Sales of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, reached $25 billion in 2021, demonstrating that the sector is one of the most sought-after markets in crypto. Art NFTs, in particular, made a big impact last year with Christie’s reporting over $93 million in nonfungible token sales during its fourth annual Art+Tech Summit that took place this past August. While notable, much of the crypto art scene appears to be dominated by cartoons and memes, as projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club have taken center stage. Although these projects are some of the most successful to date, a new subset of …

Following the announcement that Facebook’s parent company would be rebranding in a shift towards the Metaverse, many projects have started similar initiatives entering the virtual space, from buying property to testing the limits of what this universe has to offer. Visit Disneyland… in the Metaverse? The entertainment company behind some of the most popular theme parks in the world recently had a patent approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue.” Though the Los Angeles Times reported that Disney had “no current plans” to use the simulator in the near future, the application does suggest Disneyland and Disney World …

Mike Tyson is living the $DREAM Boxing icon Mike Tyson has stepped into the ring this week, after he shared his enthusiasm for Solana and unveiled a partnership with mental health-focused crypto project TheDreamChain ($DREAM). In the first round, Tyson — who previously launched an NFT project on Ethereum via OpenSea last year — tweeted on Jan. 13 that he was a born-again Solana (SOL) proponent while sharing a screenshot of a new NFT he'd snapped up from the Catalina Whale Mixer project. The Solana-based Catalina Whale Mixer NFTs currently have a floor price of 15 SOL ($2,200), and Tyson’s …

The founder of Linden Lab’s virtual online world Second Life Philip Rosedale will be rejoining the project as a strategic advisor to guide its entry to the Metaverse. While he is negative on content interoperability in the Metaverse describing it as “a total fail” he believes an NFT based future is the way forward long term. Second Life is an online social game universe that launched in 2003, when the word “Metaverse” was only being used by Neal Stephenson fans. Since leaving his position as CEO of Linden Labs in 2008, Rosedale has made a name for himself in the …

Metaverse concert organizer Animal Concerts has partnered with South Korean unicorn Kakao’s Klaytn network to increase its exposure to the Korean entertainment industry and facilitate Klaytn’s global expansion plans. The Jan. 10 announcement from Klaytn explains that the partnership between Klaytn and Animal Concerts is expected to help Klaytn increase the number of NFTs that are traded on the platform. Klaytn is one of just three blockchains with native support on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, but has the lowest trading volume. Klaytn’s parent company Kakao is also planning an NFT and Metaverse platform called Kakao Games. Animal Concerts will …

Employees from Microsoft and Apple are jumping ship to join Meta Platforms as the company sets its sights on creating the Metaverse. According to former employees of Microsoft quoted by the Wall Street Journal, around 100 people have ditched the tech giant’s augmented reality team over the past year to join Meta Platforms. They claim that Meta has been particularly focused on snapping up people who have worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headsets. According to the WSJ, Linkedin profiles show that more than 70 people who were part of Microsoft’s HoloLens team have left the project over the …

Brokerage firm eToro introduced MetaverseLife, a new smart portfolio covering stocks and crypto-assets from within the growing metaverse industry, on Jan 11. The company stated that its goal is to offer a diverse range of investments made for long-term exposure. Currently included in the portfolio are Meta Platforms, the new parent company behind Facebook, Roblox and other blockchain-based metaverse developments like Decentraland, Sandbox and Enjin. There are also a few companies listed in this portfolio that aren’t exclusively blockchain-based but have still contributed to metaverse adoption and development. These include tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia. Dani Brinker, head …

The world at large has already made a transition to the internet, spending an increased amount of time online. However, the way the internet is currently set up, there will always be a gap in experiencing the full range of human connections on screen. While this might be true, the next version of the internet, the metaverse, has hinted towards several possibilities that exist only in the digital world, such as making experiences and “luxury” products available to the poor and promoting the concept of sustainability with more efficient ways to achieve one’s passions. These achievements may sound lofty, but …

Disney has been approved for a patent that would create personalized interactive attractions for theme park visitors. The technology would facilitate headset-free augmented reality (AR) attractions at Disney theme parks. The tech would work by tracking visitors using their mobile phones, and generating and projecting personalized 3D effects onto nearby physical spaces, walls, and objects in the park. The entertainment giant was approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue,” patent on Dec. 28, 2021. It was originally filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in July 2020. The “Metaverse” has largely been imagined as existing on …

Within months after its launch in April 2021, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has become one of the main reasons Wall Street should take the emerging nonfungible token (NFT) market seriously, thanks to its recent sales turnover of over $1 billion. Celebrities ape into BAYC For the uninitiated, BAYC is a collection of 10,000 cartoons of anthropomorphic apes with stylish clothes and disreputable expressions. Each ape is practically an image file that should be worthless in a sane world. Nonetheless, they have been managing to fetch astonishing sums, sometimes from some of the world's most renowned celebrities. For instance, Jimmy …

Samsung is the latest megacorporation to announce a metaventure project, opting for Decentraland for its metaverse project. On Jan. 6, 2021, the consumer electronics giant announced the opening of a virtual replica of its iconic New York physical store in order to enhance customer interaction at a time when COVID-19 is keeping people away from physical shops. The Samsung metaverse store is a replica of a real-world shop situated at 837 Washington Street in New York City's Meatpacking District in Manhattan. The Samsung 837X shop will now be accessible on the metaverse for a limited time. The company claims that …

Thanks to blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), celebrities and influencers can implement new ways to better interact with their fans and audiences. One project is taking this concept further still by building an ecosystem that combines NFTs, a proprietary metaverse, and lots of activities that give users access to top celebrities. Known as the Fancy Bears Metaverse, the ecosystem created by Fanadise revolves around entertainment, social media interactions and celebrities. The Fancy Bears Metaverse (FBM) gives users access to artists, influencers, top athletes and Nobel prize winners and others who participate in the Fancy Bears Club. What is more, their …