“NFTs have been having a moment, but of late the moment has not been a good one. While 2021 was a banner year for NFTs, the 2022 convention comes at a time when the value of these much-touted digital assets—and the cryptocurrency with which they're traded—are plummeting. So, I was curious: Are attendees genuinely optimistic despite what some see as an inevitable crash? Or, are they cynics trying to mine whatever's left in a soon-to-be digital ghost town? I had a self-directed question, too: Was I an asshole? Maybe these were mostly normal people who wanted a small slice of the American pie?” @vicbekiempis
Thousands of attendees—15,000 people were registered—fanned out across seven official venues in Midtown (including Margaritaville Resort Times Square) and countless unofficial "satellite" events and parties citywide, to promote their various projects and learn more about a supposed Web3 boom. Tickets started at $599 and ran up to $2,000; box lunches were served. It was hard to figure out who was going to be where when.
"Confusion. Lack of respect for art," said Darryl McDaniels of the rap group Run-DMC. "I probably had about 49,000 people come to me when this NFT thing started telling me about 'NFT NFT NFT NFT.' My thing is this: First of all, What's the purpose? I don't want it to be a money grab. Now, money is good, but I don't want it to be a money grab, because I'm an artist. Everything that I do is sacred. If DMC does an NFT, it has to change something. It has to bring attention to something, and it also has to do what museums do: Put artistic creativity on the forefront," he continued. "I think the monetary value of an NFT should be last on a list."
"Since 2018 we've been committed to NFTs and the builders (well before anyone cared!)," organizers say on the convention's "about" page. The founders, Jodee Rich and Cameron Bale, have been figures in the NFT world for years. For those, like me, who are new to the "space," NFT stands for "non-fungible token." Forbes describes them as a "digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos." You usually buy them with cryptocurrency, and their appeal as investment tools is that they're one-of-a-kind, or one out of a limited number of copies.
Paul Silkoff and Aaron Kendrac, who were standing on the sidewalk outside the Marriott on Tuesday, knew each other online first and met in person at the convention. They sported blue caps with yellow lettering that read: "Free NFTs here." Silkoff, a 52-year-old landscaper from Connecticut, wore a black shirt that read "ASK ME HOW THIS NFT CAN MAKE YOU MONEY" with an image of what appeared to be a wine-drinking cartoon bull. Kendrac, a web developer from Staten Island, sported a white shirt with a cartoon man in a farmer's hat, that read "ASK ME HOW FARMAGEDDON farm CAN MAKE YOU MONEY." The shirts were Kendrac's idea.
