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The NFT Paris Conference, Europe’s largest annual conference for the Web3, NFT and digital ownership community, has been canceled a month before it was scheduled to open at La Villette Hall. Organizers say current market conditions make the event financially unfeasible.
“this [crypto and NFT] “The market crash hit us hard. Despite significant cost cuts and months of trying to make it work, we were not able to make it this year,” Alexandre Tsydenkov, founder of NFT Paris, wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday.
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NFT Paris’ sister event RWA Paris, a summit focused on real-world assets, held at the same venue, has also been put on hold.
Both events have been running for four years and are known for their focus on digital art, digital galleries and AI-generated works. For example, at NFT Paris, Superchief Gallery NFT collaborated with Claire Silver on an exhibition showcasing 39 AI artists, while artist Jeff Davis transformed generative algorithms into physical stained glass panels made by Ateliers Loire de Chartres. But in recent years, conferences have begun to shift toward a broader technology and blockchain focus.
“Art is only a small part of its ecosystem, probably less than 5% of the sponsors of NFT Paris,” said John Karp, organizer of the Non-Fungible Token conference. art news. “From this perspective, its cancellation does not illustrate the current status of NFT art itself.”
“Thank you to our team for everything you do,” Zydenkov added. “You are all talented people who deserved better…Looking back at four years, we are proud of what we built together: tens of thousands of attendees, hundreds of speakers, and countless connections. But the end was tough.”
He also confirmed that all tickets will be refunded. General admission tickets are approximately $231 and VIP tickets are approximately $1,161.
“Recent signals suggest that NFT art remains alive and relevant in a more mature art context,” Karp said.
“There has been strong interest in ZERO10, the digital component of Art Basel Miami Beach, and in the digital component of Paris Photo,” he told us art news. “The Non-Fungible Conference in Lisbon will continue to grow and attract a loyal audience if we focus specifically on NFT-only and NFT art-focused events.”
Since the global NFT craze peaked in 2021, the bubble has burst. At the time, Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold NFTs for millions of dollars, and celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton joined in, as did brands like Louis Vuitton and YouTube. But since then, NFT sales have dropped from $4 billion to about $800 million, and according to NFT partyapproximately 96% of NFT collections are now considered “dead”.
Zydenkov did not respond art news’ Request to comment.
