⚓️ NFT LA recap
⚓️ NFT LA recap
breaking down the conference from the perspective of a conference noob...
gm.
I am back from NFT LA (fine, I just drove an hour back to my house).
it was a fun conference for me. however, I can see how others would have seen it as a disappointment…especially when you compare it to last year’s.
while it seems like the vast majority decided to skip it this year, I attended and will give you the cliff notes and sentiments from NFT LA 2023 ⤵️
ALPHA ⚓️
mental health/burnout
if I had to choose one phrase to describe NFT LA this year it would be “scaling back”.
projects, influencers, founders, and even the event itself were feeling the effects of a bad market. what last year took up multiple halls at the LA Convention Center…this year was limited to just one.
not only that but last year (allegedly) there were also loads of afterparties, huge stages for speakers, and big headliners to keep the buzz of the conference going for all 4 days.
this year? there was definitely no Azuki “check your wallets” moment. I didn’t really have to stand in line or fight crowds anywhere I went (though the rain didn’t help).
big projects, including the aforementioned Azuki, seemed to punt on LA entirely.
Hassbula showed up briefly and Checks had a big party…but that’s about as *noteworthy* as anything got.
that being said? it was an awesome time for introverts like me. the small pond led to quality interactions and a more relaxed environment.
often times, the MCs and panelists would applaud us simply for showing up; it apparently meant we were in it for the right reasons.
me? I just didn’t have anything else to do…
BETA ⚓️
AI and media
so what were panels talking about?
as mentioned in my Tuesday newsletter, I expected to hear a lot about “Hollywood” and also AI. in a rare BivNFT moment, I absolutely nailed that prediction.
but while they both were hot topics of discussion at almost every panel, they really produced some of the worst content of the week (besides my newsletter, of course).
with AI, no one had anything more to offer on it other than it will become a great “tool” for artists and creators.
with media, at one point a moderator applauded giant companies like Warner Brothers and CBS for being “brave” and experimenting with NFTs. they also flashed the Game of Thrones NFTs on the screen without a hint of irony.
however, I did find unexpected insight from panels on Web3 music.
yes, surprisingly, fans of music NFTs had the most to offer at the conference. here’s what I learned:
the music industry is once again ripe for disruption
Web3 offers music artists authentic and organic ways to build an audience
the technology gives them a way to offer fans new experiences while earning more than they’d make from Spotify. a win-win all around
even better, most speakers were completely realistic on the panels. they weren’t saying abolish Spotify. in fact, they value the music giant’s contribution to “saving” them years ago from torrents and Pirate Bay.
but now things have evolved to a point where Spotify is a necessary evil.
only the Taylor Swifts of the world are making anything from it, and Web3 offers an avenue for artists with much smaller bases to still make a living from making music.
so I’m sold on music NFTs…as that concept is really at the core of what we’re trying to do here.
GAMMA ⚓️
DeGods and Ordinals
in the circles I ran in during the conference, there was very little “alpha” dispensed. but I was unable to escape a lot of discussion around Ordinals.
you know…the Bitcoin NFTs.
Frank from DeGods kicked off the conference by discussing his DeGods on Bitcoin experiment, which netted him a cool $2 million and sold out in a few seconds.
his logic for why Ordinals would succeed was simple yet compelling: the Bitcoin community is still thriving, and he finds it hard to believe that people won’t want to collect Bitcoin artifacts.
I can’t argue it, and slowly over the week, I became more convinced that I needed to get off my lazy butt and finally learn what was going on with Ordinals. while the price to experiment with Bitcoin NFTs is still too expensive for me, I can see the technology getting to a point where a layman like myself can still be “early” to them.
also? Frank seemed to heavily imply that the merge of his DeGods and y00ts projects would merge to Ethereum and Polygon respectfully will happen by the EOM…so he’ll still hit that Q1 deadline.
there’s the only little bit of alpha I can offer you.
DELTA ⚓️
sorry for the late newsletter this week
on a personal level, NFT LA was a huge success.
I loitered around my friend Jeremy Fisher’s Lucky Ducky booth for 2 days and got to meet other cool people that came by.
I pushed myself outside my comfort zone. I got a picture with Gabe Weis.
I went to afterparties. I said hi to KMoney on my way to the parking garage and he shook my hand.
I had way too much caffeine. I didn’t have too much alcohol.
maybe conferences aren’t so bad after all. I definitely learned some things…and I think I’d like to attend more of them.
that’s right: Biv coming to an NFT event near you (but I’d still prefer that you keep it in Southern California so I can drive).
see you Tuesday.
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*this newsletter was made for informational purposes ONLY and does not constitute financial or legal advice*