Alexander Tsydenkov: Our results are positive: we welcomed 17,000 people to the temporary Grand Palais. The big difference with last year was that the audience needed more time to stay on site and interact with each other in a more relaxed atmosphere than the previous edition. We made the choice to leave more space so that it would be more pleasant. In reality, if we wanted to bring in 30,000 people, we could have done that because we had so many ticket requests. However, we didn’t want to repeat the same mistake as the previous edition. This crowd was wanted. It was a big risk because we didn’t know how the crowd would disperse in the short-lived Grand Palais. However, there were always people in front of the main stage, for the matches or in the catering area. Additionally, this year I saw children and families discovering NFTs for the first time, which was less the case last year. They could also attend conferences. Overall, it was a much more inclusive edition than last year, with many logistical errors that we resolved.
Marina Ferrari, State Secretary for Digital Affairs, attended the opening. May we know what you discussed?
Marina Ferrari seemed enthusiastic since she even published a message to NFT Paris its social networks. This shows his appreciation. She wants us to meet again. We had designed a route for him to showcase French actors, so we presented him with Ariane, The Sandbox, Absolute Labs but also Makers Place (US Marketplace for Digital Works, editor’s note). She had done her research, it is a topic she is working on, aware that there are French people positioned in this sector. We shared with him our grand vision and our conviction about what for us is a real revolution, the consequences of which are enormous for gaming, art, finance, fashion and brands thanks to this concept of property rights in the digital world.
What economic support have you benefited from after a long bear market?
Economically we are in balance. Last year, start-ups may have had more money, but we were less known. This year it was perhaps the opposite and that compensated for a lot. Last year we gave away many free tickets and this year we made a different choice. We’ve even turned down partner requests.
We previously wrote that the abundance of side events could “vampirize» the main conference. What is your reading?
This one isn’t it at all. In reality, most of the organizers of these side events are big names in the ecosystem, and speakers and exhibitors of NFT Paris. I think of the huge booth of Animoca Brands, or that of Yuga Labs, the company that owns almost the entire NFT ecosystem. We had ArtBlocks and Trame stands (creative and reputable platforms, Editor’s Note). Their presence confirms that they are with us. They were visible at our event. In fact, none of them created their event during our day conference. There was no competition. These are people who respect and fully engage with NFT Paris. These side events are an additional building block for our event. From our side, NFT Paris is not intended to organize parties and compete with them.
What are the highlights you remember from this weekend?
In addition to the very symbolic visit of the State Secretary, I am thinking of the arrival of Garga (Greg Solana, returning as CEO of Yuga Labs after a year away, editor’s note). This was confirmed two days earlier. Bitcoin is taking off again, NFTs are getting a bit of life again, we have a dynamic ecosystem and seeing the original founders of Yuga Labs taking back control of the company and presenting themselves in Paris is a very powerful moment in my opinion. I also enjoyed the extra activities, such as the fashion show and the stilt walkers. We will do more events next year.
The presence of traditional companies was also noted: in particular that of LVMH. What does this say about NFT?
It’s work we’ve done that I’m really proud of: I don’t think there are many conferences that these companies travel to. This is almost impossible. It’s hard for them to do this because they don’t find representation at this level. We let them come and show off and intrigue. In the aftermath of the Louis Vuitton or FC Barcelona conferences, there were many publications on social networks and this is very rare. The Tesla Group was delighted with its presence and could observe a promising market. Ubisoft set up its booth for the first time. We had Sephora among our sponsors. In my opinion, we have enabled many brands to understand more about the ecosystem and perhaps this will send a positive signal to others in the future. Frankly, the NFT sector has not been spared and needs strong signals from credible people. That’s kind of the message of this year for me. Perhaps there was not the madness of last year, but it was more relaxed, and this also corresponds to the maturity level of the sector, somewhat worn out by trends, ups and downs. Today we welcome people and partners in a professional environment.
Did this event increase your self-confidence? Are you thinking about next year? ?
For NFT Paris 2025, I want to return to the idea I originally had, which was an event about the future of creativity. This was our first project: we wanted to talk about the creative industries, gaming, art and fashion and explain how technologies are transforming this industry. It was important to me. In reality, we already wanted to integrate an AI and Extended Reality theme last year, but I didn’t want to make this pivot at a time when everyone was turning away from the ecosystem. We wanted to show that we embrace NFT and that we don’t follow trends. It was important to display and maintain the NFT in the short-lived Grand Palais for another year, despite the market. We have succeeded and if we now want to expand, we can show that we have a solid foundation. There is no denying that NFT Paris has shown itself to be the global reference event for the community. I want to expand from now on and no longer just wait for developments in this market. We want the integration of other technologies to also create innovation and stimulation for Web3 giants and those responsible for innovation. From a business perspective, the ambition is to become an international event about creativity. Like South by Southwest (cultural and technology event hosted in Austin, Texas, editor’s note).