It\u2019s no secret at this point that plenty of onlookers are watching the crypto crash with glee, laughing as tokens tumble and NFT volumes shrink. The crypto industry has managed to make plenty of consumer enemies throughout this bull run \u2014 with detractors highlighting aggressive energy usage, the addictive profile of crypto investing and how NFTs have become \u201cMLMs for dudes\u201d \u2014 as justifications for their distaste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the bull market meets its end, there\u2019s probably a good moment here for introspection on how investors\u2019 web3 vision for the web can give consumers more to be excited about than skeptical, but something tells me that the crypto industry is about to grow more insular than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, NFT denizens descended on Times Square in New York. Pricey images found their way onto the massive advertising screens, token-gated parties flourished and a host of suddenly less rich collectors found their way to commiserate and double down. My co-host Anita had the chance to visit NFT NYC in person and gave some thoughts below, but in some ways, the positive vibes showcase an industry going from growth mode to survival mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NFT world\u2019s version of survival looks a little different of course. At the event this week, Bored Ape Yacht Club hosted a festival with Future, LCD Soundsystem and Amy Schumer performing. Tame Impala headlined Kevin Rose\u2019s Moonbirds event where token holders could get owl tattoos onsite. The NYPD busted up token-gated NFT parties. A project hired dozens of protestors holding signs saying \u201cGod Hates NFTs\u201d to stand outside their event. One NFT startup hired a Snoop Dogg impersonator \u201cDoop Snogg\u201d to walk around their event as a tacit pseudo endorsement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, it\u2019s no secret that the NFT market was filled with an awful lot of bullshit, and any bear market could and should restore some sanity to what\u2019s left behind, but the lines are looking a little blurry in NFT land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some ways, it feels as though the wealthy collectors of the NFT space are jettisoning into space as the world they built preps for a meltdown. So-called blue-chip projects with 10+ ETH floors, venture funding and significant trading volumes have shown surprising resiliency in the face of the downturn despite the sinking values of the underlying cryptocurrencies they\u2019re based on, but NFT project floors across the board have taken major hits as less wealthy collectors look for exit liquidity where they can, struggling all the way down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We kicked off this week\u2019s episode by unpacking some controversy incited by none other than the Dogefather himself \u2013 Elon Musk. Musk and his companies, SpaceX and Tesla,\u00a0are being sued by a Dogecoin holder<\/a>\u00a0for allegedly inflating the value of the cryptocurrency, which has since crashed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s time for NFT NYC this week, a crypto conference that\u2019s attracted influencers, investors, celebrities and the like to New York (more on that below from Anita, who\u2019s been bopping arond the city talking to the NFT community). We did a deep dive into the NFT market itself and what could be driving the seeming exuberance of the NFT space even amid such dire market conditions for crypto and tech overall. We wrapped up this week\u2019s news with two DAO-related disasters that may not bode well for the future of this recently trendy, but undeniably messy governance structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Musical and visual artist Latasha joined us on the podcast this week to talk about how NFTs helped her claim ownership of, and make a living from, her creative work. She shared her vision behind Zoratopia, a festival experience she has hosted at crypto events all over the US, in her role as head of community at the NFT platform Zora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscribe to Chain Reaction on\u00a0Apple<\/a>,\u00a0Spotify<\/a>\u00a0or your alternative podcast platform of choice to keep up with us every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where startup money is moving in the crypto world:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Afropolitan raises millions from Balaji Srinivasan and others to build a digital nation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Hey, it\u2019s Anita here, reporting (pretty much) live from NFT NYC this week. Everyone who lives in Manhattan, myself included, has been surrounded by a deluge of delighted degens dismissing the downturn this week. You can listen to this week\u2019s podcast to hear my thoughts on all that, but I want to tackle a different question here:\u00a0Is the crypto community practicing what they preach?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There were tons of complaints on Twitter from people who waited in line for hours to get their passes for the NFT NYC. Even those who were speaking on panels had to wait in line along with all the event attendees, they told me, which apparently wrapped around as many as three city blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve lived in New York for a while now, so I\u2019m not easily shaken by a long line, but it got me thinking about the irony of the whole affair. NFTs and their associated tech can provide easy authentication and identity verification. NFT stans love to cite the example of events as a prime use case for the technology, which they say could make administrative burdens like checking people into a conference so much more efficient. So where is that technology at this week\u2019s conference?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure putting on a crypto event involves creating order from chaos in a way that\u2019s well beyond my own capacity, so I\u2019m not singling out NFT NYC\u2019s organizers or anyone else in particular. But the lines at NFT NYC raised a bigger question in my mind about the contradiction between what the crypto community says<\/em> is the future versus how the crypto community actually behaves. Like, why are in-person conferences even such a huge part of getting to know people in web3? Shouldn\u2019t we all be past the point where we need to breathe each other\u2019s air to feel human connection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on what I\u2019ve heard for the past year from much of the web3 community, I would have expected we\u2019d all be hanging out with our besties in the metaverse 24\/7 by now. Crypto conferences themselves, it seems, present a huge opportunity for web3 enthusiasts to actually leverage the tech they say will change everything about how we live. So far, it seems that opportunity has largely been overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s some of this week\u2019s crypto analysis you can read on our subscription service TC+ (written by TC\u2019s Jacquelyn Melinek): <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Crypto\u2019s emphasis on community could lead followers off a cliff<\/a>follow the money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nthis week in web3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTC+ analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>The idea of the \u201cfamily\u201d culture that so many businesses push for is seeping deeper into the crypto world as communities are formed on a sometimes toxic, cultish stance to unwaveringly back the projects they are invested in. Don\u2019t get me wrong, some parts of the crypto community are great \u2014 I\u2019m a part of a few communities myself \u2014 but when it\u2019s misused, it can lead to the blind leading the blind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n