Web3 a hot topic at SXSW despite bear market and declining interest in NFTs

cointelegraph.com:

Giant rabbits wearing trendy outfits situated alongside cartoon characters with rainbows flowing out of their mouths lined the streets of South by Southwest (SXSW) last year. This is because two nonfungible token (NFT) projects — Doodles and Fluf World — dominated SXSW 2022. 

Yet these projects were nowhere to be found at SXSW 2023, demonstrating the lack of interest in NFTs this year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. With crypto prices down, coupled with declining NFT prices and trading volumes, very few projects seem to be focused on digital collectibles. Instead, SXSW 2023 was overrun by major brands and consultancy firms boasting the promise of Web3.

Avery Akkineni, president of Vayner3 — a Web3 consultancy firm founded by Gary Vaynerchuck — told Cointelegraph that Web3 is moving beyond its novelty moment and into a strategic implementation, which is why the technology has become a hot topic for business leaders at SXSW this year. She said:

Akkineni added that she believes every brand should be taking the time to understand Web3 and strategize toward it. “Brands will leverage Web3 in various ways, from creating community-owned channels to implementing blockchain-based supply chain management systems,” she said.

In order to put this in perspective, Vayner3 and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase hosted a brunch during SXSW that included a panel discussion entitled “Web3 and the future of customer engagement: How brands can stay ahead of the curve.”

Rachel Weiss, vice president of L’Oreal Bold Ventures — the strategic venture fund of L’Oreal — stated during the panel that Web3 is enabling the beauty industry to allow for “ownership of beauty.” She said:

It’s important to point out that Bold Ventures recently