The largest in Europe and second-largest in the world comic-book and gaming convention is set to start on October 28th, 2021. Lucca Comics and Games sees over five-hundred-thousand visitors every year and this year will again allow in person activities, even if at a lower capacity.
Maria Barbirotto, crypto art expert and consultant has been called to organize and direct the first NFT panel of the entire convention. In the past year the NFT-mania has taken over and more and more people are starting to collect non-fungible tokens. But what NFT are? And what is the great value behind this market?
HI MARIA, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO OUR READERS WHAT NFTs ARE?
Hi! NFT stands for non -fungible tokens and it’s nothing else than a specific digital code associated with a specific asset, most commonly art or collectibles. This digital code refers to the asset and allows its ownership to be tracked and protected. They are non-fungible because they cannot be swapped or traded for another NFT of the same type. In these terms each NFT is unique in the blockchain. There’s NFTs existing in different blockchains, such as the Ethereum blockchain, the Tezos blockchain or the Solana blockchain. The Ethereum one though is the most famous and trafficked one. NFTs could be an image, a video, a digital painting, a collection card, a legal contract, a videogame and even an actual piece of land in the metaverse
WHY ARE NFTS SO IMPORTANT AND TAKING OVER RIGHT NOW?
NFTs are important because they can fully create a new market with assets from the physical market and they can change the entire ecosystem of the crypto world becoming in certain cases a fluid substitute to assets considered secure in the real world and most of the time the price is correlated 1 to 1. Real estate for example, you can buy a house as a rental property, you get a profit that covers for your mortgage but you still have to consider property taxes, maintenance, and emergency budgeting. Now you can buy the same property in the metaverse, and even better you can buy a piece of land where you can build a house or a coworking station, or a gallery or a store. You can lease and rent out your property every month or profit from the activity you decide to start in it. You don’t have property taxes, maintenance, and emergency budgeting. If you visit some of these metaverse worlds like Decentraland or The Sandbox you realize that they really are building a parallel better world. And just wait until they implement the use of VR glasses next year
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE NFT MARKET?
I started as an investor, then as with everything that I touch I wanted to study more and get to understand not only the fundamentals but also all that was floating around it. At that point the potential was undeniable and the fact that we are still early even more. I’ve been investing and following the cryptocurrency market for a few years now and I based my entire career on online and nomadic businesses and luckily my main field is arts so I thought it was the time to take advantage of my skills and build something in the ecosystem. I like to say that mainly I’m a proud part of the community. I do a lot of research, and coming from the traditional art market I transposed my tools to the crypto art market understanding how it works and what are the dynamics. I nowadays assist art galleries, institutions and collectors offering consulting services and solutions for their businesses in the process of adopting crypto art as one of their assets
WHAT IS YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE TOP CONVENTION LUCCA COMICS AND GAMES?
I worked on 15 editions of Lucca Comics and Games, next to one of the best fantasy artists in the world, Ciruelo Cabral. It’s like home for me and I have unforgettable memories with them. This year I got in touch with the organization inquiring about a commercial space for one of the NFTs collections I’m a member of, the Bored Ape Yacht Club. I was just looking for a promotional corner during the event and two emails later I was offered to create and direct the first NFT panel of Lucca Comics & Games. We are still very early so the impact of this decision could potentially be massive in terms of engagement. LC&G has always been an important reference in the world concerning comics, collectible art, gaming and role play gaming. Now it’s the time for them to take part in this journey, you cannot be the second largest comic and gaming convention in the world and not be an early supporter of the NFT culture. I’m putting together a panel that concentrates all the most influential and important realities to know about NFTs in the comics, collectibles and gaming field. We’re inviting Decentraland and The Sandbox to speak about virtual worlds and metaverse, Illuvium and Loot representing the gaming scene, Bored Ape Yacht Club as the strongest collectible art project and Pixel Vault as the creators of the first successful NFT comic book. The full panel schedule will be announced closer to the event, but it’s definitely something to don’t miss
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW TO START INVESTING AND COLLECTING NFTs?
It’s important that everyone investing and collecting in NFTs understand the purpose of his activity. Investing and collecting are two different things and sometimes the two could get in conflict. It’s important to have a clear mindset to enjoy the experience, playing safe strategies. We provide consulting services and masterclasses in the crypto art field and the advice that we give to our community is always to get to know, study and analyze the market and the projects. Always start from what you like and you’re passionate about, if that doesn’t happen just wait until the next project comes out. Take your time and spend time in the community
