Long rambling rant incoming 😅... OK, nobody is arguing that talent and money left the space. It’s not a question. I’m arguing that the amateurs who “inherited” or “won” what’s left behind had anything to do with it. What about all the rugs and all the days people woke up to find everything of value in their wallets gone. Look, I get that there is this lingering resentment from people who experienced the space or whatever you want to call it at its peak and now feel like that experience or place is gone, but in reality, it was always just hot air. It was never “real”. It wasn’t sustainable. The sharp pin was always coming. Infact, for most, even in the hayday, it was never a reality, just a dream. If most went and got a job working part-time at McDonald's, you could probably make more money than you made here, considering the hours invested. If you were here to get rich or make NFTs your career, good luck. So what’s left? Attention, hope, and identity mixed with a little bit of finance. It’s what it was always destined to become. A handshake, a few steps past the “donate” button, and a way to engage your community or fan base in a fun and unique way. It was never supposed to be a destination or place where you transition from artist to NFT artist. You’re supposed to be more creative than that. Find fun unique ways to integrate the tech into your business practice without letting it consume you. Do what you have done to make yourself a “professional” up to this point, but incorporate the tech for those who might like to participate. For example, say you’re showing 1/1 physicals at an art show. Keep doing that. But take one of those pieces and make it only accessible through an NFT edition. People collect the digital version online, and each edition becomes an entry. At some point, you draw a name. One collector walks away with the physical. Now the NFT isn’t the end product. It’s the bridge. Take what you learned here and bring it back to what actually made you an artist, photographer in the first place. The work, the connection, the process, and the moments someone connects with whatever your doing....then layer this in. Give people little entry points. Like, “hey, by the way, there’s another way to engage with me and what I’m doing.” Many will ignore it. But some will get curious. And a few will follow it all the way through. That’s how this grows. Not by waiting around for imaginary collectors to show up and drop 1 ETH on your JPEGs, but by creating experiences that actually give people a reason to investigate. If someone new gets onboarded along the way, great. If not, you still built something a little interesting that might interest the right people. I don’t know, it just feels like at some point, artists have to stop waiting for the version of the space they felt they were promised and start building the version they actually want to exist. You asked if I still mint NFTs. Yes, I will but not because I think it’s going to make me rich. This was never supposed to replace the real work. I’m going back to the photos, the process, the reason I picked up my camera when nobody was watching and nobody was paying any attention but me. And I will find ways to layer this in where it makes sense, not where it feels like opportunity. Like maybe you subscribe to my newsletter and you get a NFT or something. I’m still stumbling through my ideas but I think that’s where this got all twisted… nobody was building with the tech. Instead, they try to build for the tech, all web3 or nothing... and when the attention left, so did the foundation and all their hopes and dreams. But, I feel like there’s still something here, just not what people and the 21,22 hype sold us. It's not a destination. It’s not a marketplace. It’s not a career path. It’s not a guarantee of anything. It’s just a tool. But it can create a weird, and interesting fun for your fans that allows you to create digital scarcity if you want it… for your fans that value it. It allows you to reward people who actually care, and experiment with digital ownership in ways you couldn’t before. That’s it. If that excites you, cool, use it. If it doesn’t, whatever. But this idea that “the wrong people waited around and just sort of inherited it and all and the cool kids left” is fucked up. Most of the people still here aren’t winning anything. They’re just the ones who didn’t leave. Some are still figuring it out. Some are just stubborn. Some don’t want to leave because leaving would mean fully realizing the loss they had incurred while here. And some, like @akaFoley mentioned actually enjoy the smaller room and seeing some of the louder voices disappear. I don’t know… honestly, this smaller room is probably the first honest version of this space we’ve had in a while.