NFT.NYC 2021 Day One Recap: Quentin Tarantino, Bored Apes & More
The third annual NFT.NYC conference kicked off this week with a barrage of events and programming scheduled for Nov. 2 to 4. The 500-plus speaker event has drawn artists, builders and enthusiasts from all over the world to convene in New York City’s Times Square for a celebration of NFT community and culture.
Featuring appearances from celebrities such as Timbaland and Quentin Tarantino, to NFT stars including Beeple and Metakovan, the annual conference has already been a whirlwind. And although we mapped out some of NFT.NYCs most notable happenings in our event roundup, new and exciting things seem to be popping up around every corner.
Here’s a recap of what happened during day one.
Quentin Tarantino’s NFT Announcement
The award-winning director made a surprise appearance at NFT.NYC to announce a forthcoming series of his own NFTs. In collaboration with The Secret Network, Tarantino will be dropping seven never-before-seen, uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as Secret NFTs on OpenSea.
Although the time and date for these auctions is yet to be announced, considering the iconic status of the 1994 film, this collection is sure to bring with it a great deal of mainstream interest. To learn more about Tarantino’s NFTs, watch the livestream panel discussion with the legendary director on our Twitter.
Bored Apes Merch Pop-Up
The team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been hard at work with their multiday Ape Fest NFT.NYC activation. Featuring a slew of happenings including a yacht party, charity dinner and secret warehouse party, Ape Fest’s BAYC merch pop-up drew a much larger crowd than anticipated.
Held at a themed storefront in Lower Manhattan, the BAYC merch pop-up — unlike the yacht or warehouse party — was open to the public. As non-BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club collectors flocked to the area in hopes of snagging merch from one of the most prominent NFT projects in existence, the line extended down the block, prompting the BAYC team to tweet an apology to those held up in the extended queue.
NFTs in Times Square
NFT Magazine hosted its Crypto Art Fair in Times Square on NFT.NYC. Featuring NFTs from 70 artists including Aeforia, Antoni Tudisco, Xsullo, Steven Baltay, Isaac “Drift” Wright, Marco Mori and more, the 15,000 square foot billboard displayed crypto art from 1 to 2 p.m.
In addition to NFT Magazine’s Art Fair, a wide variety of NFTs could be seen on various other billboards throughout Times Square. Some notable spottings include Deadfellaz, XCOPY, Adam Bomb Squad, Gremplin, RTFKT, Party Degenerates, toomuchlag and a wide array of Bored Apes and CryptoPunks.
NFT.NYC Awards
The first annual NFT.NYC Awards were held at the Edison Ballroom and hosted by ABC broadcaster Sade Baderinwa. Awards in the categories of Best NFT Marketplace, Best Blockchain for NFTs, Best Written Coverage of NFTs and more were decided via community voting and OpenSea data analysis, said NFT.NYC founder Jordee Rich.
Gary Vee Spotting
Entrepreneur and NFT investor/influencer Gary Vaynerchuk was spotted first at his fireside chat with NFT.NYC founder Jordee Rich and then again later in the morning of Nov. 2 at an impromptu meet and greet outside of Times Square. Vaynerchuk will be speaking again at NFT.NYC on Nov 3. at the Brands with Gary Vee panel at the Edison Ballroom.