In this week’s newsletter, read about how a science fiction comic book uses nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to make the reading experience more interactive and how Web3 musicians view NFTs. Check out how big names like Bandai Namco, Sega and Square Enix are eyeing blockchain gaming. In other news, find out how a metaverse-focused fir- integrated NFTs within Minecraft despite its ban on NFTs. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring the first metaverse wedding at The Sandbox. Sci-Fi NFT comic book project lays the foundation for CCG development An NFT comic book project created by former game developers is …

Where are the challenges that face the NFT sector in the future being discussed? Mattereum is hosting a dedicated event to discuss physical asset NFTs on Sept. 21. The meetup begins at 6pm London time — that's 7pm in Berlin, 1pm in New York, and 10am in California. A previous event was held in July 2022, and set out how coveted high-value assets such as red wine, fine art and real estate could benefit from Mattereum's approach to NFTs. With an ever-growing number of blue-chip companies exploring this space, adoption among everyday consumers will continue to skyrocket. Mattereum is determined …

NFTs are a game-changing technology, providing ownership for digital assets and serving as certificates for holders or access keys for the underlying content, which could be music, movies, art, real estate, and a lot of other stuff. However, what makes nonfungible tokens (NFTs) useful in real terms is metadata. It may not be a buzzword exactly but it ensures the user is able to make out what the NFT is all about. Metadata is information about the content that an NFT represents. As large files cannot be stored on the blockchain for the simple reason that they become too expensive, …

For all the hype around the metaverse, it is easy to forget it is still in its infancy. While the term has only recently entered the broad public consciousness, its impact on how we interact with technology is already expected to be deeply consequential. McKinsey & Company estimates that annual global spending within the metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030 across domains as broad as gaming, social, fitness, commerce and remote learning. The question of how to define and build technology with such broad capabilities is in flux. While a number of games — such as Roblox, Fortnite and …

So, is blockchain ready to take on the Metaverse journey? In essence, the ideal metaverse must be on blockchain rails, which mandates inclusive incentives centered around creators and users while still offering immersive and seamless virtual experiences. The Metaverse is not just about the experiential elements; it is also about the economic aspects. The financial incentives must be centered around the real value creators. Those who create content, and regularly interact and transact on the platform are the ones who are creating value. While the economic model possibilities are exciting, and several hopeful glimpses of these possibilities have emerged, there …

Decentralized blockchain-based metaverse The Sandbox has held its first hybrid digital and real-life wedding on its Metaverse. The bride and groom, Singaporean couple Joanne Tham and Clarence Chan, CEO of music company Bandwagon, celebrated their matrimony on Sept. 17 in a “70s disco glam” themed wedding, which took place in a digital replica of Singapore's famous Alkaff Mansion. ❤️ A @TheSandboxGame wedding just happened a few hours ago. Congratulations @clarcrypto ! A special thank you to @borgetsebastien . A feature video dropping today. @thecobbleland #wedding #metaverse pic.twitter.com/141o915Hew — Smobler Studios (@smoblerstudios) September 17, 2022 While the couple was physically present …

A recent report from technology research and advisory firm Technavio predicts that the Metaverse will hit a market share value of $50.37 billion by the year 2026. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the trillion-dollar fashion industry has started taking a major interest in the Metaverse. While most luxury labels and brands remain focused on creating nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to replicate physical items, a handful of projects have started bringing their communities into the Metaverse. For example, on Sept. 5, Vogue Singapore launched a fashion-first Web3 community known as “Vogue Singapore’s New World.” While Vogue Singapore has previously …

Avichal Garg, the CEO and co-founder of Electric Capital, defines himself as “an NFT maximalist” – who believes that nonfungible tokens (NFTs) will play an essential role in bringing crypto to the masses. Unlike other crypto niches, NFTs are relatable to aspects of everyday life such as art, music and games. “I could imagine that NFTs are actually many billions of people because it's ultimately culture. And that's something that everybody can participate in and everybody can understand,” said Garg in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. In particular, Garg is bullish about NFTs being used in the gaming industry, which …

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of South Korea revealed plans to move away from imposing traditional video gaming laws on the Metaverse. Instead, the ministry decided to issue new guidelines for incentivizing the growth of the budding ecosystem. South Korea’s interest in garnering Web3 and the Metaverse ecosystems is evidenced by the $200 million investment it made for the creation of an in-house Metaverse. Running parallel to this effort, the MSIT identified that imposing older regulations serve as a deterrent to the growth of new ecosystems. In the first meeting of the National Data Policy committee, MSIT noted …

Sports Metaverse startup LootMogul secured a $200 million investment commitment from Gem Global Yield, providing the company a share subscription facility of up to $200 million for a 36-month term following an equity exchange listing. The company said that the funding is expected to boost the development of LootMogul's metaverse focused on sports games, including "building meta (virtual) sports cities around the world with real-world benefits, brands & professional athletes on a true cross metaverse & blockchain (multichain) platform on multiple devices such as Oculus, HoloLens, Web, Mobile & Console," explained the company in a statement. The deal will allow …

One of Web3’s leading digital property rights developers, Animoca Brands, announced yet another major acquisition to its increasing portfolio of gaming subsidiaries. The company announced the purchase of WePlay Media, which developed the popular blockchain-game MotoGP Championship Quest, on Sept. 16. According to the agreement, the acquisition is in an effort to bolster user engagement in motorsport mobile gaming. Graeme Warring, the co-founder and COO of WePlay Media and co-creator of MotoGP, called the acquisition an exciting development for both parties as they expand their reach to motorcycle fans across the globe. “Animoca Brands has the ability to reach hundreds …

Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solana (Garga.eth) has shot down rumors that the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators have plans to launch a new NFT collection dubbed “Mecha Apes” by the end of the year. The rumors started swirling after Protos claimed to have obtained leaked documents detailing that Yuga Labs was looking at raising around $50 million from the sale of 100,000 tokenized land plots. After the news was reported via various outlets online, Garga.eth noted it was all “fake news” via Twitter on Sept. 16. fake news https://t.co/KVMaO18IaF — Garga.eth (@CryptoGarga) September 15, 2022 While the rumors have …