?pieces and some that were merely ornaments... Some of the works seemed more thoughtful and intended to inspire deep thought while other works seemed to follow current decorative trends. [Though] visually stimulating, they did not have much depth beyond being nice to look at... Thinking about how technology/AI is influencing art, many art consumers are being forced to reconsider their values when it comes to artworks and their worth.

No alt text provided for this image

@vvwvvw_eth was less kind about the conference, tweeting, "NFT NYC this year is extremely boring, tbh. Everyone is just repeating the same things, very superficial, endless blah blah blah…

If you shout out boring things, it doesn't make them any more interesting or valuable, your audience here is not a grandma's bingo party."

No alt text provided for this image

We must also remember that diversity will be key to Web3's success, as I wrote in Forbes.

No alt text provided for this image

The Author, Lisa Chau

Lisa Chau

Google Women Techmakers Ambassador and author published in Forbes, US News, Buzzfeed & Huffington Post Over 130 Times. TED-Ed Lesson Creator. NPR Guest.

1 年

Thank you for speaking with me, Kimberly Maultsby!

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Lisa Chau的更多文章

  • Google I/O (aka: Google AI?)

    Google I/O (aka: Google AI?)

    This month, I returned to Google I/O 2024 as an Ambassador for Women Techmakers -- My second time at the tech giant's…

    2 条评论
  • Apple Hosts STEAM Day Experience, Announces Next Challenge

    Apple Hosts STEAM Day Experience, Announces Next Challenge

    Earlier this month, Apple hosted a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Day experience…

    1 条评论
  • Leadership Lessons from Google I/O 2023

    Leadership Lessons from Google I/O 2023

    I have been a Google Woman Techmaker since 2015, if not earlier. Some years later, I joined the Google Developer Group…

    2 条评论
  • Getting to the C-Suite

    Getting to the C-Suite

    A decade ago, a small group of women formed a network of Dartmouth alumnae which has grown to one of biggest and most…

    3 条评论
  • A Lucky HackPrinceton 2022

    A Lucky HackPrinceton 2022

    I am SO thankful to have delivered a keynote at Princeton University on the same day my name was being unveiled at my…

    3 条评论
  • #ChauHighlights: NFT NYC 2022, Part 2

    #ChauHighlights: NFT NYC 2022, Part 2

    In addition to MANY, MANY satellite events, NFT NYC 2022 was officially hosted at seven venues in the Times Square…

    3 条评论
  • #ChauHighlights: NFT NYC 2022, Part 1

    #ChauHighlights: NFT NYC 2022, Part 1

    The business of NFTs..

  • #ChauHighlights: Blockchain Week 2018

    #ChauHighlights: Blockchain Week 2018

    Leading crypto media company Coindesk partnered with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to…

  • #ChauHighlights: Blockchain Week 2019

    #ChauHighlights: Blockchain Week 2019

    The business of blockchain..

  • #ChauHighlights: Consensus 2022

    #ChauHighlights: Consensus 2022

    The business of the decentralized world..

    2 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了