The Goblins and the Moonbirds were just two of the parties that were thrown across New York on the opening night of the fourth annual NFT.NYC, a gathering of more than 12,000 fans, founders, artists, developers and researchers with an interest or stake in non-fungible tokens. Somewhere else in the city, world-famous magician David Blaine, a guest at a party sponsored by the team behind the Moonbirds NFT collection, literally sewed his mouth shut. Those who’d had their fill crowded the street between the venue and 9th Ave., talking about NFTs, DAOs, and their epic night. The concert venue was spewing partygoers who were, like moths, instantly drawn to the fluorescent light of the goblins’ burger truck.
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The greasy aroma of free McGoblinBurgers, little more than a patty and cheese in a bun, wafted by. We were standing on the corner of 15th Street and 9th Avenue on Manhattan’s West Side and could hear the bass from Aoki’s set thumping inside Chelsea Music Hall.
“We really don’t want to do many interviews, because we don’t want people to start talking about us, instead of the work we’re doing,” Alexander Taub, the founder of Truth, the umbrella organization that produced IluminatiNFT and Goblintown, volunteered at around 3 a.m. The funny thing was, none of the members of the collective wanted to talk about their handiwork. Standing on the sweltering bus cheek-to-jowl with them, we were traveling to another event featuring a surprise appearance from superstar DJ Steve Aoki.
The young crew had just thrown a lavish party at one of New York’s premier music venues.
Their guests at Terminal 5 in New York that night were treated to a mysterious, interactive art exhibit that climaxed with a Cirque du Soleil-esque performance. They were the creative minds behind IlluminatiNFT and the Goblintown NFT collection, the latter a computer-generated collection of charmingly hideous goblins that, almost immediately after their debut last month, began trading for thousands of dollars a pop.