‘THE METAVERSE’ was first coined in the late 1990s and has been in development for years, but Covid-19 has paved the way for the corporate giants to enter the virtual world and things are starting to speed up.

This week saw another investment bank get behind the industry, the world’s most valuable company tease plans and Facebook, now Meta, continue to invest in the virtual world.

Here’s what happened.

Goldman Sachs says the metaverse is an $8 trillion opportunity

Investment bank Goldman Sachs said this week the metaverse is set to be an $8 trillion opportunity.

Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan explained the companies stance in a recent “Exchanges at Goldman Sachs” episode, named “Understanding the metaverse and web 3.0.”

He said: “We think this could be as much as an $8 trillion opportunity on the revenue and monetisation side.

“We look at the digital economy today, which is roughly about 20 per cent, 25 per cent of the global economy.

“We see the digital economy continuing to grow, and on top of that we see a virtual economy that will grow within and alongside this digital economy.”

Rival investment bank Morgan Stanley also said in November 2021 the metaverse was an $8 trillion market opportunity.

A month later, Bank of America’s strategist, Haim Israel, called the metaverse “a massive opportunity” where cryptocurrencies will be widely used as currencies.

“I definitely believe this is a massive, massive opportunity,” he added.

While CEO of Ark Investment Management, Cathie Wood, said the virtual world was a multi trillion-dollar market.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is building the world’s fastest AI supercomputer

In December 2021, Intel said the existing computational infrastructure was not enough to deliver a good metaverse experience.

The company’s head of computing systems and graphics group, Raja Koduri, said: “One foundational thing we always knew is that for what we imagined in Snow Crash, what we imagined in Ready Player One, for those experiences to be delivered, the computational infrastructure that is needed is 1000 times more than what we currently have.”

And it looks like Meta agrees.

The company is well on its way to building what it claims will be the world’s fastest artificial intelligence-focused supercomputer.

On Monday, January 24, the tech titan revealed its AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) was up and running.

Meta claims it will be the world’s fastest artificial intelligence-focused supercomputer.

Although not yet complete, it is being used to feed large AI models with parameters.

Meta AI researchers Kevin Lee and Shubho Sengupta said: “We hope RSC will help us build entirely new AI systems that can, for example, power real-time voice translations to large groups of people, each speaking a different language, so they can seamlessly collaborate on a research project or play an AR game together. Ultimately, the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform — the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role.”

Huobi launches $100 million rewards campaign for metaverse development

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi launched a metaverse campaign to promote more developments in the industry.

Prime Fest: Tiger Year, the Lunar New Year campaign will run until February, 14, 2022.

$100 million in prizes and rewards have been put aside for the campaign, which will grant users access to experience augmented reality and VR, as well as new metaverse token listings under Huobi’s high-yield asset management product Primelist.

Huobi’s co-founder Du Jun said: “Our emphasis on the metaverse reflects our intentions to provide a more fun and unique crypto experience.

“We’re not just another spot trading exchange.

“We pride ourselves on our diverse set of products and services, and the promotions we run are designed to gamify the trading experience and make it more fun.”

Shiba Inu announced plans to create a metaverse

The team behind Shiba Inu posted an image from the “Shiberse” on Twitter.

According to the official SHIB account, the Shiberse will be: “An immersive experience for our ecosystem and the metaverse space.”

Mortgages are now available in the metaverse

With real estate in the metaverse now selling for millions, investors can now take out a mortgage for virtual land.

Tech company, TerraZero, recently issued a mortgage for $45,000 for a commercial land parcel located in the entertainment district of Decentraland.

“We get hundreds of inquiries a day — ‘Can you help us buy property?’ At first, we thought, ‘That’s kind of crazy,’ and then we were like, ‘Why not?’” TerraZero CEO Dan Reitzik said.

“Everybody wins.

“Young people can’t own properties in the real world right now, but they can certainly own properties in the metaverse,” he added.

Apple’s Tim Cook teases plans for the metaverse

Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a call with investors this week his company sees “a lot of potential” in the metaverse and is “investing accordingly”.

So far Apple, which is valued at approximately $400 billion, hasn’t ventured too deeply into the virtual space, however, some have speculated Apple VR and AR products will be coming in the near future.

Hermès sues an artist for sale of virtual handbags

Hermès is suing artist Mason Rothschild for copyright after he created and sold NFTs featuring digital mock-ups of the brand’s handbags.

One of Mr Rothschild’s “MetaBirkin” handbag NFTs sold in December for $42,000.

Hermès filed a lawsuit and said Mr Rothschild was “a digital speculator who is seeking to get rich quick.”

Bud Light launches NFT collection to mark release of zero-carb beer

Bud Light will sell a collection of 12,000 NFTs to mark the release of Bud Light Next – the brand’s first zero-carb beer.

Token holders will “have access to exclusive benefits including voting rights on future initiatives (like brand merch), rewards, and surprises.”

The NFTs will be on sale to anyone over the age of 21 from February 6, 2022, for $399 each.

Dog wellness brand announce development of world’s first metaverse-based dog park

Get Joy announced it has started to develop its new “Get Joy Dog Zone,” the world’s first metaverse-based dog park.

The company want to provide a virtual space where dog owners can come together and share tips.

Get Joy’s founder Tom Arrix said: “We’re really excited about creating a space that allows for communities to learn about the power of a physical dog park…[so] they can rethink their own community.

“It works both ways: we’re going to leverage the metaverse for education, but we’re also really hopeful that that bleeds backwards into their own community in real life to better the environment for these animals.”

The virtual park will be located in Decentraland.

Warner Music Group to launch ‘Concert Theme Park’ in The Sandbox

Warner Music Group (WMG) is entering the metaverse with a music-focused theme park in The Sandbox.

The virtual theme park will feature “concerts and musical experiences” from Warner Music Group’s artists such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa and Cardi B.