Miami NFT Week brings tech world to Miami Florida

Miami is the unofficial NFT capital of the world. This week, thousands will flock to Wynwood to bask in its crypto-glory.

The inaugural Miami NFT Week, a three-day conference of talks, panels and events centered around the rising NFT industry begins Friday at Mana Wynwood Convention Center. The conference is expecting over 3,000 visitors and has promoted big-name speakers, including entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

For some, an NFT — which stands for “non fungible token,” and authenticates ownership of a digital asset — seems like a trendy way to invest in (or blow a ton of cash on) anything from memes to fine art. For Ted Lucas, a Miami native and founder of Slip-N-Slide records, NFTs mean much more.

Lucas co-founded NFT Week along with Erik LaPaglia and Gianni D’Alerta to encourage his fellow Miamians to learn about opportunities in NFT.

“Why not take advantage of the knowledge that is here and get a chance to rub elbows and network with some people that can help change your life over a weekend?” Lucas said. “I got involved because I felt like I wanted locals to have a chance.”

When Lucas attended the Bitcoin conference last year, he was struck by the “mile-long line down the street” to get into the event. But something was missing, he said: Black Miami locals.

“I left the conference with a lot of knowledge, but I was sick in my stomach because I realized this thing was happening without people like me being involved in it,” he said.

After the conference, he recalled Suarez’s now-infamous “How can I help?” tweet and took him up on it. He met with Suarez to discuss how to get the local community involved in tech and was connected with the city’s Venture Miami team. He was introduced to his NFT Week cofounders, and the rest is crypto history. Lucas credited Venture Miami as the driving force behind the conference.

The conference underscores Miami’s emergence as a tech hub and the mayor’s aspirations to rival the likes of California’s Silicon Valley. Suarez has billed the city as a crypto-friendly enclave and enthusiastically encouraged tech giants and leaders to come to Miami in a series of tweets.

Miami NFT Week kicks off Miami Tech Month, also known as April, and is sandwiched between Ultra Music Festival and the Miami Beach Bitcoin conference, another crypto event.

Though it could be a hard concept to grasp, the NFT movement has been growing in popularity and visibility in the last year. Mainstream companies and media outlets have joined in on the hype to sell NFTs. Early bird tickets to Miami NFT Week are sold out, and general admission tickets are on sale for over $300.

The conference, which is presented by TradeStation Crypto, advertises 10 events, 40 talks and over 200 speakers packed into a busy 3-day schedule. Among the speakers is Ariana Waller, better known as Ariana The Techie, a software engineer and founder of Mueshi, a fine art NFT business.

Waller decided to move to Miami from Atlanta after reading Suarez’s tweets about crypto last year.

“I needed to be in a city where they are building the future,” she said.

Waller was inspired to start Mueshi by listening to Jay-Z’s 4:44 album and how he talked about investing in art. Since moving, Waller has been busy working with investors, including Lucas, to raise over $3 million for her company. (She’s so busy, in fact, that she called into an interview with the Herald from her Uber ride to a meeting.)

Lucas and Waller agreed that the NFT space presents exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs of color and Miami’s youth to get involved in. The conference has provided passes to South Florida high school students to experience the event for free, Lucas said. NFTs are a very new concept, Lucas explained, which means that now is the time to learn more.

Waller hopes that more young Black women can be represented in the tech world and be inspired to go after their entrepreneurial goals.

“The challenges exist, but I’m built for this,” Waller said as she was speedwalking through Wynwood. “Like Michelle said, when they go low, we go high.”

For Lucas, he’s most excited to see what he was missing a year ago: Black Miami locals.

“That’s what excites me,” he said. “Making an impact in my community.”

If you go

What: Miami NFT Week

When: April 1-3

Where: Mana Wynwood Convention Center, 318 NW 23rd St., Miami

Cost: Tickets start at $348

Info: https://miaminftweek.com