THE BIG WHALE. After several months of work, you finally open the NFT Factory. How did you come up with the idea of such a place?
Lucie-Eléonore Riveron. The idea came from a small group of collectors last year. It was still a bit crazy on the crypto markets, there was already a lot of talk about NFTs, there was a real emulation, and we said to ourselves that we needed a physical place to bring together the whole community with NFT enthusiasts and also of course the curious. Because Web3 is not only digital, it is also physical, meetings, exchanges...
We often forget it, but before the NFT Factory there was the Maison du Bitcoin in Paris. That was in 2014! This place allowed a lot of people to get together. It also led to the creation of Coinhouse (formerly La Maison du Bitcoin) and Ledger, which has become the global leader in digital asset preservation. We hope that the NFT Factory will do the same.
Do you think Paris could become the capital of NFTs?
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This is the goal of its 128 founders who finance the NFT Factory. Paris has always been an artistic capital, and this must continue even if art evolves and becomes digital. Today there are many crypto-artists who are in Paris or who come here regularly. With the NFT Factory (400 m2, editor's note), we want to offer them a dedicated place and make the sector shine.
We feel that something is happening in France and in Europe: there are artists, collectors, a public. We want to take advantage of the moment to mark the occasion, especially since other markets, such as the United States, are very dynamic and are also developing quite rapidly.
What will the NFT Factory be used for?
Not only to gather artists. It will also allow the largest number of people to discover the NFT, this new technology, this digital property that makes it possible to own a virtual work. There will be workshops, exhibitions for that.
We are in front of the Georges Pompidou Center, which is very popular with Parisians and tourists. The goal is also to allow NFT projects to organize their launch from the NFT Factory.
You have launched the NFT Factory in Paris, but do you plan to open others in France or abroad?
We are already being asked to set up factories elsewhere. This is the case in Portugal where there is a large NFT community. We also have contacts in Belgium and Switzerland. But the idea is already to develop the Factory in Paris, to find a stable revenue model. Then we will expand abroad.