Gary Vaynerchuk will host the VeeCon NFT conference this weekend in Minneapolis.
The event is centered around the VeeFriends NFT Project and features 150 speakers including Beeple, Snoop Dogg and Mila Kunis.
This weekend, the Gary Vee NFT Show is taking place in Minneapolis
VeeCon, the debut NFT conference by entrepreneur, investor and author Gary Vaynerchuk (a.k.a. Gary Vee. Vaynerchuk will be hosting some of the most important panels and interviews throughout the weekend. The event spotlights brands that his companies (including VaynerNFT consultancy) have collaborated with.
The tickets are Ethereum tickets that were given to VeeFriends owners . This hand-drawn NFT collection was launched last year with the promise to three years of free access to an annual convention, and other perks. The project has generated over $300 million in total sales, with the latest Series 2 expansion.
Vaynerchuk will not be the only one on stage speaking to his passionate fans. From today to Sunday, the speakers list includes a wide range of NFT celebrities and artists.
This list includes artists like Pharrell and Steve Aoki, Eva Longoria and Spike Lee as well as NFT creators Beeple, pplpleasr and FEWOCiOUS and people behind projects such as World of Women, Art Blocks and Cool Cats. The event will feature performances by TLC, an R&B band, and other musicians.
Vaynerchuk spoke to Decrypt Thursday. He said that he has always hoped to throw a “super conference”, but that it wasn’t the right time in the past. He saw an opportunity to build community and utilize technology, and he decided to host his dream conference when he was deep in the NFT space at the beginning of 2021.
He stated, “Right at the beginning of VeeFriends, I knew that NFTs were not just a collectible.
An NFT is a proof that an item has been owned. It can be digital goods such as artwork or collectibles. However, it can also be used to represent real-world items like stock certificates and real estate. An NFT can be used to gain access to a community or get into exclusive experiences. In 2021, the NFT market saw a significant increase in trading volume of $25Billion.
Vaynerchuk stated that access to him was a key component of VeeFriends NFTs, which is a form of utility. He explained that he knew people wanted to reach him and that his life had reached a point where he couldn’t.
While some NFTs allow for one-on-one interactions with Vaynerchuk such as a meal or video chat, all three enable the holder to access VeeCon events for three years, up until 2024. VeeCon will kick off in Minneapolis. Vaynerchuk mentioned that some of his closest associates are from Minneapolis. He’s also an investor in the Call of Duty League Esports team, Minnesota ROKKR.
It remains to be seen if it will stay in Minneapolis. He stated that VeeCon was originally intended to move cities every year, and that it is still his preference. He also said that he is “getting South by Southwest vibes” around this year’s event, referring to the annual tech, music, and film festival (aka SXSW), that takes place in Austin.
Expanding NFT ambitions
Vaynerchuk stated that more than 10,000 people are expected to attend the event this weekend. He said that he is most excited to finally meet people from the VeeFriends Discord Community, which has 373,000 members.
He said, “It’s the culmination of all that happens digitally. It’s almost summer camp.” This one was made possible by COVID and the community that formed during it. People meet up and have no idea their real names or their actual looks. They only know them through their Discord handle.”
VeeCon is launched shortly after VeeFriends series 2 was launched. This collection contains a greater number of Ethereum NFT collectibles (55,555 vs 10.255 in the first batch). Although they don’t allow for VeeCon access, the Series 2 collectibles do provide users with an opportunity to join the community. They also have polished artwork by a professional illustrator and are much more affordable to purchase.
He explained, “When I created VeeFriends I believed it would be my life’s work.” “And so, it was important that it be drawn.”
He stated that although “some people like me to razz me about the art” of his original doodles, some of which were sold at Christie’s last to the sum of $1.2million–he believed it was essential for the birth and growth of the project. He said that true provenance comes from his brain and soul.
He wanted Series 2 to be more solid and definitive versions his original characters, such as Tremendous Tiger or Persuasive Pigeon, that could be used for entertainment projects, merchandise, food products and more.
He explained that he now needed to protect intellectual property. I needed this series in order to move on to the next chapter and all the things that I was about to do.
Vaynerchuk is also involved in VaynerNFT’s consultancy company VaynerNFT and VeeFriends. He has been investing in a team in Ice Cube’s BIG3 pro basketball league through its new NFT driven ownership program. Other buyers include rapper Snoop Dogg and Solana NFT Project DeGods.
He said that it was more fun to own the [New York] Jets some day, recalling his long-held dream of owning an NFL team. “I would love to own as many new sports teams as possible. I enjoy practice. I like getting my hands dirty. It’s done through an NFT launch, which is really cool.
Additionally, he co-founded Flyfish Club in New York City. To enter the exclusive restaurant, you will need a NFT membership pass. To date, more than 1,500 NFTs were sold to the restaurant. Some of these sold for up to $13,000 each at January’s public auction. The cheapest available pass is , which sells for $6,900 of ETH.
Vaynerchuk stated that David Radolitz, CEO of Flyfish Club, is closing the NYC location before a 2023 opening.
A healthy’ correction
VeeCon is happening at a time when there has been turmoil in the NFT and crypto markets. NFT trading volume dropped significantly over the past couple of weeks, while crypto prices plummeted. The collapse in Terra’s LUNA, UST coins and other factors are partly responsible for crypto’s current troubles. However, there are also external factors such as non-crypto markets that are similarly struggling.
Vaynerchuk has predicted a pullback of the NFT market for years. Vaynerchuk stated that was heading for an “NFT winter” at a Decrypt event in Brooklyn last November. He also said that he thought that most valuable projects would lose significant value.
Many top projects have seen their value drop in recent weeks. These include VeeFriends and top collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club or CryptoPunks. The VeeFriends Series 1 NFT floor price (or the cheapest listed NFT) has fallen 19% in the last 30 days, when measured in ETH, but nearly 48% when calculated in U.S. Dollars.
Vaynerchuk said Thursday that the current NFT market correction was “so healthy” and that he is excited to see “less greed and “less gold rush” as well as a larger collector base. Some people who purchased NFTs in hopes of quick returns are still disappointed by the crypto crash.
He said, “I hate it saying that I’m happy [about] it because I recognize people got hurt.” “I hate it. That is why I made 100 videos saying that 98% of this will be zero.”
Although it’s difficult for collectors and creators alike, Vaynerchuk compares it to the dotcom bubble pop that punished tech startups around the turn of this century. He believes that the upside to such a shakeout is that it will stimulate significant innovation in NFT space, which will lead to better user experiences, and a “much less thoughtful” market.
He explained that the “profound work” done between 2001 and 2005 to establish the internet we have today is what’s going to happen. In 2040, we will look back at the 2023-2027 work on consumer blockchain behavior and friction elimination.
