We attended the Israeli Crypto Conference (ICC) yesterday, and noticed many interesting points that we thought would be beneficial to share with our community. Cryptocurrency conferences were once a booming industry, with thousands of attendees and new projects popping up every day, each looking to capitalize on the growth of the industry. However, since the market downturn, many of these conferences have changed in a number of ways, for better and worse.
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One of the most noticeable changes is the number of attendees. In the past, even tiny conferences were packed with people eager to learn and showcase the &lsquo;latest and greatest&rsquo; cryptocurrency projects. However, in the last half year or so, attendance has dwindled as many of the hype-driven projects have failed to deliver on their promises. As a result, only the most dedicated and committed crypto enthusiasts are attending these conferences, leading to smaller crowds and a much more focused atmosphere.
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Another change is the type of projects that are being presented at these conferences. In the past, many of the projects that were featured or participated in these conferences, both as attendees and speakers, were more focused on making a quick profit than on building a sustainable and long-term project. However, now that the market has significantly cooled down, only the most promising and well-thought-out projects are able to gain traction and maintain attention at conferences. This has led to a shift towards more serious and professional projects, which are focused on building real-world solutions and providing value to the community, something the crypto and NFT space desperately needs.
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Despite these changes, cryptocurrency conferences play an important role within the industry. They provide a valuable platform for projects to showcase their work and connect with potential investors and partners. Additionally, conferences provide a valuable opportunity for the community to come together, share ideas, and discuss the latest developments in the world of cryptocurrency.
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All in all, cryptocurrency conferences have changed significantly since the market downturn, becoming less of a marketing ploy and more of a real tool for real projects to expand. Attendance has declined, and the focus has shifted towards more serious and professional projects. However, these conferences remain an important part of the industry, providing a valuable platform for projects to showcase their work and connect with the community.
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After attending this year&rsquo;s Art Basel in Miami, NFTrade&rsquo;s co-founder and CEO, Ori Levi, made a point that sums up this article well:
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"In challenging market conditions, the hype and speculation dies down, and only the most dedicated and serious projects with long-term outlooks can continue to grow and establish their value proposition. This makes cryptocurrency conferences during this period more appealing for builders, providing a valuable platform for serious projects to showcase their work and connect with the broader community of project teams and end users.&rdquo;

After our latest crypto conference, we dive into conferences as a whole and how the bear market has changed them

Is the Bear Market ‘Good’ for Cryptocurrency Conferences?

<img src="https://image.nftrade.com/uploads/5c75494445c58f3e721288a3f3000dfe1669395295567.webp" alt="Email.png" width="1300" height="700" />
We are excited to announce our 7th mainnet integration, allowing anyone to easily and seamlessly buy, sell, and p2p swap NFTs on SKALE&rsquo;s Calypso NFT Hub! SKALE is building a network of blockchain networks, with Calypso serving as the focal point for SKALE&rsquo;s NFT ecosystem. The best part? ZERO gas fees on all transactions, so users do not have to worry about excess costs associated with transacting on other networks such as Ethereum. Now, end users, creators, and developers can access all of their NFTs throughout the SKALEverse in one place - NFTrade.
<h2>So, What is SKALE?</h2>
The SKALE Network provides developers with a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum-based applications, allowing them to bypass Ethereum's mainnet congestion by migrating development off of the main chain and onto one of the adjacent SKALE sidechains. By using independent, dApp-specific SKALE blockchains, similar to Avalanche subnets, SKALE enables the deployment of decentralized applications in a high-throughput and cost-effective manner. SKL, the native utility token of the SKALE Network, allows developers to create these new sector and dapp-specific blockchains. Additionally, SKL tokens can be used for platform governance and SKALE staking.&nbsp;
With SKALE, developers can create low-latency, high-throughput elastic sidechain networks, which are interoperable with Ethereum. In addition to resulting in potential performance improvements, SKALE enables Ethereum-built dApps to compete with more traditional Web2 applications in terms of cost, latency, and throughput. Not only can SKALE increase application scalability on Ethereum's mainnet, but SKALE Network's sidechains can also provide network congestion relief.
For many of our users, this may be the first time you interact with SKALE, so we teamed up to create guides to walk you through the entire process, from adding the network to your wallet, bridging funds, and starting your NFT journey on SKALE. Check out all of the SKALE-related NFTrade guides here: <a href="https://skale.space/blog/how-to-use-nftrade-on-skale" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://skale.space/blog/how-to-use-nftrade-on-skale</a>

NFTrade Launches Live Integration on SKALE Calypso NFT Hub

Although recently overshadowed by the drama surrounding the downfall of FTX, NFT creator royalties have been one of the recent hot-button issues of the industry. With protocols like SudoSwap, LooksRare, and X2Y2 creating or adding a feature that allows buyers to easily bypass creator royalties, many are arguing the pros and cons of these types of applications, and how other platforms should respond. So, what&rsquo;s the right way to approach this?
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<h2>Who Should Decide, the Creator or the Buyer?</h2>
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When thinking of some of the core tenets of blockchain and decentralization, code is law, meaning if some platforms have the ability to bypass royalties for buyers, then they should be able to. But what does this mean for creators as a whole? In our eyes, there are strong arguments on both sides, and some ecosystems will obviously split to zero royalty fee marketplaces based on user preferences, but we believe the creator should dictate the intricacies of their collection, not third-party platforms.&nbsp;
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Eliminating royalties for artists, developers, and creators detaches future profit potentials from long-term project success, which could disincentivize creators to stay attached to their projects in the medium to long term. This is exactly the opposite of what the industry needs; there are already enough pump-and-dump and &lsquo;get rich quick&rsquo; projects, and removing creator profits from long-term success can exacerbate this problem even further. Everyone needs to eat, and this includes buyers, sellers, and creators. This is especially true with free mints, as creators only have one option if royalties are removed, which is to save a portion of their collection to dump on the market further down the line (if the project ever becomes successful). This creates a high-risk circumstance for creators, not allowing them the chance to offer their products for free, eliminating earning a small percentage of each sale from the project they put blood, sweat, and tears into creating.
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At the end of the day, creators are responsible for the ecosystems they created on their own terms, and the buyer should respect those decisions or not partake in that ecosystem. Although technologically possible to remove this feature from projects, we believe that incentives need to be correctly aligned across all stakeholders for medium to long-term success, with the creators being some of the most important stakeholders (if not the most important) to potential future success. This can only be done if the creator has a say in the settlement process within their ecosystem, and also continuously rewards the growth and robustness of their project.&nbsp;
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We spoke with some of our industry partners, and they had varying views, with some refusing to give their opinion publicly, as they do not want to be perceived as &lsquo;controversial&rsquo; or anger people who believe in one side of the argument over the other. One of our partners who commented on this had a very similar outlook to us, acknowledging the technological possibilities of bypassing royalties, but understanding that it may not be best for the growth and sustainability of the NFT ecosystem.
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&ldquo;Web3 is still in its early days. We&rsquo;re seeing people experiment with all sorts of business models. For some things like royalties, the technology hasn&rsquo;t fully caught up, so enforcing them becomes more of a social convention. I think that projects and artists have the right to set their own rules, and we &mdash; as businesses and collectors &mdash; should do our best to support them.&rdquo; - Sandy Carter, SVP and Channel Chief, Unstoppable Domains
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Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on for this argument, one thing is clear, we should do everything we can as a community to encourage creators and help them build with long-term and sustainable models in mind.

We dive into NFT creator royalties and whether or not buyers should be able to bypass them.

Leave Creator Royalties up to the Creators

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