It’s not nearly as fun to write this blog post when the market is way down. I understand that all markets have cycles, and if things only go up they will end up over priced which isn’t good…
Even though I get those things, it’s still shocking to see red everywhere like this morning’s view…
It looks like a bloodbath. Yikes.
Regardless, it’s a good time to scoop up some deals and I stacked some ETH this morning.
What else happened this week?
In this issue:
1 - Walmart is getting into the Metaverse
2 - Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard for $69B
3 - Prada teams up with Adidas to issue NFTs
4 - Gary V to open NYC restaurant for NFT holders
5 - China issuing NFTs without crypto
1 - Walmart enters the Metaverse. I have been closely following large corporations and their response to crypto / the Metaverse and this is definitely one of those examples.
It’s not super clear what Wal-Marts plans are, but if I had to guess they want to have a marketplace for people to exchange goods using a native currency.
Will those goods be virtual NFTs?
Will they also buy and sell physical items?
Not sure.
But as one of the world’s largest retailers (maybe the largest? I’m not sure) they see that there is money to be made in the Metaverse and they are getting in on it.
2- Microsoft buys gaming company Activision Blizzard for $69B.
The gaming sector is largely predicted to grow substantially in the coming years, and this will help Microsoft be a significant player in the space.
I’m looking to watch how the two segments of gaming will play out - the traditional game where you buy a game and play it, and the crypto game that costs nothing to play and let’s you earn crypto rewards.
Crypto gaming gives people a very different incentive structure, and as we saw with Axie Infinity last year, it can drive massive demand for games.
3 - Prada jumps onto the NFT bandwagon. The Prada NFT project is pretty cool - users collaborate on designing their own NFT which is then used as a larger mosiac art.
This is another signal that luxury fashion brands aren’t going to look down on the Metaverse like they did social media. If any brands wants to be at the cutting edge of culture and innovation, being open to tech and the Metaverse is a smart play.
We saw the recently with D&G, and I expect more fashion and art brands to embrace NFTs and the Metaverse.
4 - Gary V is opening FlyFish Club in NYC in 2023 and you must have one of his NFTs to eat there. This is a new form of private club or membership, and as of now, entry will cost you around $8K, payable in ETH.
Cool thing that is different than your standard members-only club is that you can sell your FlyFish NFT to someone else for profit, making it a different sort of investment.
5 - China is going launch NFT platform but without crypto for payments. This reinforces the separation between NFTs and cryptocurrencies. While both use the blockchain, they are quite different.
NFTs allow people to own digital assets, and support documents that are unable to be changed (immutable). NFTs aren’t just pretty online pictures, they represent a far greater potential and China sees that.
However, cryptocurrencies are a threat to China, especially as they launch their own CBDC.
So, it looks like you can buy NFTs in China, but only with the state issued currency. This means the state can see what you buy and sell, and if they felt it necessary, seize your NFTs (which I assume is an option if they own the platform)
I have been researching the Metaverse a lot the last few weeks, looking for strong players who will be good investments this year. I would not buy any gaming coins until we see the bottom, but this is a game I would consider researching.