From Magic Eden's degenerative yacht party to Forbes' multi-chain mixer, nft.NYC put on a spectacle of excess and elitism, and then some in another episode of #hearsay, a weekly gossip column examining the sensual underbelly of cryptocurrencies.
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In the wild west of cryptocurrencies, trends come and go faster than a junkie in a trap house. Just when experts were ready to call non-fungible tokens (nfts) dead, digital collectibles born—and sometimes burned—on the blockchain may instead be experiencing a renaissance.
In 2023, as headlines shouted “nft Bubble Burst” from the rafters, a split began to emerge in the nft community, one of which saw the medium slowly begin to separate itself from the message. One shift many argued was more toward utility. The promise that blockchain once gave digital artists (royalties ad infinitum) was soon, thanks to Blur, revealed as a lie.
According to recent data, nft sales in the last quarter have fallen, leading many to proclaim the demise of the digital art craze. However, closer inspection reveals a more nuanced reality.
Take the recent edition of nft.nyc/” data-type=”link” data-id=”https://www.nft.nyc/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>nft.NYC (which ended April 5). Founded in 2018, the event exploded in 2021 on the heels of a major bull market that saw nft sales reach $17.6 billion, thanks in part to the confluence of cryptocurrency prices, celebrity endorsements, and recognition. of nfts as printed works of art. by important auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. Such events paved the way for a meteoric rise in cultural recognition and awareness of nfts (thanks to Beeple), which again followed a massive boom and bust cycle that cryptocurrency critics used to paint the entire industry as a giant casino.
In fact, in 2022, with falling cryptocurrency prices and turmoil in financial markets following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, digital assets also took a big hit. Gone are the days of minting a pixelated punk or boring ape on ethereum and flipping it for 10x or even 100x profits, came real-world assets, big brands and e-commerce. According to industry watchdog NonFungible nft-market-report-q3-2022″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>reportIn the third quarter of 2022, there was a 77% drop in transaction volume, followed by net losses that reached $450 million compared to the previous year.
<img decoding="async" width="853" height="1024" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-07-at-7.29.50 AM-853×1024.png” alt=”Casino capitalism on nft.NYC, plus, are nfts really dead? #rumors | Opinion – 1″/>
However, by the end of 2023, the nft market appeared to be far from dead. Rather, more mature. At last week's event, nft.NYC co-founder Jodee Rich admitted as much, emphatically stating that “the speculative burn has passed.”
It's worth noting that that speculative ardor began in earnest last year when two popular nft trading platforms, OpenSea and Blur, began what many now see as the “race to the bottom” after Blur offered a zero-fee marketplace with tools designed to also get rid of royalties for creators. In response, Yuga Labs and Magic Edgen established the Creator's Alliance, which they said was a way to enshrine royalty rights, supporting only markets and projects that promised to honor them.
During last week's nft.NYC, the new digital divide couldn't be clearer. The over-the-top jocks in hoodies seem to have been replaced by serious technologists, nerds, and boring talk about file storage. At the Museum of the Moving Image, Erc Calderón of Art Blocks gave a talk with generative artist Tyler Hobbes on the sidelines of nft.NYC. At the Museum of Modern Art's sister venue, PS1, nft storage platform IPFS hosted an event called “The Moment: Art, nft, and Cultural Preservation,” which brought together representatives from FileCoin and Protocol Labs.
At the Javits Center, the official headquarters of nft.NYC, the focus seemed to be less on technology or art and more on sales, merchandising and marketing. Pudgy Penguins, the nft collection that launched a line of dolls at Walmart last year, has since raised $10 million selling these adorable digital-turned-physical artifacts.
What is happening is not so much the death of nfts but rather their rebranding. So are nfts dead? Far from there. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, they are undergoing a metamorphosis. What we are witnessing is not the end of nfts but rather a recalibration of the market. As investors and collectors sift through the rubble of the recent crisis, they are sorting the gems from the trash. The froth may have subsided, but the underlying fundamentals remain strong.
