Metaverse gaming platform Ready Player Me has announced a $13 million Series A funding led by the respective co-founders of Wise and Teleport, Taavet+Sten, with further participation from the co-founder of GitHub, Tom Preston-Werner, alongside Samsung Next, Konvoy Ventures and Gmoney. The platform intends to utilize the capital to advance ambitions for avatar interoperability between metaverse worlds. This initiative supports the thesis of multiple digital dimensions as opposed to a singular model, a critic often leveled at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, amid cautions of their attempts to land-grab, or monopolize, the metaverse space. Aside from this, Ready Player Me …

ProShares, the first company in the United States to launch a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), is diving into metaverse as it now plans to launch a new metaverse-focused ETF. ProShares on Tuesday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an ETF focused on metaverse, called the ProShares Metaverse Theme ETF. Subject to approval by the SEC, the proposed ETF will track the performance of the Solactive Metaverse Theme Index (SOMETAV), consisting of firms providing or using metaverse-related technologies, including data processing and metaverse devices, the ETF prospectus reads. The index includes U.S. companies that are listed …

According to a recent report by Cointelegraph Research, the volume of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) sold this year could eclipse $18 billion. From artwork, music and in-game characters to videos and photographs, these minted certificates of ownership for digital assets on blockchains are well sought after by collectors, investors and philanthropists alike. They can also be freely traded across decentralized NFT platforms such as OpenSea. Without further ado, let's look at the biggest trends developing in the NFTs space. 1. Celebrity and contemporary NFTs Of course, at the number one place this year, as there was no shortage of NFT drops …

The reality is Gen Z is spending eight hours or more on their phones, engaging with their favorite content creators on Meta (previously known as Facebook), YouTube, TikTok or Instagram. This is partly why influencer marketing has been so impactful in meeting consumers where they are. As more time was spent on these platforms, many content creators quickly recognized the impact they could have on an audience that looked to them for advice. The result is that those who were quick to adapt later gained a first-mover advantage, as they turned their niche into an active platform for doing business. …

FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried rounded off 2021 on an optimistic note. SBF waxed lyrical about the crypto market’s state in 2021 while revealing the roadmap for FTX in 2022 in a Twitter flood. In his view, there are three keystones to industry progress in 2022: regulation, scaling, and transaction speeds. He proposes solutions to each puzzle piece, referencing his exchange's involvement. On regulation, SBF states stablecoins could be better reported and audited. In line with FTX stablecoin policies, he says more transparency would solve “80% of the problems while allowing stablecoins to thrive onshore.” Meanwhile, better markets oversight …

Although nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have continued to gain popularity, they have a seemingly small audience size, primarily limited to those already active in the cryptocurrency world. One of the main reasons for the lack of adoption is the underlying technology not being seen for more than its ability to be added to a collection. However, many fail to realize that NFT usage extends far beyond digital art pieces. NFTs can also be used to create online experiences and games for a population eager for adventure. In contrast to collecting, games that entertain play on a user’s ability to learn, test …

The Chinese internet giant Baidu doesn’t expect to fully launch its XiRang metaverse app soon despite the app’s initial would debut on Monday, according to a senior executive. Baidu vice president Ma Jie believes that it is still “negative six” years to full XiRang’s launch, CNBC reported on Thursday. He noted that the development of the app started in December 2020. Ma spoke of “Create 2021,” Baidu’s upcoming annual developers’ event, which the company promotes as the first Chinese conference to be hosted in a metaverse space through XiRang. The app will reportedly handle up to 100,000 virtual members interacting …

PwC Hong Kong, an international subsidiary of the global PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) organization, announced Thursday its emergence in the metaverse space with the acquisition of LAND in the popular world The Sandbox. Though the cost of its LAND asset was undisclosed, it was noted that PwC Hong Kong intends to construct a Web 3.0 advisory hub to facilitate a new generation of professional services, including accounting and taxation. The global organization PwC, headquartered in London, U.K., documented revenues of $45 billion from June 2020 to June 2021, up 2% from the previous year. William Gee, a partner at PwC Hong Kong, …

For the week ending on Christmas, global searches for the term "NFT," which refers to nonfungible tokens, have surpassed "crypto," according to Google Trends. The sharp increase in search traffic for NFTs offers a clear indication that digital collectibles have entered mainstream consciousness, with transactions on OpenSea, the most popular decentralized platform for NFT auctions and drops, surpassing $10 billion. The huge increase in demand for NFTs is evident across nearly all aspects of society. First, consumer brands such as Nike and Adidas are making their own entry into the realm of metaverse NFTs. Then, celebrities such as Snoop Dog, …

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk showed no support for the Metaverse and Web 3 ecosystem as he dismissed the terms for being used as buzzwords and marketing tactics. "I don't see someone strapping a friggin' screen to their face all day," said Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, in an interview with The Babylon Bee when asked about his thoughts on the Metaverse ecosystem. "I don't know if I necessarily buy into this metaverse stuff, although people talk to me a lot about it." Speaking around Metaverse and virtual reality (VR), Musk said that he does not see a …

Enterprise blockchain has come a long way since its inception in 2017. Blockchain for enterprise use initially began as a technology built on private, permissioned networks, primarily used for supply chain management. As blockchain matured overtime, enterprises began to leverage public, permissionless networks like Ethereum to conduct business. Fast forward to 2021 — enterprises are now applying decentralized concepts to create more efficient workflows in the Metaverse. William Herkelrath, head of business development at Chainlink Labs — a decentralized oracle network — told Cointelegraph that while the Metaverse is hard to define, he believes that it’s a collection of ecosystems …

In a series of tweets posted on Tuesday, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, as well as the founder and CEO of Square (now Block), voiced his criticism over the direction of Web 3.0 development. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, joined Dorsey in the mockery. On an unrelated note, the same day, Dorsey replied, "Bitcoin will" when asked if crypto will replace the dollar. Within context, Web 3.0 is a decentralized version of the virtual world that will in part feature public blockchains, metaverse technology, nonfungible tokens and decentralized finance free from the grasp of centralized …