We invited John Crain, Devin Finzer, and Marguerite deCourcelle to our Virtual Meetup #7 on Wednesday, October 21 @ 10AM EST to discuss how crypto is playing a role in the art scene.
Held monthly, CoinGecko’s Virtual Meetup is our live online community event where we explore different key topics in the crypto sphere and invite industry leaders to share their two satoshis.
In our discussion, we talked about the progress, challenges, and the value of crypto and NFTs.
Here is a quick breakdown of what we discussed with John, Devin, and Marguerite.
How does the NFT space today compare to its early days?
Devin pointed out that there has been a lot of improvement in the space. “The consumer facing infrastructure has improved, the wallet support, the ability to view NFTs in a variety of different places, and companies that are building art platforms have also been adding feature after feature that have been really awesome for people who want to both collect and create art.”
“Whether it is sustainable growth or hype, I think there is a lot of both involved,” John added.
Meanwhile, Marguerite is seeing a lot of platforms looking into ways to add further value to NFTs.
How do we find value in crypto art?
“A big part of what you are buying today is a piece of history” said John when comparing NFTs to high value collectables.
On the other hand, Marguerite talks about bringing art pieces to life. She shared “I really do believe that as creators, we are going to be able to leverage these NFTs in creative ways.”
Devin sees a wide variety of things when it comes to utility and provenance of NFTs by adding, “In the gaming community, we already see this idea of these ultra rare assets that almost act as art within a game; and those do sometimes provide utility.”
What is the progression from the usual auctioning mechanism to the staking of tokens for NFTs?
Marguerite begins by pointing out that the problem regarding staking is that it runs on a first-come, first-served basis. “What we are rolling out is the ability to stake for shards which will distribute ownership of the NFTs instead,” she adds.
John continues that crypto art also provides an experiential aspect because staking and obtaining are two new components to the art piece.
Devin is also interested in the cultural aspect of NFTs. In the way that CryptoPunk gained value over the years, he believes that “Five years down the road these could be the Satoshi’s of our time.”
What is the biggest challenge in the NFT space?
According to Devin, “The marketplace for NFTs can become limited by technical constraints such as high gas prices.” He continues that “We do need some sort of scalability solution that allows for higher throughput.”
When it comes to displaying art, John also faces scalability issues. “The aim is to have a magical user experience that feels pretty seamless.”
Meanwhile, Marguerite faces the challenge of launching into the mainstream audience. This is because “The Ethereum community is not necessarily the gamer community.”
Will there be mass adoption of NFTs?
When it comes to mass adoption, all three of our speakers were in agreement that mass adoption of NFTs is definitely a possibility.
Marguerite is excited about audio NFTs and notes that “Big artists entering the space are going to bring a lot of other artists too.”
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Stephanie has a keen interest in breaking down complex topics into beginner-friendly pieces. She has been in the crypto space since 2020 and wants to continue contributing to the demystification of the crypto industry to a broader audience.
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