COMING to you every Sunday, 24/7 Crypto will help you keep track of every single important news story that happened this week in the metaverse.

The Sandbox look to raise $400million

The Sandbox is looking to raise $400 million from new and existing investors.

A new fundraising deal would follow the $93 million The Sandbox raised in a series B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 back in November 2021.

Talks are ongoing and details including size and valuation could change depending on market sentiment and investor demand.

ApeCoin soars after rumours of a metaverse launch

ApeCoin, the native token for the Bored Ape NFT collection, surged this week to an all-time high after Yuga Labs, the platform’s development community, hinted at the launch of a metaverse.

The rally, which started on Tuesday, has seen APE rise by 45 percent in the last five days, nearing a high of $19.

ApeCoin has now surpassed Decentraland’s MANA and become the largest metaverse token with a market value of $4.7 billion.

Yuga Labs has hinted at the launch of a metaverse for the Bored Ape community in a series of tweets beginning in mid-March.

Yuga released a short trailer revealing the “Otherside” metaverse on March 19.

Bored Ape NFT owner and host of The Dyorshow, who goes by the alias Renegademaster, revealed on April 20 Yuga planned to go ahead with a major land sale.

There will reportedly be 200,000 plots, with half of them reserved for the genesis auction (30 per cent dropped to BAYC and MAYC holders and 70 per cent public sale).

According to a 90-page pitch deck, Yuga Labs expects to generate $455 million in income before the end of 2022, mainly through virtual land sales in its metaverse.

Yuga Labs’ ultimate goal is to create an interoperable metaverse.

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Goldman Sachs says metaverse race is between Apple and Meta

Goldman Sachs has said the “main race” for the metaverse is between Apple and Meta.

In a recently published research report, the bank said Apple is striving for an extension to its ecosystem, while Meta is looking to build a base of users through “attractive hardware pricing and compelling experiences.”

Goldman Sachs is also more positive on VR than AR because usable products already exist.

The firm said while VR is getting better, the category has until now “failed to resonate with a broad base of users.”

Shiba Inu ban user from metaverse for drawing a swastika

A SHIB: The Metaverse user’s wallet address has been banned for drawing a swastika using the meme coin’s metaverse land.

Shiba Inu’s developers said: “SHIB: The Metaverse will place the wallet identifying the hate symbol violation on a blacklist, meaning it will never be able to participate in any and all areas of the platform.”

Read more HERE

Qatar Airways enters metaverse with new VR experience

Qatar Airways is entering the metaverse by launching QVerse, a virtual reality experience for visitors on the airline’s website.

Qatar Airways website users can now virtually navigate the Premium Check-In area at various locations including Hamad International Airport (HIA) – home of Qatar Airways.

Visitors to the website can also virtually explore the inside of the aircraft, its Business Class Qsuite and Economy Class.

CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, said: “With physical boundaries beginning to be challenged by the metaverse on an increasingly larger scale, it is exciting to embrace a technology that enables all travel enthusiasts to enjoy a uniquely immersive experience of our award-winning products and services.”

Next generation of children will spend 10 years of their lives in the metaverse

The next generation of children will spend up to 10 years of their lives in the metaverse, according to new research.

A study by Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has found children are likely to spend up to two hours and 45 minutes a day in the virtual world.

Read more HERE

The Sandbox partners with metaverse Apex Athletes

The Sandbox development team has announced a new partnership with nWay, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands.

Through the partnership, the metaverse gaming platform will add utility to select Apex Athletes.

Featuring 26 winter sports athletes, the Apex Athletes collection includes 2,000 NFTs.

The collection also features some exclusive signed versions.

A private sale happened on April 21 on the Apex Athletes website.

The public sale will start on April 26.

The Apex Athletes mintage price is 0.07 ETH.

Star Atlas joins forces with Audio Up to create Sci-Fi Podcast

Star Atlas has partnered up with Audio Up to create a science fiction podcast.

This is Audio Up’s first step into the metaverse.

The podcast will launch later this year and will be an eight-episode series called Moon Station Six.

The podcast will be set in a prison in the Star Atlas universe and will feature the characters and story of the game.

The series follows a bounty hunter wrongfully convicted of murder.

Moon Station Six will feature an original soundtrack, along with NFT drops that unlock special features within the story.

Star Atlas co-founder said: “We are thrilled to partner with the great storytellers at Audio Up to enhance and give voice to the lore of the Star Atlas Universe.

“We have an ambitious plan for our metaverse.

“And we’re looking forward to working closely with one of the best podcast production studios to begin telling our rich and engaging story through this medium.”

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