One night last week,  FOUND3R, a U.S. grassroots coalition of web3 entrepreneurs, builders and innovators focused on shifting the web3 narrative in Washington, hosted a town hall event at Bright Moments Gallery in New York City. The aim? Opening up the crypto conversation to reinforce the narrative that web3 is alive and well and has not already happened. Lives are being transformed through this tech. Yet, according to attendees, these positive stories are missing from the discourse in DC. 

The future of crypto lies in the hands of a powerful few in Washington, who put policies forward without much, if any, industry consultation, attendees said. Legislation is thrust upon the industry, affecting those who are standing up to a system of centralized power, without input from those most affected. 

David All, a Washington local, started the FOUND3R coalition as a response to America’s diminishing economic competitiveness as it relates to web3. A lack of voices fighting for the cause, toxic negativity, compliance barriers and the industry’s disjointed messaging are all to blame, according to All. 

He has the Capital Hill chops to know. He worked in DC as a former speechwriter in the U.S. Senate and communications director in the House of Representatives, and championed social media in advocacy and politics. He’s since moved his attention to web3, bringing together members of Congress, industry practitioners and blockchain believers to help reshape the web3 narrative in DC – to change the hearts and minds of the people in charge of policies. 

Read more: Decential’s coverage of Bright Moments NFT gallery

The gallery was occupied by government officials, policy experts, artists, web3 entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders and curious onlookers. On a balmy summer’s night, in an all-white room with floor-to-ceiling windows, the gallery name was fitting. It was a bright moment for web3, with an energy of optimism permeating the room. 

What’s most inspiring about web3 events is seeing just how far the spectrum extends and the wide range of people drawn to crypto and everything it represents. In the crowd stood former Senate staffers, renowned non-fungible token (NFT) artists, an influencer who had vacationed with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, a founder who was one of the first builders on Terra, and the Democratic Senate candidate for New York, Will Schweitzer. 

After coming out of the intelligence community, upset about what he’d seen with foreign money getting into the U.S. system, Schweitzer moved into the crypto space. “I met a bunch of people in blockchain, and they were talking a big game about the problems it solved,” he said in an interview at the event. “I founded a start-up and did that for a few years before ending up at Protocol Labs, and now I’m running for U.S. Senate.” 

The crowd cheered as All said that “everything great starts in New York. It’s the center of culture and crypto.” It certainly felt like it with the caliber of attendees. One man in the audience revealed the House of Representatives is marking up a comprehensive bill relating to crypto, referring to the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, new legislation that both the House Agriculture and Financial Services Committees voted to advance on July 27. 

Show the world the good this tech can do 

NFT artist Bryan Brinkman (pictured in main image) spoke about landing in a career he loves after 15 years, but also the concern he feels that it could all go away with one bill that categorizes his art as a security. “Am I an art studio? A technology company? There’s uncertainty as to where NFT artists lie on the spectrum of legalities,” Brinkman told me at the event. 

Listen: DeCent People Podcast With NFT Artist/Ninja Bryan Brinkman

Elise Swopes, who has amassed 275,000 followers on Instagram, said “the iPhone brought me here to web3.” A top-selling artist on SuperRare, Swopes’ heart is with the humanitarian possibilities of tech. She’s sold a quarter of a million dollars in NFTs but has reinvested her profits back into the work of artists she thought deserved it, especially for people of color and the marginalized. For example, those on the fringe of society such as the incarcerated or newly free.

Swopes voiced her concerns about environmentalism and how we should consider technology’s impact on the Earth, the ethics and fairness of web3 and its accessibility and security. “We need a government we can trust and will come in and say, we’re taking care of you, because that’s what governments are supposed to do,” she said to the audience. 

Swopes added that it’s important to give creators access to new technology because they’re usually the first to be innovative and experimental with it. “We’re showing the world how to utilize it in all these different ways,” she said. 

The world is undergoing a reorganization and restructuring because of blockchain technology. The string of grassroots crypto events across the country captures the sentiment of what’s really happening on the ground and how it can potentially affect millions of lives. Now it’s time for Washington to hear that reality and act on it.