David Marcus, the head of Meta’s cryptocurrency and fintech unit Novi, will step down from his role by the end of 2021. Taking over from Marcus will be Stephane Kasriel, the former CEO of Upwork who has been at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, since August 2020. Marcus announced the decision via a Dec. 1 tweet, noting that he had made the “difficult decision” to leave the firm by the end of this year. The exec didn’t go into detail about what his next move would be, but hinted that it may be something “new and exciting” that he builds …

Facebook has been planning its foray into the metaverse for some time now — possibly even several years. But it’s only recently that its ambitious expansion plans have catapulted the concept into mainstream headlines across the globe. Renaming the parent company to Meta was perhaps the biggest, boldest statement of intent the firm could make. Suddenly, major news outlets were awash with explainer articles, while finance websites have been bubbling with excitement about the investment opportunities in this newly emerging sector. However, within the crypto sphere, the response has been understandably more muted. After all, decentralized versions of the metaverse …

Blockchain tech has come a long way. It wasn’t that long ago that crypto remained at the fringes, evangelized by a vocal minority. The narrative shifted once the COVID-19 pandemic pushed people into their homes with plenty of time to dive into new interests. Crypto benefited from the increased attention, entering everyday conversations among friends, family and colleagues. Even so, it’s still early in crypto. Widespread adoption remains elusive and traditional tech gatekeepers maintain their grip on the digital economy. To loosen that grip, those of us building the decentralized internet, or Web 3.0, have to do a better job …

The Winklevoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini will allocate capital from its $400 million funding round into building a “Gemini experience in different Metaverses.” Gemini announced that it had closed a $400 million equity growth funding round at a valuation of $7.1 billion on Nov. 18, marking the first time the firm had sought outside financing. Morgan Creek Digital led the round with participation from 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, and Marcy Venture Partners to name a few. Notably, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) — which also partnered with Gemini to launch the first crypto trading services offered by a big …

Meta — the company formerly known as Facebook — is diving straight into virtual reality with a preview of its latest research and development on haptic gloves which give sensory feedback while in digital realms. Facebook rebranded to Meta in late October to shift its focus from social media to Metaverse and VR tech development. In a Nov. 16 blog post, Meta shared the latest breakthroughs in haptic glove research from its VR tech firm Reality Labs, noting that the product has been seven years in the making. The firm shared a video that shows two people testing the haptic …

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. What’s in a name? A whole metaverse is what one could be led to believe when looking at the buzz around Facebook’s recent transformation into Meta. In reality, of course, there is more to the new name than that — there is also the whistleblower scandal, alongside the previous controversies tarring the company’s image, as well as the encroachment of rivaling social media platforms …

After rising above $66,000 today and reaching a market capitalization of more than $1.2 trillion, Bitcoin has surpassed the total market cap of both car manufacturer Tesla and social media giant Facebook. According to data from AssetDash, Bitcoin (BTC) is now the 6th most valuable asset by market capitalization among major companies, behind Microsoft, Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet, Saudi Aramco, and Amazon. The crypto asset passed Tesla’s and Facebook’s market caps of $1.19 trillion and $975 billion, respectively, as its price hovers close to $66,000 and within striking distance of its all-time high of $67,000. The recent price rise …

Last week, Facebook rebranded to Meta and announced its plans to kickstart the development of the Metaverse — an entirely new way of interacting and navigating the internet. Now, the Metaverse landscape has a multi-billion dollar corporate behemoth vying for the helm, which has made its future all the more uncertain. Whether we like it or not, major corporations will likely play a major role in how the Metaverse develops and evolves. But will it be plagued by the same problems faced by today’s social media giants, or will decentralized platforms and services take center stage? Related: New industry, new …

Crypto leaders are divided over whether Mark Zuckerberg should lead Facebook into the Metaverse, with Hodl Asset’s Jenny Ta saying he needs to resign if Meta is to succeed while Animoca’s Yat Siu says Zuck is the only one who can drive the company forward. Ta is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of nonfungible token (NFT) platform developer Hodl Assets, and said that Zuckerberg needs to head off lawsuits and protect the company’s image by relinquishing his role as CEO. But the co-founder and Chairman of blockchain game and virtual property developer Animoca Brands, Yat Su said that Zuck is …

U.S. tech giant Microsoft is taking the plunge into the Metaverse via updates to its Teams and Xbox gaming console services, along with a new product called “Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces.” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the firm’s Metaverse plans for Teams and Spaces on Nov. 2 during the Microsoft Ignite conference. “The Metaverse enables us to embed computing into the real world and to embed the real world into computing. Bringing real presence to any digital space. What’s most important is that we are able to bring our humanity with us, and choose how we want to experience this …

Nick Clegg, Vice‑President for Global Affairs and Communications at Meta Platforms, spoke at Lisbon’s Web Summit 2021 during a panel on Facebook and innovation in Europe. The world’s biggest tech conference has returned to a physical setting following a two-year, Covid-induced virtual hiatus. The event is showcasing an illustrious list of entrepreneurs, organizations and influencers at the cutting-edge of their respective fields and has — according to recent data compiled by the Web Summit communications team — attracted 42,751 attendees from 128 countries, 50.5% of which are female, the highest ever participation in the ten-year event’s history. Interviewed by Matthew …

Nonfungible token, or NFT, investment firm Sfermion have announced a secondary funding raise of $100 million — appropriately titled Fund II — from a number of established cryptocurrency investors including British billionaire Alan Howard, American entrepreneur Chris Dixon, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and venture capital firm Digital Currency Group, amongst others. Whereas predecessor Fund I focused solely on NFT investment opportunities, seven-figure Fund II will be utilized to “accelerate the emergence of an open, decentralized metaverse” through strategic investments. Founded in 2019 by Andrew Steinwold, Sfermion are intent on identifying and investing in emerging projects, technologies and individuals …