Art Basel in Miami Beach is one of the most important art fairs in the world, and it has become a major destination for crypto enthusiasts. In recent years, there has been a growing convergence between the art world and the crypto world, and Art Basel Miami Beach has been at the forefront of this trend.
Here’s our top five takeaways from this year’s edition
- Everyone’s talking about AI: AI was the topic of a number of events and panels, including one our own Tom Dunleavy was speaking at titled “Beyond AI”. As the increase in usage of GPT models and AI agents increases, the emergent problems of these solutions such as privacy, data lineage and verifiability of outputs naturally have been further discussed. Crypto rails are a natural solution to many of these issues.
2. Liquid markets have taken center stage: We attended a number of non-crypto events and despite not trying to discuss the topic, crypto came up organically in many conversations and on a number of panels. BTC $100k is a true psychological milestone even for investors not in the space day to day. Memecoins have also filtered out into the broader meta as even passive bystanders are finding it hard to avoid the stories of overnight millionaires from the latest dog or cat coin. Despite the obvious top signs this sort of behavior entails we think that it’s still early days in this bull run, with memecoins being more a sign of a broader cultural shift to an “attention economy”
3. NFTs are back: NFTs have again become a major focus of attention at Art Basel Miami Beach. In 2021, the fair featured a dedicated section for crypto art, and many prominent crypto artists were in attendance. 2022 and 2023 saw minimal presence with a protracted beat market. This year, the fair had an even larger focus on crypto art, with several galleries and exhibitions devoted to the medium. One of the key reasons for the growing interest in crypto art is the fact that it offers artists new ways to create, distribute, and monetize their work. NFTs allow artists to sell their work directly to collectors, without the need for intermediaries such as galleries or auction houses.
4. Institutions are crypto curious again: There were a number of events for Family Offices and other institutional allocators. The topic of how to get more exposure to alternative assets was front and center. Allocators were verbally worried about already having “missed the boat” on Bitcoin. This leads us to believe that alt-coin season will be led by institutions looking to make up those gains in other major tokens like ETH and SOL.
5. Politics have shifted sentiment: A number of individuals we spoke to didn’t have plans on going to Art Basel (a bastion of wealth and excess) before the election results. The election was seen by many as a green light to continue the bull market party for another few years. Investors who have taken this view were looking to find ways to leg out on the risk curve as much as possible during this time.
Art Basel in Miami Beach, a major art fair, has become a hub for crypto enthusiasts. This year we saw renewed enthusiasm that was missing throughout the bear market. The excitement we saw from the non-crypto native crowd, who are vocally underexposed, makes us believe that this bull market is just getting started.
About MV Global
Established in 2019, MV Global has emerged as a force in the Web3 landscape focused on early-stage investments and venture building. Our mission is clear: to partner with mavericks, visionaries, and free thinkers to leverage blockchain-enabled technologies to build for the future.
