5 Questions for Sydney Xiong, Director of the Art-Meets-Finance Foundation APENFT

While the traditional institutions of the art world are still making head or tails of the NFT phenomenon, leaders in the world of tech are already building new models for longevity. At the forefront of this push is Sydney Xiong, director of APENFT Foundation, which unites art and finance in the metaverse by supporting novel NFT projects and acquiring significant NFT artworks.

APENFT Foundation, which sponsored The Artnet NFT 30, sees a world in which traditional art and NFTs coexist, expanding the art conversation rather than polarizing it. In keeping with those core beliefs, APENFT Foundation has established an already impressive traditional art collection valued at over $150 million and including works by Picasso, Giacometti, and Warhol. It is also initiating a residency for digital art creators. With a new year just begun, we decided to catch up with Xiong to see what she thinks the future has in store.

What is the APENFT Foundation? What does it do, and who is it for?
APENFT is the world’s first NFT art foundation dedicated to bridging the traditional art world and the virtual world while building the next generation of NFT infrastructure and an entertainment and cultural ecosystem. We do this by collecting culturally significant artworks and NFTs and by supporting well-established and emerging artists working on projects at the intersection of blockchain and creativity. I believe that art is for everyone and NFTs have the power to democratize the…