ApeCoin (APE) price has exploded higher on anticipations that it would become a de-facto payment token in an upcoming metaverse land sale. APE price swelled nearly 28% in one day to reach over $17 per token on April 20. The rally came as a part of a rebound from three-day lows under $11, resulting in a 55% gain. BAYC land airdrop A rumor circulating across social media platforms since April 18 suggested that the owners of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs may receive virtual lands on the Yuga Labs' much-anticipated "Otherside" metaverse …

The United States Air Force has filed a trademark application hinting at the military branch potentially expanding into the metaverse. According to a Thursday application submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Department of the Air Force trademarked the word "SpaceVerse," defined as “a secure digital metaverse that converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities and provides synthetic and simulated extended-reality (XR) training, testing and operations environments.” It’s unclear if the initiative is connected to the U.S. Space Force, which according to its website is “organized under” the Air Force, but operates as a “separate and distinct …

South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai announced on Monday that it has partnered with the “Meta Kongz” nonfungible token (NFT) project to create a limited collection of 30 NFTs launching sometime in May 2022. Hyundai also created a new Twitter handle, @Hyundai_NFT, for its NFT-related communications and posted a video showing an animated Meta Kong riding through space in a 1975 Hyundai PONY. Hyundai x Meta Kongz introduces Hyundai Metamobility universe. Check out this aweeeesome creature’s breathtaking adventure with Hyundai PONY.@Hyundai_Global @meta_kongz pic.twitter.com/w0iLPHxe5d — Hyundai_NFT (@Hyundai_NFT) April 17, 2022 Included in the announcement was a teaser for a further “Shooting Star …

With the blockchain industry growing at lightspeed, businesses are actively and, even desperately, seeking out talent; and there just doesn’t seem to be enough manpower out there. Enter women — literally around 50% of the global population that has, so far, been heavily underrepresented in crypto. With most developers being men, it’s understandable this still dev-led space noticeably lacks female contributors, but as the industry surges, womanpower is needed. And, so, women have begun slowly and steadily entering the crypto space and the world of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). While only an estimated 5% of women own NFTs, and 5-15% are …

Metaverses seem to be all the buzz these days. But, while tech companies are betting their futures on it, there are still many worldwide trying to fathom why we need something like a digital realm. While this question has several reasons, including empowering creators, gamers, nonfungible token (NFT) collectors, influencers, brands, event makers and marketers, and building off the reality of social media, the reality is that all will be overlooked without a proper focus on the development itself. The metaverse is generally positioned as an increasingly immersive experience, one comparable to the real world. Therefore, if high-quality graphics, such …

You’ve probably already heard of the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) craze as these colorful, almost cartoon-like pictures. And, when you think of the Metaverse, you already see a bright and virtual world viewed from your avatar. With NFTs, most people think of Bored Ape Yacht Club or the famous CryptoPunks. But, what we all want to know: How to get metaverse photos? Or, maybe you’re wondering how to get NFT images? Here’s how to brighten up your virtual life. Do you want to buy, download or create metaverse images? First of all, you need to decide if you want to download …

Popular NFT collector “punk6529” today unveiled an ambitious open Metaverse project that is looking to attract 100 million users. The self-funded project is dubbed “OM” and aims to be an open platform that is built and shared by the community. The broader vision for the project is to launch 10 self-governing cities with a max population of 10 million each. The museum district of the first city (Genesis City) was launched in alpha mode earlier today, with punk6529 bullishly telling their 323,200 Twitter followers that it might be “the most high-end art NFTs ever displayed in one place.” A promo …

Meta has announced plans to charge 47.5% on each item sold on its new Meta Quest app store, including nonfungible tokens (NFT) when they are available. The Meta Quest app store sells apps and games on the Horizon Worlds platform which Meta, formerly Facebook, is using to build its part of the Metaverse. CNBC reported on April 13 that the store is also expected to sell NFTs. The fee is broken down as a hardware platform fee of 30% per transaction plus a 17.5% usage fee on Horizon Worlds. Potential customers aren't pleased with what is seen as an outrageously …

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has taken aim at Meta in a new interview, suggesting that its version of the Metaverse will simply repeat all of its past mistakes. In an interview with Politico, Haugen said: "They've made very grandiose promises about how there's safety-by-design in the Metaverse. But if they don't commit to transparency and access and other accountability measures, I can imagine just seeing a repeat of all the harms you currently see on Facebook." In 2021 Huagen leaked thousands of internal documents from Facebook to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal. Her experience working …

Nonfungible token (NFT) startup Genies has secured $150 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $1 billion, making it the latest crypto-focused platform to attain “unicorn” status. The funding round was led by California-based private equity firm Silver Lake, which manages $88 billion in assets as of 2021, with additional participation from existing investors Tamarack Global, BOND and NEA. Genies said the funding will go towards increasing internal capacity in its engineering department as well as investing in new technologies. Founded in 2017, Genies is an avatar technology company that first set out to target social media and …

Tech venture capital firm White Star Capital has secured $120 million in funding for its second Digital Asset Fund (DAF II) to invest in crypto networks and early-stage blockchain and Web3 businesses. The fund is primarily backed by game publishing giant Ubisoft and will take a particular focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming. It will invest as much as $7 million in each of 20-25 companies in North America, Europe, and Asia. The firm’s increased attention to DeFi, Web3, and blockchain-based technology suggests that it will begin to support companies that utilize or develop Metaverse solutions as well. This …

On Tuesday, blockchain data analytics platform Nansen released its quarterly report on the state of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The report highlighted the rapid growth of the NFT market over that of the cryptocurrency market year-to-date, and it predicts of an $80 million market cap by 2025. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Nansen recently released six NFT indexes weighted by market capitalization denominated in Ether (ETH): Nansen NFT-500, Nansen Blue Chip-10, Nansen Social-100, Nansen Gaming-50, Nansen Art-20 and Nansen Metaverse-20. According to the Nansen 2022 Quarterly NFT Report, The NFT market continues outperforming the cryptocurrency market year-to-date, putting in a 103.7% …