Four blockchain-based Metaverse projects generated more than $100 million worth of virtual land NFT sales last week according to data from DappRadar. A Nov. 30 post from the decentralized application (DApp) analytics firm reported that between Nov. 22 and Nov. 28 activity was “booming” on The Sandbox, Decentraland, CryptoVoxels and Somnium Space with a combined $105.8 million worth of trading volume between them from more than 6,000 traders: “Undoubtedly, Metaverse land is the next big hit in the NFT space. Outputting record sales numbers and constantly increasing NFT prices, virtual worlds are the new top commodity in the crypto space.” …

Social media and metaverse marketplace Meta has expanded eligibility requirements for running cryptocurrency advertisements on Facebook, giving companies more leeway to market digital asset product offerings. Meta announced Wednesday that, effective immediately, it will recognize 27 regulatory licenses from advertisers, up from just three previously. This means many more applications for running cryptocurrency ads will be accepted. The changes are reflected in section 10 of Facebook’s updated advertising policy titled, “Cryptocurrency Products and Services.” Before the update, only a narrow segment of crypto companies was able to advertise on Facebook because the platform recognized a small number of regulatory licenses. …

While Bitcoin remains in a cool-off period after thrusting to its all-time high in early November and the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector in an apparent dry spell, gaming tokens seem to have taken the spotlight as massive gains are seen across the industry. The Sandbox’ SAND captured headlines as it spearheaded the enthusiasm for gaming tokens, with over 340% gains in the past month. Another one is GALA, with a similar 300% rally in November. Such coins, including those under the metaverse sphere like Decentraland’s MANA and Illuvium’s ILV, gained momentum after Facebook’s rebranding to Meta, suggesting that gaming tokens …

The rise of the Metaverse and Web 3.0 are set to disrupt multiple sectors including the billion-dollar global fashion industry. As the world moves from physical to digital, traditional fashion design can transform into virtual wearables that can be leveraged in both augmented reality (AR) and in real life. Megan Kaspar, managing director at Magnetic Capital and member of Red DAO — a fashion-focused decentralized autonomous organization — told Cointelegraph she believes that digital fashion nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, will be the largest NFT category of Web 3.0: “Digital fashion NFTs include clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories and more that can …

China’s crackdown on crypto is expanding into the metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), an executive at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) recently implied. Speaking at a national financial security summit, Gou Wenjun, the director of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) unit at the PBoC, pointed to the risks associated with leaving the new trends of the crypto ecosystem like NFTs and metaverse unregulated. He claimed that, while people would use said virtual assets for privacy and wealth appreciation, they are also prone to be used for illicit purposes like money laundering and tax evasion. The fast-paced innovation of the crypto …

David Marcus, the head of Meta’s cryptocurrency and fintech unit Novi, will step down from his role by the end of 2021. Taking over from Marcus will be Stephane Kasriel, the former CEO of Upwork who has been at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, since August 2020. Marcus announced the decision via a Dec. 1 tweet, noting that he had made the “difficult decision” to leave the firm by the end of this year. The exec didn’t go into detail about what his next move would be, but hinted that it may be something “new and exciting” that he builds …

MetaMundo, a virtual nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace focused on the metaverse, has announced the completion of a seed funding round of $2.7 million. Led by Animoca Brands, MetaMundo’s debut funding further included Hypersphere Ventures, Digital Currency Group, OP Crypto, Metacartel Ventures, and angel investments from the co-founders of AAVE and Rarible, among others. Built upon a layer-2 network Polygon, the platform lets designers and creators mint, sell and license their NFT assets for usage in virtual and augmented reality, as well as across an array of metaverse worlds including Decentraland, Cryptovoxels and Somnium Space. The announcement states that using the …

The performance of cryptocurrencies in the past 7 days might have seemed slightly unexciting, especially since the total market capitalization increased by “only” 1.8% to reach $2.7 trillion. However, even with the muted price action, some altcoins managed a decent rally. Bitcoin (BTC), on the other hand, was down 6% until Nov. 28, but it still managed to close the week up 1.5% after a $3,200 rally on Sunday night. Metaverse tokens are still pushing to new highs The metaverse sector continued to outperform with Gala (GALA), The Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA) among the top 5 gainers. While few …

AMC Theatres is planning a NFT promotion to celebrate the opening day of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home at cinemas across the United States. The company is offering a limited number of up to 86,000 Spider-Man NFTs for members of its “AMC Stubs Premiere & A-List” and “AMC Investor Connect” subscriptions. Those who purchase an advance ticket for the Dec. 16 showing of the latest Spider-Man movie will be eligible for the airdrop. The collaboration between Sony Pictures and AMC Entertainment is the first of its kind according to the Nov. 28 announcement. More than 100 NFT designs will …

Facebook has been planning its foray into the metaverse for some time now — possibly even several years. But it’s only recently that its ambitious expansion plans have catapulted the concept into mainstream headlines across the globe. Renaming the parent company to Meta was perhaps the biggest, boldest statement of intent the firm could make. Suddenly, major news outlets were awash with explainer articles, while finance websites have been bubbling with excitement about the investment opportunities in this newly emerging sector. However, within the crypto sphere, the response has been understandably more muted. After all, decentralized versions of the metaverse …

Crypto investment giant Grayscale has published a bullish report on the Metaverse, estimating that the “market opportunity” for bringing the Metaverse to the mainstream may be worth over $1 trillion in the next few years. The November report titled “The Metaverse, Web 3.0 Virtual Cloud Economies” was authored by Grayscale Head of research David Grider and research analyst Matt Maximo. The duo explores the burgeoning sector primarily from the perspective of open Metaverse worlds backed by an “interconnected crypto-economy” such as Decentraland. The report highlights that Metaverse platforms integrated with crypto tokens, decentralized finance (DeFi) services such as staking and …

Metaverse Group, which is headquartered in Decentraland, announced on Nov. 23 that it had completed what it calls “the largest Metaverse land acquisition in history.” The subsidiary of Tokens.com snapped up 116 parcels of land “in the heart of the Fashion Street district” in Decentraland. The total size of the land purchased is equivalent to 6,090 square feet of land at the cost of 618,000 MANA tokens worth about $2.5 million. Metaverse Group plans to develop the estate for fashion shows and commerce. It will also form partnerships with fashion brands looking to expand their presence in the Metaverse, especially …