Non-Fungible Thoughts — My Top 5 Takeaways from NFT NYC
If you spend any amount of time on crypto twitter, you no doubt saw the endless stream of pics from NFT NYC.
There were JPEGs. There were protestors. There was even a Snoop Dogg impersonator, who may or may not have actually been Snoop Dogg (still not sure).
But amidst all the events, excitement and 10k algorithmically generated PFP collections, there were some real insights to be gained about the current state of NFTs — and how the space might evolve in the future.
Yep…that’s right. I beat everyone else in the race to publish their NFT NYC takeaway blog.
Here are my top 5 takeaways from the 2022 edition of NFT NYC!
1. We are EARLY.
I know, I know. It’s the most cliché thing I could possibly say. But you know what?
It’s true.
For all the noise that NFTs made in mainstream culture the last couple of years, the actual industry still feels incredibly small — and dare I say…early.
If you walked around the actual conference, you no doubt noticed that the majority of projects were PFP collections. And that’s not a criticism. There will always be a place for “NFTs as community/culture” collections, especially in an industry that lives online. But there are so many potential applications for NFTs that simply haven’t been realized to even a small degree of their potential yet.
Over the coming years, it’ll be fascinating to see how the NFT space evolves. I’m especially keeping an eye out on some new projects related to NFTs as on-chain ownership records for real estate, and few more “commercial” applications.
But for now, I’ll keep trading JPEGs and playing every possible idle staking game.
And speaking of games…
2. GameFi is Gonna be LIT!
Pardon my Gen-Z. But based on what I saw and the discussions I had with a few equally ambitious and interesting GameFi projects, the GameFi sector is gonna be, well…lit.
To be clear, I’m not someone who thinks Web3 will completely erase Web2 any time in the near future. Just because something is new, doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better in every particular instance. And this is definitely true when it comes to gaming.
The traditional gaming industry will always exist (in my lifetime) — with mega-large studios pumping out massive games that consumers will buy once and play ’til they’re bored. But that doesn’t mean GameFi won’t continue to grow and gain adoption with players around the world.
Games like Crabada and Axie Infinity showed that there is real world demand for the intersection of gaming and decentralized finance. And in the coming years, I think we’ll look back and marvel at just how much GameFi evolved in such a short amount of time.
NFTs will continue to be a core component of GameFi projects. And with specialized gaming chains like Phantasma offering new tools like “smart NFTs”, the world of GameFi has a lot of room to grow (understatement of the year).
Ok…on to the next one.
3. Generative Art is a Thing — A Really Cool Thing.
To be honest, I spent most of my time in NYC meeting with projects, wandering the show, or hanging out at one of the seemingly infinite number of satellite events (more on that later). But one talk I really enjoyed was from the team at ntent — an NFT platform for curated generative & deterministic art.
The team gave a brief intro to the early pioneers of generative art, and discussed how the field is emerging today. They also showcased some pretty cool pieces that sincerely changed my understanding of what NFT art can actually be.
I won’t spend too much time writing about ntent because you should learn about them by spending some time on their site; but I really enjoyed the talk and can’t wait to see how generative art evolves moving forward.
I also want to give a special shoutout to Harmony for hosting the event space. They created a perfect hangout spot to take a break from the madness of Times Square and also put on some interesting and informative talks all week long. Thanks frens :)
And now…for the most important takeaway.
4. Go to Events. Talk to People You Don’t Know.
Here’s the truth: digital networking will always be the backbone of this industry. Whether it’s the current blend of Twitter / Telegram / Discord (and lowkey LinkedIn) — or some future world where I pop on my Meta Quest 4000 and wave a friendly octopus arm at new potential partners.
But despite this obvious fact, there is still real value in attending Web3 / Crypto events.
The entire point of events like this is for people in the industry to connect and move things forward through shared knowledge and meaningful collaboration. It’s about getting a ton of industry professionals in the same place and allowing them to make rapid-fire connections in a way that feels more sincere than typing on a screen. And honestly…
NFT NYC did this extremely well.
The events were full of people building real projects and looking to collaborate, which made for a shockingly productive few days. Sure, there were plenty of parties where you could hardly talk over the music (those have their place for relationship building too). But there were also a lot of well-curated side events where almost everyone you talked to was doing something interesting and open to working together.
Special shoutout to Magna and Dispatch for their launch event on 6/21 (and Shannon for putting it together). Not just because it was really close to my Air BnB (thanks for that too), but because everyone I met there was equal parts industry builder and genuinely cool person.
Hosting events is not easy — especially those focused on crypto networking. But when you achieve the perfect blend of “Tuesday night chill party” and “crypto networking event”, it deserves to be celebrated. So…here’s to you, frens.
Ok then. Let’s close out this recap with an incredible revelation.
5. I DIDN’T GET COVID (AGAIN)
I honestly can’t believe it. But hey…I’ll take the W.
This may be due to the fact that I’ve had it 3 (or 5) times before. But stepping off that plane and scrolling through the endless “just got back from NFT NYC — got covid” posts, I figured it was just a matter of time until I saw 2 red lines on the test strip.
But here we are. Healthy as a horse. Strong like bull. And ready to do everything I can to make C14 the Marquee Sponsor at next year’s event.
Until next time, frens.
Best,
Patrick
