NFT.NYC events go to dive bars, apartment buildings like crypto crash

Business

on the money

Of Lydia Moynihan

April 13, 2023 | 15:49

NFT.NYC — an annual crypto confab that even last year had showcased the decadence of a sector worth trillions — took a decidedly downward turn this week.

Since opening in 2019, the providers of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have spent millions on splashy events. They’ve hired celebrity DJs like Diplo and rented out expensive venues like trendy downtown club Tao, Dream Hotel’s rooftop PHD and 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 low-cost venues—like common rooms in apartment buildings or dive bars.

While it is an official conference at the Javits Center, NFT insiders said the events outside are much more important. Still, insiders say all the money the companies had spent in previous years didn’t necessarily help Web 3.0’s cause.

“I went to something last year for Quentin Tarantino’s NFT … and it was funny to see everyone trying to spin what they do and explain it,” a source told On The Money. “Everyone would be much more confused about what happened after hearing the panel. It was pure comedy.”

“You had random people talking about democratizing art and nobody could answer questions about what they were doing – even the smartest minds couldn’t really explain it,” the source added.

Although some outside NFT watchers mourn free cocktails, others say a toned-down NFT week is good medicine.

“Tons of things are still being built, it’s just the speculative manic bubble that popped,” said one industry source.

“This year is definitely less exuberant, but it’s coming of age — people are focused on building new technology with less speculative use cases.” Hugh Renaudin, co-founder of the token platform P00LS told The Post.

“Speculation created a lot of interest in cryptocurrency and Web 3.0 has gotten a bad wrap, so everyone is trying to be more private now,” added Hugh.

While NFT volumes reached roughly $2 billion in February, that’s still a dramatic decline from the number of trades just a year ago. Bloomberg reports that in January 2022 there were $17 billion in NFT sales – by December 2022 the volume had fallen 97% to $466 million.