The first quarter of 2022 was abuzz with the talks about ApeCoin (APE), a cryptocurrency adopted to be the native coin of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), developed by Yuga Labs. Since the ApeCoin DAO came into being in April 2021, the BAYC has been among the top nonfungible token (NFT) collections with a vibrant community. The BAYC collection showcases apes that seemingly look bored. Depending on your mood and choice, you can choose these apes down to the tiniest details. Investors across the world have put their money into these artworks and the buyers include the likes of Justin Bieber and Eminem. As an ERC-20 governance and utility token of the APE ecosystem, ApeCoin is administered by a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO. Anyone holding the coin is allowed to cast their vote on...
Job creation is traditionally engineered by politicians desperate to get the country back to work and to be seen as stimulating the economy. From the job creation programs of the Great Depression to United States President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act, employment schemes have a long, checkered history. Today, fostering meaningful employment for the masses remains as popular as ever with policymakers, and yet, the next great job creation scheme is unlikely to be issued as a top-down order. Rather, it will emanate from a realm that most politicians have little dominion over and few powers to control: the Metaverse. That virtual world running parallel to our physical one is not constrained by national borders, nor is it the fiefdom of social media companies cynically commandeering its nam...
The latest development of the Metaverse was made possible due to technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), AR, VR, 3d modeling, and spatial and edge computing. Artificial intelligence AI paired with Metaverse technology ensures the Metaverse infrastructure’s stability while also delivering actionable information for the upper layers. NVIDIA technologies are a good example of how AI will be crucial in developing digital spaces where social interactions will occur in the Metaverse. Internet of things While IoT will allow the Metaverse to study and interact with the real world, it will also serve as a 3D user interface for IoT devices, allowing for a more personalized IoT experience. Both the Metaverse and the Internet of Things will assist organizati...
As reported by the University of Sao Paulo (USP), the metaverse-centric research will be carried out by research groups interested in 3D modeling, psychology and human behavior, and the effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality devices. These research domains will be evaluated within the context of the metaverse to understand how the new virtual world impacts user interactions. USP professor Marcos A. Simplicio Jr. highlighted that this is the first time USP had received a nonfungible token (NFT) via partnership. The token in question is a rare piece of land in the United States of Mars (USM) metaverse, which is being built in collaboration with other universities. “USP is the first university in Latin America to have a partnership with USM to support the construction of its met...
Mark Zuckerberg visits Meta’s first ever retail shop. Image sourced from Facebook (Mark Zuckerbeg). Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders on Wednesday that the metaverse project will bleed a lot of money and that some products will not be ready for 15 years. According to Business Insider, the Meta CEO told shareholders that he spent $10-billion on the idea of a virtual world in 2021 alone. “We want to get the hardware to be as affordable as possible for everyone, and make sure the digital economy grows,” Zuckerberg said. Meta currently has 10,000 employees working on the metaverse and wants to hire an additional 10,000 to work on the project. The giant company also announced that it is holding up on hiring, so the plans to push this project forward might be delayed further. Zuckerberg re...
The Notorious B.I.G. is coming back to life in the metaverse. The estate of the late rapper, born Christopher Wallace, is working with Burst Live Inc. and Surreal Events to create a new virtual world called “The Brook” — a reference to the artist’s hometown in Brooklyn — that will feature a hyper-realistic model of the man himself. The activation is expected to launch later this year and will allow fans to explore the virtual environment, purchase virtual real estate in The Brook, attend concerts, and buy and sell NFTs. To participate, users will be able to create accounts via The Brook website and can access the world on their desktop or mobile devices. The Brook is also expected to have activations later this fall that will require VR headsets. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts a...
Attendees to the BlockDown Croatia 2022 festival were witness to Cointelegraph’s discussions around sociopolitics of the Web3 ecosystem, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the Metaverse. It turns out that ongoing innovations across the crypto ecosystem are well-positioned to dictate the future of media and entertainment. While crypto continues to blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds, Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief, Kristina Cornèr, agreed that “It’s been a crazy year” when talking about the rising impact of crypto innovations within media companies during the BlockDown festival. Cornèr highlighted use cases within the NFT space that gives independent artists and journalists a platform to raise funds and counter real-world challenges such as climate change. In a separate discu...
For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the Music Biz conference happened in person in Nashville this month, bringing together industry figures from across the globe to banter about the various topics facing the business after two years of relying on tech and streaming to connect an increasingly-fractured landscape. One conversation that seemed to permeate both panels and interpersonal conversations at the convention was the expanding role of artists in their own marketing and release strategy, whether they are signed to a major or not. During panels like “The Future of the Artist Deal” and “Navigating New Strategies,” speakers waxed near-philosophical on the improved standing of artists in advocating on their own behalf, while also examining the pitfalls that come from this mo...
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3 saying it believes “games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.” Dubbed “GAMES FUND ONE” the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications which support player communities with Discord used as an example, and gaming infrastructure providers. The a16z team said “the coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved to create the Metaverse.” It believes games will become the “dominant way people spend time.” The move by a16z marks nearly $3 billion committed by venture funds and gaming...
As the world accelerates towards a decentralized future, Fireblocks, a digital assets custody platform, announced the launch of their new Web3 Engine to help foster the development of the Web3 ecosystem. The company announced on Tuesday that the dedicated Web3 engine includes a set of tools for developers to create products and services in decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Fireblocks has also opened up a world of decentralized apps (DApps), exchanges, NFT marketplaces and more for alternative asset managers and capital market participants. “Web3 is the future,” said Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, adding that “we’ve already entered a new era of the Internet.” Shaulov said that for the Web3 ecosystem to continue to develop, the communi...
Advantages The Metaverse has many advantages for kids, especially from an education perspective. With the help of such technology, learners can grasp abstract concepts easily in a more engaging way. The Metaverse also offers almost actual, hands-on experience that can be very beneficial for children and help them to better understand the world around them and how things work. In addition, the Metaverse can improve social skills in children. Social media has often been blamed for the rise in loneliness and depression among kids. On the other hand, the Metaverse has the potential to provide a safe and controlled environment for kids to interact with their peers and make new friends. Furthermore, it has the potential to encourage creativity and develop social intelligence in kids. Lastly, it&...
Authorities in the U.S. states of Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas and Wisconsin have filed enforcement actions against the Flamingo Casino Club for allegedly perpetrating a scam through nonfungible tokens (NFTs) tied to a metaverse casino. In a Wednesday announcement, the Alabama Securities Commission, Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, New Jersey Bureau of Securities, Texas State Securities Board and Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions alleged the Flamingo Casino Club has been “fraudulently soliciting NFTs” it claims are tied to ownership rights of a casino in the metaverse, thereby giving token holders a share of any profits. The organization has allegedly solicited investors directly through social media, recruiting influencers to promote NFT sales for the ca...