Daily Fintech Crunch: 10/03/2022

Welcome to today's daily crunch - today its solely and exclusively about the Metaverse. A topic which I know 1% about, but I am keen to stay the course and learn more from all the experts and the great content which is getting shared.

I’m giving you a metaverse special crunch today, with all the latest updates about the virtual world which I found interesting and worth sharing

• Horizon Workrooms, a virtual reality workspace, hosted a meeting between Glamour and VP of the Global Business Group for Meta, Nicola Mendelsohn. The meeting took place in light of international women’s day to discuss how the metaverse can become a more essential area for women in the future.?

• Apple has always had a competitive edge, and now people are wondering what the tech giant has planned for the metaverse. But it’s also important to note that Apple still hasn’t released a dedicated XR headset yet, so this might mean that Apple is lagging behind.

• In the Decentraland metaverse, Atari has revealed plans to create a virtual casino. Many of the video games created by Atari throughout the course of their 50-year history will be featured in the casino.

• Retail leaders now have the opportunity to make extra money and expand reach beyond their physical stores. And while some business owners are concerned about the costs of metaverse integration, the ROI is considerably high.?

• Roksanda has released a series of NFTs based on one of its unique designs… and the price of the NFT goes up to over $300. Although many are skeptical about paying that amount for a digital dress, it looks like self expression will be as valid in the metaverse as it is in the physical world.

• Remember how smartphones transformed technology, the economy, and society? The metaverse is believed to be a similar breakthrough. Read this article for more about the history of metaverse, where it’s heading, and whether it will take over all aspects of our lives or not.

• Walmart appears to be foraying into the metaverse with plans to launch its own cryptocurrency and NFT collection. Last December, the big-box retailer filed seven new trademarks indicating its intention to create and sell virtual items.?

• Following in the footsteps of Walmart, CVS – the healthcare behemoth – has filed a trademark application to offer products and services on the metaverse.

• Two of the most well-known Ethereum NFT initiatives have teamed up. The WoW Foundation will be founded with a $25 million gift from the Sandbox. Through education and mentorship, World of Women hopes to bring more women into the NFT realm and the emerging metaverse.

• The metaverse has sparked a virtual space race. It's the next "digital step" for the internet, but this time providing an immersive, virtual and interactive experience. Read more about it here.

• One of the most talked-about destinations in 2022 is the metaverse. From Sotheby's to the NFL, the metaverse has managed to attract some of the world's most prestigious businesses. It even became the hottest concert venue in pandemic-stricken 2021 along the way.

• Microsoft and Meta are now squaring off in their battle for virtual supremacy. It appears to be a rerun of the "format wars" that we've seen time and time again. From VHS in the 1980s to Facebook and MySpace a decade ago, it's the same old cycle we've seen play out in decades of centralized technology. Here’s the case for why the future of the metaverse must be decentralized.

?? Metaverse Special Report of the Day:

• The Metaverse is at the vanguard of the Web 3.0 internet evolution, and crypto cloud economies are the next growing market investment frontier. Facebook is transforming into a Metaverse firm, other prominent Web 2.0 IT companies will almost certainly need to begin probing the Metaverse in order to compete, and the attention has driven a fresh wave of investment in this growing crypto area. Read the full report about the economics of the virtual space here.