Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Artnet News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more, with input from our own writers and editors, as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

It may be the dog days of summer IRL, but over in the metaverse, we are firmly in the depths of crypto winter.

When NFT NYC, the world’s largest NFT conference, descended on Times Square last month, Bitcoin and Ether were down more than 70 percent from their November highs. That put a damper on the proceedings, and it’s had a ripple effect on the once-ballooning market for digital collectibles. In the first half of 2021, Christie’s sold $93 million worth of NFTs; this year, they’ve sold just $4.8 million.

Meanwhile, NFT players and platforms are being dogged by allegations of insider trading and market manipulation, and many in the art world are reconsidering their relationship with the sector.

To offer us a micro-history of this fast-changing market, and a recap of how the crypto crash has transformed the NFT space, Artnet News executive editor Julia Halperin spoke with Zachary Small, an Artnet News contributor and friend of the Art Angle. Small is also the author of the forthcoming book Token Supremacy: How NFTs (and a Little Money Laundering) Turned Decentralized Finance Into an Art Form. Here’s the conversation.

Listen to other episodes:

The Art Angle Podcast: Re-Air: Art, Lies, and Instagram: How Catfishing ‘Collectors’ Duped the Art World

The Art Angle Podcast: How Kennedy Yanko Welded Her Way to Art Stardom

The Art Angle Podcast: How Documenta Became the World’s Most Controversial Art Show

The Art Angle Podcast: The Scandalous Rise and Fall of Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick

The Art Angle Podcast: How Artificial Intelligence Could Completely Transform Art

The Art Angle Podcast: Want to Wear a Basquiat? Inside the Big Business of Artist Merch

‘Our Role Is Really to Push Back From Rules’: Nari Ward on How To Make a True Portrait of New York City