Miami’s Crypto-Loving Mayor Visits Gateway NFT Festival – ARTnews.com

Last night, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spoke to a small group of crypto and NFT enthusiasts to officially unveil “The Gateway: A Web3 Metropolis” exhibit. It was the second year in a row that a festival was put together and financed by Gateway nft now, a web3-focused publication; Mana Commons, a property development company owned by billionaire real estate mogul Moishe Mana; and MoonPay, a crypto-trading app—had come to Miami, and this time the vibe was much different.

“This is the last time we’re going to be completely in the physical world,” Suarez said. “Right? Last.” But he didn’t sound too upset about it.

Welcoming a digital world, a “world without borders” where inner-city kids could go to Harvard, virtually for free, he began his talk by thanking Mana for his investment in Miami, a real, physical place.

The Gateway was set up along Flagler Street, with storefronts for the Gateways partners, which included Porsche; the generative art platform Art Blocks; RTFKT, which produced Murakami NFTs; and Adam Bomb Squad, a streetwear company. Mana and Suarez are in the middle of redeveloping the area, and it’s not the first time they’ve done this kind of work together.

Mana’s claim to fame is having redeveloped Wynwood, a neighborhood in Miami. Wynwood used to be cheaper, a little grittier, mostly department stores, but it supported a thriving art scene, with over 70 galleries there. In recent years, however, as projects like MANA Wynwood have helped turn the district into a tourist hotspot, the neighborhood is now more known for its Instagrammable murals and nightclubs.

Wynwood would become the center of the crypto community in 2021, with many crypto companies, such as Blockchain.com, Solana and Ripple, setting up their offices there.

Now, Mana has invested about $25 million in this new endeavor to revitalize downtown Miami. It all started with a phone call.

“One day Moishe calls me, as he does almost every day. He says, ‘Mr. Mayor, I saw the plans for Flagler Street,” Suarez said in his remarks at Gateway. “He said, ‘You’re going to redo the street, but I think it’s a $10 million project, and I’m going to use my own money to redesign and revise the project.’ I say, ‘Okay Moishe, it’s your money …'”

Eventually, Mana increased the investment to $25 million, and Suarez pulled the strings to get additional funding from Miami County.

A big part of that vision includes drawing crypto and NFT money into the city, which Suarez has long pushed for, with mixed results. When things were going well, traders flush with highly valuable Bitcoin could pay for bottle service using crypto, but as the market has tanked, Miami club owners have lost out on that particular cash cow, reported Insider. FTX, which made its home in Miami with the FTX Arena, is another embarrassment.

However, Suarez is pressing on, insisting that he still gets his salary paid in Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.

Everyone at the opening of Gateway seemed well versed in the highs and lows of the crypto market. Like Suarez, they didn’t believe that a few months of bad business made the dream of digital ownership any less legitimate.

After Suarez finished his remarks, he, the Gateway team, the media and anyone else who wanted to come went to the former City National Bank building on the other side, which Mana bought in 2019 for $25 million. Purple lights and pulsing screens awaited up the lift. nft now founders Matt Medved and Alejandro Navia gave Suarez a tour of part of the exhibit. Cameras filmed as a projector shone on Suarez’s face. “This is great!” he said, thundering with energy. Meanwhile, Mana, in the crowd, looked tanned and tired.

They led Suarez to a collection of works displayed in the bank’s vault. Works by popular NFT artists such as Beeple, Tyler Hobbs, IX Shells and Mad Dog Jones were featured. Some of them are for sale on Christie’s 3.0, the house’s NFT auction platform. At one point, Suarez leaned in to watch one of the screens, put his hands behind his back and made a face of focused consideration.

“Wow, look at the detail on that. It’s just amazing,” he said. A walk around the room, and the mayor and the Gateway team went to a well-lit area for pictures.

After the mayor left, the Gateway team could catch their breath before the evening party started. Reflecting on the project, Medved and Navia spoke of Gateway as a result of their call to educate the world about NFTs.

“It’s really about empowering artists and trying to bring as many people as possible,” Medved said. “We see Gateway as this glimpse into the future of art, digital ownership, what our lives are going to look like.”