One of the most recognized non-fungible token companies over the last year and a half has been pixel vaultcompany founded by Sean Gearin. Also know as GFunkGearin will be a featured speaker at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto event in New York City on December 7.

Benzinga had the opportunity to speak with Gearin ahead of the event to get his thoughts on the overall NFT sector and what’s next for the Pixel Vault.

Introduction to NFTs: Pixel Vault launched in May 2021 with the release of the punk comic Serie. The concept of the NFT Collection was to provide fractional ownership of a collection of CryptoPunks.

“The company was really built around this idea of ​​community, in every way, the collective ownership of these CryptoPunks.” meshing said.

Gearin said that the Pixel Vault and the PUNKS Comic NFT collection were among the first communities not built around a PFP, but rather a story.

A second comic from the Pixel Vault team teamed up with Bored Monkey Yacht Club Y adidas ADDYY.

Gearin also cited an investment in dogecoin DOGO/USD which was one of his first investments in cryptocurrencies.

“In fact, I also bought Doge for a penny and sold it as fast as I could for 8 cents a week later.”

Building During Bear Markets: Gearin acknowledged the current crypto bear market and acknowledged that the Pixel Vault team is working to be more interactive with the community.

“Now is the time for companies in the space to embrace their loyal communities,” Gearin said.

Gearin added that he took it very seriously when holders were upset and that he hated seeing the prices of NFTs and Ethereal EUR/USD go down.

Gearin also acknowledged the difficult times investors in the space have experienced.

“The company is sorry, as are our collectors.”

Gearin also said that some people were in the NFT space purely for speculation. The Pixel Vault CEO said the team should listen to feedback, though investors and holders should also trust the process the team has established.

Related Link: Exclusive: Rarible Building Custom Decentralized NFT Marketplace for Pixel Vault

What’s next for Pixel Vault: Gearin said the team has renamed their old project Metahero to the new name Inhabitants, a project that will see a lot of news in the coming months.

“In part, the word meta has become overused,” Gearin said, citing Facebook’s rebranding to Meta Platforms.

Gearin said the team really wanted to set themselves apart with Inhabitants.

“A story not just about heroes and villains. We are all inhabitants of the universe.

Pixel Vault will also release DOT, as part of its Sidekick project, by the end of the year.

“Blockchain gaming is going to be a big part of our path going forward.”

Gearin said it is encouraging other companies in the Web3 game market, but some might be doing it for the wrong reasons. The Pixel Vault founder also questioned companies that want nothing to do with integrating Web3 into games.

“It is our job to change that narrative.”

Gearin said that it doesn’t make sense for NFT and Web3 not to be integrated into games in the future, as skins and in-game items have always been a big part of games.

“If you’re a gamer, why wouldn’t you want that?”

The Pixel Vault also has partnerships with Major League Baseball and the UFC, a sports league owned by effort group EDR.

Gearin said the Pixel Vault has an amazing story they’ve been working on with the UFC and he thinks the community “will love it when they see it.”

He noted that the Pixel Vault team grew from 10 or 11 at the end of 2021 to 60 people today, with half of the team coming from their own community.

“We’re just starting to hit our stride.”

Future of cryptocurrencies: Gearin will be speaking on a panel called “Using NFTs to Foster Community and Build On-Ramps Into Web3” along with chubby penguins CEO Luca Netz.

“We will be heating up the stage for Garga,” Gearin said, referring to Yuga Labs co-founder Gargamel, who will speak on the next panel.

Gearin said he is excited about the event and that Benzinga did a great job curating the list of speakers and panelists.

“Most other conferences have not chosen notable speakers, Veecon is an exception.”

Gearin said he looks forward to seeing the people he’s befriending at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto, and also looking forward to speaking with Netz for the first time.

“Pudgy Penguins has a very loyal following and an interesting backstory.”

Get tickets now to hear Gearin speak at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto on December 7 in New York City.