NFT.NYC events head to dive bars, apartment buildings as crypto crashes

NFT.NYC – a yearly crypto confab which even last year had displayed the decadence of a sector worth trillions – took a decidedly downmarket turn this week.

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. 

“I went to something last year for Quentin Tarantino’s NFT… and it was hilarious watching everyone trying to spin what they’re doing and explain it,” one source told On The Money.  “Everyone would be way more confused about what was happening after hearing the panel. It was pure comedy.”

“You had random people talking about democratizing art and no one could answer any questions about what they were doing — even the smartest minds couldn’t really explain it,” the source added. 

Even as some outside NFT observers are mourning the 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,” a source in the industry said.

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

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

While NFT volumes hit roughly $2 billion in February, it’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 that volume had dropped 97% to $466 million.