Sold Out NFT.NYC Event Crushes Expectations
And, October NFT Highlights!
New York hosted an unbelievable NFT conference this past week called NFT.NYC. This event was a massive success that brought together NFT fans, creators, developers, investors, influencers, and collectors. It took place from Nov 1-4, with an action-packed schedule of lectures and events revolving around NFT art and gaming. 600 speakers in total, spoke about topics ranging all aspects of the sector including how to build an NFT community, the impact of NFTs, NFTs in sports, scaling and solving challenges, and how AI & AR are integrating into the sphere.
As this year was the true birth of NFTs, people were ecstatic to finally have an opportunity to meet the artists behind their avatars and the heroes who helped them navigate the NFT craze. Twitter was buzzing for weeks before and during the conference about the magical experiences including a Bored Ape Yacht Club party on an actual yacht, and the premiere of “Becoming Beeple” a documentary revealing “Beeple’s overall journey of becoming a digital artist turned cultural icon”.
The momentum of NFT sales through the month of October was a great segue to the massive extravaganza in NYC in November. Here are some of the highlights:
OpenSea broke another record; more than 293,000 users bought and sold digital art in October.
Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s rebranding to “Meta” adding NFT utility and sales to its Metaverse economy.
Adobe announced that Photoshop will soon allow artists to link their crypto wallets and support NFT verification on marketplaces, while also upgrading the photoshop tools to help digitize creations with ease.
Coinbase plans to launch an NFT marketplace.
Ubisoft leads funding round for Animoca brands, manager of The Sandbox, a gaming platform with integrated Blockchain elements and NFTs.
Galaxy Digital raised another $325M Fund for interactive gaming, NFTs, XR, and Metaverse.
Dolce & Gabbana Set a $6M record for Fashion NFTs.
The Recording Academy and green NFT marketplace OneOf have teamed up for an exclusive partnership to release NFTs that will commemorate the 64th, 65th and 66th GRAMMY Awards.
McDonalds put out an NFT featuring their McRib sandwich for their superfans commemorating its 40th anniversary.
Nike Inc. filed seven requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in late October to protect its marks in categories including “downloadable virtual goods” for branding in NFTs and Videogames.
Jeff Koons, the world’s most expensive living artist, announces that he will be dropping his first NFT.
Why is all this important?
The sheer scale of NFT.NYC speaks to the aspirations and potential of the NFT community. Furthermore, the constant drumbeat of headlines revolving around every industry including fashion, music, entertainment, marketing, and publishing, confirms that NFTs are integrating into our lives. Soon enough they will be embedded in our daily engagements whether we like it or not.
The interesting thing though is that there isn’t a playbook for how it will all unfold; it will be up to the community of creators and fans that will steer the content. Let’s hope we steer it well.
So, who’s going to be getting their family members NFTs for Christmas?
Stay Curious!
~NFT Art Source
If you happened to be at the event, please share with us your experiences in the comments!