KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms in Canada and the United States, has revealed the opening of its first metaverse collaboration hub to help its employees and clients pursue growth opportunities in the digital era. KPMG is entering the metaverse with a new collaboration hub that will connect employees, clients and others with Web3. The company is making a collective $30 million investment this year in Web3 experiences, with the metaverse hub as the "signature piece." According to a Tuesday report by Fortune, the hub will be focused on education, collaboration, training, events and workshops with Cliff Justice, …

Magnus Jones, Nordic innovation lead at big four accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY), believes that the Metaverse would be led by the younger generation and cannot be built on the same principles of the corporate business model. Jones's comments came during an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph managing editor Alex Cohen at the European Blockchain Convention (EBC) 2022. The Nordic innovation lead at EY shed light on the company’s investment strategy, explaining why a significant chunk has gone towards younger generation firms and startups. He said that many of these young firms have proven themselves with valuable products and revenues …

As metaverse land assets become more expensive, ownership becomes harder for normal users. Because of this, Ralf Kubli, board member at the Casper Association, argues that fractional ownership, similar to property loans in the real world, may gain traction within the virtual space through nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Kubli told Cointelegraph that understanding fractional ownership within the metaverse is very similar to the legacy property system. As prices soar, many cannot afford to buy and own properties. This leads to people renting or leasing property, giving a form of fractional ownership. He explained that: “Instead of the typical renter-buyer relationship and …

Catalonian director-general of innovation Daniel Marco discussed some of the key efforts that the government has taken and worked on to make the region a digital hub in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph’s managing editor Alex Cohen. Marco’s comments came during the European Blockchain Convention (EBC) 2022. Marco said the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years has really helped in propagating the idea of the digital economy, which is a part of the main economy. He went on to cite the example of Europe, which has moved to digitize the energy deal and several other digital deals. Related: Meta …

How does XR create deep collaboration in the metaverse? XR felicitates dynamic collaboration in the metaverse, enabling white-collar work in an intimate office environment. A metaverse driven by AI enables users to take up tasks that are much more fun, engaging and impactful. For instance, in a natural conversation about different topics in various realities, MeetKai's conversational AI can comprehend more sophisticated speech, provide personalized outcomes and quickly respond by remembering user preferences and context. Furthermore, an XR device provides for data overlay, opening up a string of applications. In a metaverse, this is immensely useful for building or manufacturing …

Layer-1 blockchain platform Wire Network announced the launch of its blockchain interoperability protocol called the Universal Polymorphic Address Protocol (UPAP). In the Web3 ecosystem, which is nascent compared to the larger crypto market, the primary interaction occurs over digital goods and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). However, a growing number of Web3 platforms lack interoperability, which could be a huge roadblock to a seamless Web3 experience. Wire Network aims to change that with its universal wallet address protocol. Blockchain interoperability is the ability to share information across different blockchain networks without restrictions. With the evolution of the blockchain industry, hundreds of new …

Thailand-based metaverse startup Translucia Global Innovation has partnered with the Australian software development firm Two Bulls and set aside an initial budget of $100 million to build a Metaverse Research and Development Center (MRDC) in Melbourne. Translucia is a subsidiary of art and entertainment company T&B Media Global, which in October 2021, launched its Translucia Metaverse project, with a first-stage investment of $283 million for the virtual world. Now, T&B are partnering with Two Bulls to build the MRDC to bring the project to life with a slated soft launch for November this year. Two Bulls Founder and CEO James …

Instagram's parent company, Meta, announced Wednesday that it will begin testing NFTs on Instagram Stories using its augmented reality platform Spark AR. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said of the news, “We're expanding our test so more creators around the world can display their NFTs on Instagram.” The company also stated in an announcement, “Creators and collectors will be able to share their digital collectibles across Facebook and Instagram after we begin rolling out the feature on Facebook with select US creators at a later date.” Zuckerberg also confirmed that Facebook is set to support NFTs in the future: “We'll bring this …

What is a play-to-earn crypto game? Distributed technologies including blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) enable game developers and gamers a more interactive, immersive and incentivized experience than ever before through the new game model advertised by tech enthusiasts and named the play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games model. P2E games, also known as blockchain-based or cryptocurrency games, gain significant attention from the gaming community and developers as they provide an opportunity to own data for in-game assets, fuel in-game economic systems and provide many other perks to facilitate the metaverse ecosystems. Related: My Neighbor Alice: A beginner’s guide to the play-to-earn crypto …

"Why don't you just right-click and download it?" When it comes to NFTs, bemused skeptics are often confused as to how virtual pieces of artwork can be worth millions of dollars. Of course, this criticism usually misses the point. You may take a photo of the Mona Lisa inside the Louvre, but it just isn't the same. Now, a new community-owned marketplace is taking on the naysayers by offering nonfungible tokens that aren't just digital goods. ClubRare says each of the NFTs in its collections represent ownership of a real-world authenticated collectible — and they can be brought to life …

Global spending in the Metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030, according to a new report from international consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Published yesterday, the 77-page report titled “Value Creation in the Metaverse” analyzed current adoption trends and drew additional insight from two global surveys; one gathered data from 3,104 consumers across 11 countries, while the other polled a range of executives from 448 companies across 15 industries in 10 different countries. McKinsey used this data to predict that the future of consumer behavior in the metaverse will most likely be divided into five primary activities: gaming, socializing, fitness, …

Yahoo has announced a series of Metaverse and nonfungible token- (NFT)-related activities in Hong Kong, a day after Meta Platforms outlined its own metaverse plans for the region. Yahoo, a United States-based internet media company, revealed that it will host a series of virtual events and concerts for Hong Kong residents in the Decentraland metaverse. According to Lorraine Cheung, head of audience of Yahoo Hong Kong, the company sees the Metaverse as an attractive alternative for Hong Kong residents looking to engage in social activities while pandemic restrictions remain in force. On June 9, a nationwide mandate was introduced requiring …