LAST week saw JPMorgan, the largest bank in the US, become the first lender to enter the metaverse, opening a lounge in Decentraland.
The first property hit the market in both real-world and metaverse and Manchester City football club started building the world’s first virtual football stadium.
Here’s what happened.
Crypto took over Super Bowl LV1
Super Bowl advertising has long been used to peddle products but this year it was cryptocurrency and the metaverse which really stole the show.
With an estimated 117 million viewers tuning in to watch the LA Rams and Cincinnati Bengals go head-to-head comedian Larry David promoted crypto exchange platform FTX, while LeBron James and his younger self talked about taking chances in an ad for Crypto.com.
Crypto exchange Coinbase bounced a QR code around the screen and received more than 20 million page views on its landing page within one minute – causing the website to crash.
An ad from Meta showed a dog reuniting with its friends with the help of Meta’s Quest 2 virtual reality headsets.
TurboTax’s advert, the tax-preparation software, featured a crypto investor after the company announced it would offer customers the ability to get their tax refunds in cryptocurrencies.
Bud Light NEXT, a no-carb Bud Light, included an NFT in its ad, and South Korean carmaker Kia released a collection of NFTs during their slot.
JPMorgan launched in the metaverse
JPMorgan became the first bank to enter the metaverse with the US’s largest bank opening a lounge in Decentraland.
The Onyx lounge (the name refers to the bank’s blockchain unit formed in 2020) is located at the Metajuku mall, a virtual version of Tokyo’s Harajuku shopping district.
JPMorgan also released a document outlining how businesses can find opportunities in the metaverse.
Christine Moy, JPMorgan’s head of crypto and the metaverse, said: “There is a lot of client interest to learn more about the metaverse.”
Read more HERE.
L’Oreal is entering the metaverse
Cosmetic giant L’Oreal is venturing into the metaverse after filling trademarks on February 10.
The filings are in the names of L’Oreal’s subsidiaries including cosmetic and makeup company’s Kiehl’s, Urban Decay, Redken and Maybelline among others.
The Kiehl’s filing includes rights to “non-downloadable virtual perfumery,” as well as “hair care preparations and cosmetic body care preparations in a virtual environment including a metaverse.”
In eight of the filings, L’Oréal says they’re “providing a metaverse for people to browse, accumulate, buy, sell and trade virtual cosmetics.”
Manchester City FC become first football team to launch in the metaverse
Manchester City have started building the world’s first football stadium inside the metaverse with Sony.
It will allow fans from all over the world to enjoy watching games at the venue without leaving their own homes.
Read more HERE.
Nick Clegg takes charge of Meta’s metaverse ambitions
Sir Nick Clegg has been promoted to president of global affairs at Meta.
He’ll be responsible for “all policy matters” at the company.
Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted Mr Clegg to take the role of a “senior leader at the level of myself” who could lead and represent the company on its policy issues around the world.
Read more HERE.
First property goes up for sale in both real-world and metaverse
A mansion – on the market for £29million in Surrey, England – is up for sale in both the real-world and the metaverse.
Whoever buys the house in real life will be offered first refusal on its digital blueprint in the form of an NFT.
The owner of the NFT will be able to download the house into a virtual world such as Decentraland or The Sandbox or upload it into a digital picture frame to hang on the walls of the real house.
Those who are interested can take a virtual tour.
Read more HERE.
Horizon Worlds & Horizon Venues reaches 300,000 monthly users
Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues has reached 300,000 monthly users.
Horizon is Meta’s brand for the company’s “metaverse” social VR apps: Horizon Worlds, Horizon Workrooms, Horizon Venues, and the soon-to-launch Horizon Home.
Horizon Worlds is Meta’s biggest bet to date.
It recently featured in Meta’s Super Bowl ad, and Zuckerberg called it “core to our metaverse vision.”
Meta’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, said since Horizon Worlds was rolled out to all Quest users in the US and Canada in early December 2021, its monthly user base has grown to 300,000 people.
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