Metaverse

Generally speaking, technology is neither good nor bad; that distinction is for people. Technology is simply a fancy word for tools; generally speaking, banning tools is a way for central authorities to demonstrate and maintain power. Minecraft is a central authority clearly afraid of decentralized technologies (such as blockchain and NFTs) and how Web3 tech might empower its users. Continue Reading →

Otherside, the much-anticipated metaverse gaming platform from the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), is open for business. Over the weekend, 4,300 "Voyagers" were invited for a demo and tour of the immersive, ape avatar-navigated online platform. Continue Reading →

By trading volume, Axie Infinity is the largest NFT project of all-time, but the world's leading play-to-earn game has traveled a rocky road. If you remember, in March 2022 Axie was the victim of the largest crypto hack in history, losing approximately $622 million. However, things are looking up. While all of Axie's industry comps and KPIs are well under their high water marks, Axie is making a comeback. Which raises the question: Why? Continue Reading →

Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, and other tech giants have formed the Metaverse Standards Forum to foster development of industry standards for the (as yet undefined) metaverse. Most of the big players are founding members, with some notable exceptions such as Apple, Roblox, Niantic, The Sandbox, and Decentraland. Continue Reading →

The crypto market has been tumultuous over the past few weeks. It's been a scary time for "hodlers," but it's also a confusing time for speculative investors. Not sure what Coinbase does? Not sure what a stablecoin is? Shelly Palmer talks with Raegan Medgie and Robert Moses about Metacademy: a free-to-use, risk-free, hands-on website that will teach you about blockchain, cryptocurrency, NFTs, smart contracts, Web3, and other associated technologies. Continue Reading →

Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, sold 55,000 virtual plots of land in its upcoming metaverse, Otherside, for about $5,800 each. While the transactions were done in ApeCoin, the NFTs were minted on Ethereum, where gas fees for each mint ranged from 2.6 to 5 ETH ($6,500-$14,000) at the time of the transactions. By the time the virtual land deeds sold out, buyers paid a total of about $123 million in gas fees to send Yuga Labs about $320 million. Ouch! Continue Reading →

Two weeks after being hacked for $625 million (the largest hack in crypto history), the price of Axie Infinity (AXS) has fallen by nearly 30 percent. Despite a $150 million raise (led by Binance) to help Axie Infinity reimburse players whose ETH was stolen, the market for AXS appears bearish. Continue Reading →

Axie Infinity announced the global early access release of its free-to-play game Axie Infinity: Origin. The launch of the entry-level game comes a week after Axie's Ronin Network was hacked for $625 million, which was one of the largest crypto hacks ever. Continue Reading →

I just read Nike Inc. v. StockX LLC, a 50-page complaint filed by Nike demanding that StockX (a used shoe seller) destroy all the Nike-branded NFTs it minted. Someone should tell Nike’s lawyers that an NFT is not an image, video, or audio file, but simply an immutable digital receipt of a transaction that references the location of the associated asset(s). Destroying the receipt has no impact on the intellectual property in question any more than throwing out a receipt from the grocery store has an impact on the items you purchased. Continue Reading →

I'm excited to invite you to the first Newhouse Advanced Media Lab Series event (April 13, 6:30 p.m. EST): "Engage-to-Earn: Paradigm Shift or Parlor Trick?" Continue Reading →