Crowds at the 4th annual NFT.NYC conference on June 20, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
When NFT NYC, the world’s largest NFT conference, descended on Times Square last month, Bitcoin and Ether were down more than 70 percent from their November highs. That put a damper on the proceedings, and it’s had a ripple effect on the once-ballooning market for digital collectibles. In the first half of 2021, Christie’s sold $93 million worth of NFTs; this year, they’ve sold just $4.8 million.
Meanwhile, NFT players and platforms are being dogged by allegations of insider trading and market manipulation, and many in the art world are reconsidering their relationship with the sector.