Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley: Missing the NFT Chapter
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley expressed nostalgia for the atmosphere during the NFT phase. Venture capitalist Feng Bo responded, "Me too," and mentioned he still holds a lot, followed by laughter.
The two did not disclose their holdings, nor did they cite transaction volumes or floor prices, and they did not announce new funds or market products. Bitwise, where Horsley works, is known for crypto indices and exchange-traded products, with a narrative focus on spot and indices rather than a new round of avatar issuance. Feng Bo's Dragonfly has long invested in crypto infrastructure and applications, and personal retention of NFTs and institutional product lines are not on the same balance sheet. The posts remained at the level of sentiment and inventory self-mockery, with no new royalty rules, royalty lawsuits, or mainstream market relaunch timelines.
The atmosphere posts exchanged attention, not order book depth. Capital will not automatically return to the royalty market due to a sentiment expressed; it will only maintain a self-explanation of "not yet liquidated" in addresses still holding avatars and land. The beneficiaries are those who still regard NFTs as layers of identity; the pressured are those who have shifted the same attention to tokens and prediction market trading desks. The event-driven nature is mutual resonance, not new minting or mergers.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
The peak of the NFT chapter was avatars as tickets, royalties as protocol fees, and timelines as auction houses. After this chapter, liquidity moved to memecoins, then to prediction contracts, while avatars remained in wallets, becoming artifacts. Horsley sells crypto exposure that can be purchased by traditional accounts, missing the social density that cannot fit into ETFs. Feng Bo's mention of still holding a lot refers to personal inventory, not priceable positions on fund statements.
Capital paths have changed. The minting fees and royalties from 2017 and 2021 supported artists and the market front; the fees after 2024 will support perpetual contracts and issuance platforms. The remaining NFTs will need community activities to reprice, not relying on subscription and redemption of index products. The punchline is inventory, not new exit multiples.
This parallels personal registries after the domain bubble, game skin inventories, and contemporary art warehouses: a quiet secondary market does not mean assets have disappeared, but rather that pricing power has left the public timeline. The industry phase is NFTs retreating from growth narratives to collectibles and identity plugins.
Structural changes belong to the transfer of pricing power. Whoever can still turn "atmosphere" into transactions temporarily sets the floor price. The mechanism is: index products take away standardizable beta, while non-standardizable avatars remain in personal wallets. Nostalgia is the echo after liquidity withdrawal.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
After the chapter ends, inventory is still in wallets
Indices take away beta, avatars leave social residue
Atmosphere cannot be subscribed or redeemed, so it can only be missed