Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_62ac587927134" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A fourth annual NFT (non-fungible token) event featuring 1,500 speakers will take place next week across seven venues in New York City</li>
 <li>“We don&#8217;t allow people to come and talk about crypto because we don&#8217;t want that,” the event producer told Blockworks</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



NFT.NYC is an annual conference aiming to thrust new projects into the spotlight by providing a stage for <a href="https://www.nft.nyc/speakers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">speakers</a> from various domains and disciplines.



This year’s event takes place June 20-23 across seven venues in New York City. General admission tickets are priced at $849, while VIP access costs $1,999.



Slumping cryptocurrency prices in recent weeks appear to have sparked renewed interest in snapping up NFTs (non-fungible tokens) at a bargain price. Trade <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-prices-slump-along-with-market/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">volumes</a> for some of the most popular collections surged earlier this month following a broad market sell-off, which pushed some floor prices down 30% in US dollar value.



Despite sinking valuations, Twitter is abuzz with NFT cheerleaders calling on each other to attend NFT.NYC. While 70% of the event’s attendees are expected to come from the US, 30% will be from 80 other countries, according to the event’s organizers.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">🚨 NFT NYC Security Tips 🚨 I&#39;ve seen a couple posts about NFT NYC and keeping your digital assets secured while there&#8230; Honestly I don&#39;t think most of the posts or threads go nearly far enough. You are a major target, and here is how you can protect yourself:&mdash; Jon_HQ (@Jon_HQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jon_HQ/status/1537491373888536576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Jodee Rich launched NFT.NYC in 2019 as part of a joint effort with top collectibles marketplace OpenSea. Currently wearing the event producer cap, Rich is a long-time innovator who wants to build out the practical and mainstream uses of the technology to power commerce and strengthen global brands. 



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Blockworks interviewed Jodee Rich, NFT.NYC’s executive producer:



Blockworks: What triggered your interest in NFTs?



Jodee: In 2018, [OpenSea co-founder] Devin Finzer and I were having lunch at Bar Pitti in New York, and we were both wondering how to communicate something that used initials like NFT. We decided on a conference, reached out to the community and ended up with about 100 speakers. At one point, in February 2019, there were more speakers than attendees. We&#8217;ve always wanted to be very community-focused and put as many thought leaders on stage as possible. That is why we have 1,500 people on stage this year. It was 600 last year, the year before I think it was 300 and the year before that it was 100.



Blockworks: What are some NFT projects that stand out to you?



Jodee: I like what Ticketmaster is doing. They&#8217;re giving people live stubs, commemorative stubs — things to remember the events people go to. A number of brands such as PwC, SAP and Coach are releasing collectible NFTs. I think the idea of NFTs doubling as awards is really fun. We’ll be giving awards at the NFT.NYC award night, and those will be both physical and in NFT form.



Blockworks: How do you see NFTs evolving going forward?


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-23048" width="179" height="268" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=555 555w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=200 200w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=171 171w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=174 174w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=146 146w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=53 53w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NYC-NFT.jpg?w=33 33w" sizes="(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px" /><figcaption>NFT.NYC Executive Producer Jodee Rich | Source: NFT.NYC</figcaption></figure></div>


Jodee: My friend Jehan Chu [managing partner at blockchain venture capital firm Kinetic] and I are soon talking on stage at Radio City about “dynamically compositing” NFTs, which sounds like a mouthful. But it really interests me. I think the next phase for NFTs sees tokens grow, evolve and morph with external inputs. An NFT doesn&#8217;t have to be static. It doesn&#8217;t always have to look the way it does. It can carry metadata. Compositing means overlaying different images on NFTs as it evolves and is passed from one person to another. 



My personal favorite NFT evolution would be identity. I look forward to the day when my NFT controls advertising and social network access to me. I look forward to the day where Google properly indexes NFTs so that when people search for me, they see all of the NFTs I&#8217;ve touched and that I&#8217;m interested in. I think NFTs will become a way of expressing both our brand identity and our personal identity.



Blockworks: Do you have tips for NFT buyers who are only looking to trade their collectibles?



Jodee: I don&#8217;t think about that very much. For me, it&#8217;s the least interesting part of the ecosystem. We don&#8217;t allow people to come and talk about crypto because we don&#8217;t want that. We want thought leadership around NFTs. The trading part of it is probably the least interesting. This year we have a stage where people can come and talk about their drops, and we&#8217;re helping them by putting them on stage.&nbsp;



Blockworks: Is it still early days?



Jodee: If you say there are 1,000 days in the life of NFTs, I think we&#8217;re really only at day one. We are barely at the beginning. The good news is that your taxi driver probably knows what an NFT is.&nbsp;



This interview was edited for length and clarity.



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Q&A: NFT.NYC Producer Says Trading Most Boring Part of the Ecosystem

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_6217f3714cfd6" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Zynga will roll out a blockchain-based game in 2022, the exec said</li>
 <li>The blockchain gaming industry generated more than $4 billion in 2021, per crypto data provider DappRadar</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Matt Wolf was first thrust into the world of NFTs four years ago as an adviser for gaming startup Epics Digital Collectables.



During his time at one of the first NFT (non-fungible token) trading card platforms, Wolf said he became “fascinated by the ownership of in-game assets.”



Wolf, who began investing in cryptocurrencies in 2014, said it was “easy to see the value” in blockchain gaming. “If you’re in the gaming business, and you’re not seriously looking at blockchain integration, you might be missing a huge opportunity,” he told Blockworks.



The industry generated more than $4 billion in 2021, according to data provider <a href="https://dappradar.com/topic/games" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DappRadar</a>.



Wolf previously worked as head of gaming at The Coca-Cola Company, along with stints on advisory boards for gaming ventures such as Riot Games, Alpha Draft and ProGuides.



Last year he joined Zynga — the gaming giant behind Words With Friends and Farmville — as the company’s vice president of blockchain gaming. The publisher, Wolf <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/words-with-friends-creator-zynga-to-launch-nft-based-games/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> on Feb. 9, will be breaking into NFT gaming this year.



Blockworks’ Morgan Chittum spoke with Wolf about Zynga’s forthcoming blockchain gaming studio, the inspiration behind the offering and his first impression of NFTs.&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Chittum: You recently said that Zynga will roll out an NFT-based game within the next year, but the company will form a separate studio to do so. What went behind the decision to launch a different division entirely?



Wolfe: We don&#8217;t want our players to get confused with the games that they already love that Zynga makes and our blockchain offering. We do want to create some separation there. It&#8217;s a separate division but still within Zynga. We’re actively recruiting for that division and for senior level people who can help us develop this community.



Chittum: Can you predict how much capital Zynga will allocate to this new venture?



Wolf: I can&#8217;t really predict that. I can just say that we have a lot of conviction toward it.&nbsp;



We&#8217;re really interested in this as a potential evolutionary step for games. When you have that level of excitement from a company like Zynga, there tends to be a lot of support.&nbsp;



Chittum: When you say this is an “evolutionary step,” what do you think this signals to other gaming companies and publishers? Do you think they&#8217;re going to follow suit and integrate blockchain technology as well?



Wolf: Some are already doing this. Others may be watching and looking for their opportunity to jump in. I think time will tell. Personally, I think this is an amazing new step or potentially another direction to enjoy interactive entertainment.



Chittum: How do you think play-to-earn projects can ensure players continue participating in games without money taking over as the players’ sole interest?



Wolf: We have to understand who these players are, what they consider fun, and then do our best to deliver that. I think part of that is a durable economy, inventing fun and exploring different play mechanics as well. We have to put that all together under the umbrella of a blockchain game to really excite and satisfy these people and have them find value in these games.



Chittum: When was the first time you heard the word NFT? Where were you? What was going through your head?&nbsp;



Wolf: I started investing in crypto in 2014 and along the way in my career, I was also advising companies. One of those companies was an NFT card trading game called Epics Digital Collectables. It’s one of the oldest NFT game-like platforms, so I got exposure to it there and was fascinated by [gaming and decentralized finance] and ownership of assets within these games.



To me, blockchain integration always made sense, but I&#8217;ve been in gaming for a long time. I really do believe in decentralized finance as well. I think it&#8217;s an interesting evolution of interactive entertainment.



Chittum: I know Zynga hasn’t disclosed particulars around the forthcoming games, but could you elaborate on what these will look like at all? Could they be comparable to something like Axie Infinity or Decentraland?



Wolf: We’re still early, right? We’re trying to figure out exactly how we want to move. We have a clearer idea of what we&#8217;re inspired by within our own portfolio, because we&#8217;ve had a lot of successes over time. There are certain kinds of games that we think will lend themselves to be inspired by Mafia Wars in terms of IP.



Chittum: There were reports of employees at Ubisoft resigning over the possibility of having in-game NFTs last year. Do you think the separation between the two at Zynga is in part due to this rumored tension between traditional gaming and the play-to-earn space?&nbsp;



Wolf: There&#8217;s no conflict like that brewing at Zynga. It&#8217;s more about focus. We&#8217;ve got an amazing portfolio of products that deserve a ton of talent and the chance to continue to develop that. I think on the blockchain game side, we&#8217;re looking at building a division that will entirely focus on this.&nbsp;



This interview has been edited for length and clarity.



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