Welcome to our Crypto Insider for April 8th, 2022 – FREE Edition.
Today, we’ve got something special lined up. Have you ever wondered what the hottest NFT parties look like from the inside? Our writer Colin, who has been investing in crypto since 2016, shares his personal experience attending two major NFT events from the last couple weeks.
And if you’re into crypto and/or NFTs, you probably know which parties we’re talking about already…
Let’s go!
Table of Contents
Inside the Cyberkongz & Azuki parties
I’ve been investing in cryptocurrency since 2016 but despite being an investor for more than five years, I never really engaged with the community.
However, in the past year this changed – I became more active on Discord and Twitter, and I made friends who were similarly interested in cryptocurrency and NFTs, while engaging in the community more actively myself.
Still, I never imagined going to big events. I always figured I’d check out some local happy hour, but I never thought I’d go to an NFT networking party, let alone two big, consecutive events.
How I thought it was going to go down
As I said – this was my first time really going to a meet-up related to cryptocurrency & NFTs, so I had low expectations. There wasn’t a lot of information shared about either event, and I thought both of them would be focused on networking.
For the first event hosted by Cyberkongz, I just knew there would be free food and drinks in a warehouse. So in my head, I pictured a bunch of guys (in hoodies wearing glasses and sporting neckbeards) standing in awkward circles, having beers as they nervously looked around, feeling out of place in a dimly lit warehouse.
I suspected Azuki’s party would be a little more lively, knowing it was going to take place in a club in Hollywood and especially after seeing it would include some major headliners like TokiMonsta and Wiz Khalifa. I knew the music would at least be good.
I expected a similar group of people to the Cyberkongz event, maybe with more of my fellow Asian American homies, because Azuki is an anime-style NFT:
I expected the attendees to be 99% men for this one too, awkwardly standing around while nodding their heads offbeat to the music.
Well, this wasn’t quite what either of the parties were like.
How it actually went down…
March 29th – Faze Warehouse Cyberkongz party
This part was hosted by CyberKongz (official website here). I was invited as a holder of one of their NFTs and here is what the invite looked like:
Needless to say, this did not end up being an event full of awkward, dancing nerds. As I pulled up to the venue, I saw a crowded line, which I didn’t expect.
I got a peek inside and was very surprised – many bright green lights were shooting out from the building that was filled to the brim with people and arcade games. It was a warehouse fully transformed.
Let’s tour the @FaZeClan warehouse @CyberKongz style !ooh pic.twitter.com/0WWorXd4r4
— Inflict.eth (@inflict_eth) March 30, 2022
As I waited in line for my friends, who were fellow Kongz holders, I saw some familiar faces. Dancer Brian Puspos and the pro-MMA fighter David Roberts were among the best-known faces there.
Deadly with all my limbs… 🩸!ooh pic.twitter.com/skalXLZlrs
— David Roberts (@elchapokongz) February 9, 2022
Upon getting inside after submitting our raffle tickets, we instantly noticed some decor that paid homage to the Cyberkongz trio of NFTs by having plenty of plants and bunches of bananas taped to the plants – a very nice touch. 🍌
The DJ was playing some fire songs. A few friends in my group & I were casually dancing throughout the night, but there wasn’t much in the way of a dance floor, and it didn’t seem like others were really dancing. No surprise there.
There was, however, a very free and open bar. Naturally, there was a fairly long line, which was a good sign. We were greeted with a menu that showed two special drinks representing the NFTs made for the event, which was another nice touch.
Not gonna lie, I was very impressed with the details, especially with the life-sized Cyber Kongz VS:
The food spread was also surprisingly good. It was catered food buffet style, which means it was pretty much all you can eat. The party served some of the best sliders I’ve ever had.
Their vegan sliders and mac & cheese were also good, and their dessert was amazing.
After eating and getting more drinks, we decided to play some arcade games. There were enough people that almost all of the games were in use, but we never had to wait more than a minute or two for any games, which was nice.
Remember those raffle tickets I mentioned? They did about fifteen raffles throughout the night, giving away really nice clothing. My friend was lucky enough to win a hoodie which, upon feeling, you could tell was really high quality.
They even raffled away 1 Cyber Kong VX, worth approximately 1.1 $ETH (around $4,700 at the time)!
All in all, it was a great party. I didn’t do as much networking as I had hoped, but the party was fun, engaging, and was well thrown.
March 30th – Nightingale Plaza Azuki Party
This party was hosted by Azuki, one of the hottest NFTs of 2022, famous for popularizing the weeb/anime trend of NFTs.
Unfortunately, I’m not a holder of this fast-rising NFT, but I’m fortunate enough to be good friends with a holder who was able to bring me as a plus one.
This party was insane and had some big-time people there – TokiMonsta and Wiz Khalifa were headlining as performers. I also saw rapper DumbFounded casually sipping beers behind my friends as we danced.
Here’s what the party flyer looked like:
Where do I even begin… This party was legendary. I expected no less with headliners like TokiMonsta and Wiz Khalifa, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Although the line was an hour long, I cut in a bit with a few buddies who got there early.
At this party, the crowd was fairly diverse, like the crowd of the Cyberkongz Party, but was much closer regarding the gender split.
They did also provide a sneak peek of some upcoming merch:
Held at a lounge and with some awesome drinks and music, this party felt strangely similar to clubbing in Vegas.
I got pretty tired during Wiz Khalifa’s set. His performance was solid despite being extremely drunk and high, but the lounge just got so crowded and hot that I decided to leave.
Moving Forward
After going to both events, I can say that my expectations were definitely surpassed. The events were lively, well thrown and a LOT of fun.
Thankfully, awkward standing was kept to a minimum, and the attendees were far more diverse than I expected (even though attendees got a plus one). There were a number of different characters and, honestly, a lot more women than I expected. Sure, a number of them were plus one’s, but a fair amount seemed to be owners. This was a great surprise.
In thinking that these were networking events, I was definitely wrong. Although you can meet people there, that’s not really the focus of it – it really is just a wild, bangin’ party for NFT enthusiasts.
And let’s be honest – with free alcohol and food at both parties, it’s hard not to have a good time. I have to give major, major props to the organizers of both events as both parties were really well done.
I’d definitely go back to more in the future and I encourage you to check one out if you get the opportunity.
P.S: I’d like to point out a mistake from our last issue, which was brought to my attention by my good friend Ben, who dabbles in crypto, and website ownership, and is running his own startup. In the last issue, we said:
“The $ENS token’s supply is limited and will end on May 4, 2022. So you can either pay the money to buy a domain name and get your free ENS token allocation, or you can invest in the tokens. As Investorplace.com puts it, this is essentially an ongoing “airdrop” for ENS domain holders, where they can retain some value in the ENS crypto token, offsetting the cost of setting up and maintaining their Etheruem Name Service domain.”
We forgot to mention that the airdrop is only good for folks who purchase their ENS domains before Oct 31, 2022.
