Aptos NYC 2025
Eric Spivak
Founder & CEO · New Friendship Tech
The only way to beat the algorithm is in-person experiences. So I do them all over the world.
From the Music Industry Into Web3
Eric Spivak makes music and art, and has done shows alongside Diplo, YG, Anderson .Paak, and Doja Cat. When Web3 hyper-financialized, he watched his own tribe — the creatives — get pushed out. "It's upsetting to me that... this isn't scams, this isn't manipulation, this isn't social engineering. And they're like, this is too fintech, it's too tech bro, it's too crypto finance, I'm not with it. Where's my people, right?"
That frustration is what led him to build his own answer rather than wait for the space to fix itself — he's since hosted or worked with NFT.NYC, Dcentral, NFTBAZL, and E3 Gaming, and worked alongside brands including OpenSea, MetaMask, DeviantArt, Netflix, Twitter, Binance, and Coinbase.
What He's Building Now
"So now I'm building my own — Token2049 meets South by Southwest meets Art Basel meets TED Talks and Masterclass — in LA, under the brand New Friendship Tech. The acronym is NFT. The idea is technology creating new friendships, in a world where social media brings us closer together but now pushes us further apart. And the only way to beat the algorithm is in-person experiences."
Over the last three years, his events have drawn close to 60,000 attendees — all of it free. Ferrari, Vogue, MetaMask, Coinbase, Chainlink, Sui, Decentraland, and Samsung have all supported it. "Out of all my speakers, performers, everybody that's participated, only two people have asked me for money."
- New Friendship Tech (NFT): in-person events built to counter algorithm-driven isolation
- Format: Token2049 × SXSW × Art Basel × TED Talks × Masterclass, based in LA
- ~60,000 attendees across 3 years — always free to attend
- Backed by Ferrari, Vogue, MetaMask, Coinbase, Chainlink, Sui, Decentraland, and Samsung
Eric Spivak: New Friendship Tech
Eric Spivak on why in-person experiences are the only way to beat the algorithm, and how New Friendship Tech (NFT) turned that idea into a free, 60,000-person circuit.
Future
Where the Circuit Is Going
He landed at Aptos NYC having just flown in from Shanghai — mid-circuit, not between projects.
Before Aptos NYC, Eric had just come from hosting Taipei Blockchain Week, and had stops at Web3 Tokyo and Token2049 Singapore — while also moderating panels for the Mondo Music Conference happening concurrently. He said he was brought out to Aptos NYC directly by the Aptos team itself, a sign that the New Friendship Tech format is being pulled into ecosystems beyond the ones he built it in.
That trajectory — crypto-native protocols inviting a culture-and-community builder onto their own stage — is the throughline of his pitch: the algorithm doesn't get beaten by more content, it gets beaten by rooms full of people who showed up in person.
Fast Facts
At a glance
Company
New Friendship Tech
Role
Founder & CEO
Attendees (3 years)
~60,000 — always free
Also hosts
NFT.NYC · Dcentral · NFTBAZL · E3 Gaming
Event
Aptos NYC 2025
“The only way to beat the algorithm is in-person experiences. So I do them all over the world.”
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