From June 20-23, 2022, New York was the undisputed center of the global Non-Fungible Token craze with the NFT.NYC Conference taking place. In the heart of Manhattan, NFTs have taken over the city, and people have traveled far and wide to attend one of the largest NFT conferences in the world.
What is an NFT?
Before you see the key outcomes of the conference, let's remember what NFTs are all about.
NFTs are a non-exchangeable type of cryptocurrency where each token has a unique value, as opposed to exchangeable assets like Bitcoin, where each token has the exact same worth. NFTs can take the form of GIFs, tweets, virtual transaction cards, physical objects, video games, real estate, etc. As opposed to an actual, tangible collectible, investing in digital assets such as an NFT offers the benefit that the information it contains allows you to verify the creator and reduces the possibility of fraud. NFTs are the only data units that contain information about the ownership of a property stored in a secure encrypted global chain of entries (blockchain).
NFTs are the collectibles of the future. They can represent almost anything, and their rarity and popularity are two of the main reasons they are sought after by individual traders, players, millionaires, and celebrities. None of these tokens are alike, and each one has only the value you assign to it.
A variety of frameworks can be used to develop and publish NFT. The most significant of these is ERC-721. This is a non-tradeable asset creation and sale template for the Ethereum blockchain. A more recent and updated standard is the ERC-1155. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities by allowing the inclusion of both flexible and non-exchangeable currencies in a single contract. The NFTs version's standardization promotes greater interoperability, which ultimately benefits users. In essence, it means that various applications can easily share unique assets.
It is important to keep this in mind that NFTs cannot be copied or transferred without the owner's permission. Not even from the publisher of the NFT. But how can these things have any value? The total number of people who value an item determines its price. In essence, value is a subjective concept. Whether it's money, precious metals, or a vehicle, these items have worth because people believe they do. This is how every valuable item increases in value, so why not digital collectibles?
Enter the World of NFT NYC
NFT NYC was an event that provided a gathering place for those with an active interest in blockchain-based art, music, film, gaming, sports, fashion, and more throughout the entire week of June 20th, 2022. basically, NFT NYC served as a meeting for those working in web 3.0 and NFTs to attend and see the innovation happening all over the place. It also provided an opportunity to have fun. The NFT community deserved a bit of positivity and a chance to get together, especially with the current bear market breathing down its neck.
One of the first obvious things was how this year's conference was so much different from the last in terms of size and attendance. This year was ten times bigger, and there were literally thousands of speakers and hundreds of companies present.
The NFT enthusiasm being felt across the industry is global, which showed by the diverse range of people attending the conference. For example, there were people from South Africa building metaverse projects, companies from all over the world working on integrating NFTs and real estate, international art curators looking to add high-end digital art to their collections, and many, many more.
The range and diversity of conversations were way more than expected especially compared to last year when at the conference, it felt like talking about the different PFP NFT projects was the main conversation, along with what types of NFT domains people owned. This year was a completely different conversation that really focused on building the next generation of decentralized applications.
The Future of NFTs and Web 3.0
Also, a significant development was the increased recognition of web 3.0 manufacturers. At the New York conference, perhaps above all else, it presumably became abundantly clear that web 3.0 manufacturers are now more successful than ever. Although the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has long established itself as a key player in NFT projects, BAYC is no longer the only serious competitor in the NFT model race.
While ApeFest and Gary Vee appearances dominated NFT NYC 2021, this year's iteration featured Doodles announcing Pharell Williams as their chief brand officer, FVCKrender's Lucidia attracting the attention of the NYPD, Cool Cats launching a multi-day activation party, and more while many NFT enthusiasts chose to disclose their affiliations from CryptoPunks to Moonbirds etc.
Crypto Price Drops? What’s That?
At the time of NFT NYC in 2022, the outlook for cryptocurrency prices was not promising. NFT trading had understandably fallen off a cliff as well, with the price of Ethereum alone having dropped from an all-time high of nearly 5000$ in November 2021 to around 1100$ by the time the conference began.
Despite falling cryptocurrency prices, community sentiment was rising. Generally, the conversations held throughout the conference have not been about price drops. In general, attendees did not seem to mind the price decreases and had a positive attitude. The general feeling was that everyone agreed that the next few years would be focused on building applications using web 3.0 technology. The goal of these applications is to be useful and to provide users with a great experience.
The number of new people attending the conference this year remarkably indicates that many people are interested in the scene and want to participate actively in the latest technology era. Last year there were a few thousand collectors who found their luck and were excited to connect in real life, but this year, the people in attendance were those people plus a ton of other people and companies who don't have high-end NFTs but want to learn more and network. This was very exciting because you can learn a lot from real-life events and many people left the conference feeling motivated to go home and do research based on the information they got from the multi-day event.
Things That Could Be Better
Even though viewpoints toward cryptocurrencies and organizations in the field have changed and were overwhelmingly positive throughout the multi-day conference, several things could still change. The 2021 edition of the convention, which featured more than 500 speakers distributed across three venues, was hailed as a victory for the NFT community. While still big, the 2022 convention was even more prominent, taking up to seven venues and having more than 1500 speakers; however, the NFT community has questioned whether the NYC convention is considering its interests since tickets ranged from 500 to 2000$. Many regular NFT fans could not afford the costly tickets to attend the multi-day convention.
Experience suggests that success tends to breed success. The NFT industry is no exception, and NFT NYC participants certainly experienced it. Once a project like BAYC or an artist influencer like Gary Vee becomes well-known, their future projects and personal brands will likely be valued appropriately. Numerous attendees queued up to listen to famous people discuss their opinions on NFT potential, such as Spike Lee or Kimbal Musk. Still, those showcasing blockchain-based innovation were met with mostly empty rooms. Once a project starts to gain traction, influencer endorsements and fear of missing out (FoMO) can act as a call to action for NFT enthusiasts to buy tokens from the project. This is precisely what happened with the Goblin Town NFT project, whose parties were exceptionally well attended both during the conference and before.
Final Thoughts
The New York NFT conference demonstrated that NFTs are here to stay. They are expected to dominate the future of investment and change the way people buy things, despite the fact that they are currently a mystery to most people. Thanks to NFTs, content producers can engage with their audiences, produce original artwork, and market it as exclusive content, but the technology's potential applications seem to be barely scratching the surface. Numerous sectors, from the media and arts to education and real estate, already see possible uses for NFTs and want to use them to diversify their product offerings.
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