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We talked about infinite pessimism in the market. We are talking about booze and fun this week.
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It is no secret at this point that a lot of people are watching the crash of the coin with joy. Throughout the bull run, the industry has made a lot of consumer enemies, with detractors highlighting aggressive energy usage, the addictive profile of the industry, and how NFTs are for dudes.
As the bull market comes to an end, I think it is a good time to reflect on how investors vision for the web can give consumers more to be excited about than skeptical.
The NFT went to New York this week. Pricey images found their way onto the massive advertising screens, token-gated parties flourished and a host of suddenly less wealthy people found their way to commiserate and double down. The positive vibes show an industry going from growth mode to survival mode.
The NFT world has a version of survival that is a bit different. Future and Amy Schumer were performing at the event. token holders were able to get owl tattoos at the event. The NYPD arrested people at NFT parties. Dozens of people holding signs saying "God Hates NFTs" were hired by a project to protest outside their event. A startup hired a Doop Snogg to walk around their event as an endorsement.
Doop Snogg https://t.co/AkM4LS8Iy8
— Lucas Matney (@lucasmtny) June 21, 2022
The NFT market was filled with an awful lot of bullshit, and any bear market could and should restore some sanity to what is left behind.
In some ways, it feels as though the wealthy collectors of the NFT space are abandoning their homes in order to prepare for the worst. In the face of the downturn, so-called blue-chip projects with 10+ ETH floors, venture funding and significant trading volumes have shown surprising resilience, despite the sinking values of the underlying Cryptocurrencies they are based on.
We began this week's episode by unpacking a controversy that was in part inspired by the Dogefather himself, the Musks. Musk and his companies are being sued by a doge coin holder for inflating the value of the coin.
It is time for NFT NYC this week, a conference that has attractedinfluencers, investors, celebrities and the like to New York. We did a deep dive into the NFT market and what could be driving the seeming exuberance of the NFT space. Two disasters related to the DAO may not bode well for the future of this recently trendy governance structure.
Latasha talked about how NFTs helped her claim ownership of her work and how she makes a living from it. In her role as head of community at the NFT platform, she shared her vision for the future of the platform.
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This week, I will be live from NFT NYC. Everyone who lives in Manhattan has been surrounded by a lot of happy people dismissing the downturn. You can listen to my thoughts on all that, but I would like to ask if the community is practicing what they preach.
There were a lot of complaints from people who waited in line for hours to get their passes. They told me that the people who were speaking on panels had to wait in line with everyone else.
I've lived in New York for a while now, so I'm not easily shaken by a long line, but I thought about the irony of it. NFT stans love to cite the example of events as a prime use case for the technology, which they say could make administrative burdens so much more efficient. Where is that technology this week?
I am not singling out NFT NYC's organizers or anyone else in particular because I am sure putting on a crypto event involves creating order from chaos that is well beyond my own capacity. The lines at NFT NYC raised a bigger question about the future and how the community behaves. It's a huge part of getting to know people in web3 to attend in- person conferences. Shouldn't we all stop at the point where we can feel human connection?
I thought we would all be hanging out with our besties in the metaverse by now. The chance for web3 enthusiasts to use the tech they say will change how we live is huge. It seems that the opportunity has been ignored.
Some of this week's analysis can be found on our subscription service.
The idea of the family culture that so many businesses push for is starting to trickle down into the crypt as communities are formed on a sometimes toxic, cultish stance to back the projects they are invested in. Don't get me wrong, some parts of the community are great, but when it's being used, it can lead to blind people.
As the market continues to plummet, founders in the space are struggling to hold on to investors who are now trying to minimize their risk. Not every founder is happy with the way they are being treated now that investors are back in the driver's seat.
Crypto founders face falling valuations, pulled deals amid market volatility
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