![Facebook Owner Meta Files 8 Trademark Applications Covering Metaverse, Crypto Services Facebook Owner Meta Files 8 Trademark Applications Covering Metaverse, Crypto Services](https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/meta-trademarks.jpg)
Social media giant Meta is registering eight new trademark applications related to crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) technology. According to recent filings made to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the company formerly known as Facebook has requested to trademark several blockchain services and other related crypto technologies in a push toward launching […]
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The ACCC highlighted unapproved or endorsed “scam” ads featuring prominent Australian figures such as entrepreneur Dick Smith, TV host David Koch and former NSW premier Mike Baird in particular.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) to the Federal Court, alleging that the firm and its Irish branch engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by publishing scam celebrity crypto ads.
Some users have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sophisticated and long running scams tied to the ad.
The spotlight on Meta has heated up in Australia since the start of February, with Cointelegraph previously reporting that the ACCC was investigating the firm over allegedly fraudulent crypto ads. Aussie mining billionaire Andrew Forrest also took legal action against the company for hosting ads that allegedly used his name to defraud victims.
In an announcement posted earlier today, the ACCC asserted that Meta “aided and abetted or was knowingly concerned in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers.”
The ACCC highlighted unapproved or endorsed “scam” ads featuring prominent Australian figures such as entrepreneur Dick Smith, TV host David Koch and former NSW premier Mike Baird.
The regulator stated that the ads contained dubious links which directed users off Facebook to a fake media article that featured quotes attributed to the public figure supposedly endorsing a “cryptocurrency or money-making scheme.”
“Users were then invited to sign up and were subsequently contacted by scammers who used high-pressure tactics, such as repeated phone calls, to convince users to deposit funds into the fake schemes,” the announcement read.
ACCC Chair Rod Sims didn’t mince his words as he asserted that, “Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform” and that company the stood to gain financially by failing to remove them:
“It is a key part of Meta’s business to enable advertisers to target users who are most likely to click on the link in an ad to visit the ad’s landing page, using Facebook algorithms. Those visits to landing pages from ads generate substantial revenue for Facebook.”
“In one shocking instance, we are aware of a consumer who lost more than $650,000 due to one of these scams being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook. This is disgraceful,” he added.
Related: Instagram is adding NFTs soon, says Mark Zuckerberg
The ACCC is arguing that the firm’s conduct has breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act (ASIC Act), and is seeking “declarations, injunctions, penalties, costs and other orders.”
“Since departing Meta (formerly Facebook) we have been able to put our ideas into motion, ditch bureaucratic red tape, and build an entirely new network,” Aptos stated.
Former Meta employees and key players behind the firm’s defunc stablecoin project Diem have raised $200 million to expand a new project dubbed “Aptos.”
Aptos was cofounded by former Novi — Meta’s crypto unit — strategic partnerships lead Mo Shaikh and tech lead Avery Ching. The duo arenow serving as the CEO and CTO for the new firm. Both left the company in December, prior to Diem being sold to Silvergate Capital in February this year.
The team is building a decentralized Layer 1 blockchain that is partly based on Move, the coding language initially developed for Diem. The company is now in the process of growing its developer ecosystem and attracting projects to the blockchain, which it touts will be a cheap, secure and scalable network.
According to a March 16 announcement, Aptos’ $200 million strategic funding round was led by capital venture giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), along with backing from top firms such as Three Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures, Paxos and Coinbase Ventures.
The funding will be used to hire new staff and to support “companies, brands and builders” who are looking to develop projects on the Aptos blockchain, with the startup teasing that several DeFi, NFT, Web3, social media and payments projects are already in the works.
Speaking with TechCrunch, Aptos refused to disclose a specific valuation but suggested that it is “well off into the unicorn territory” of around $1 billion.
Alongside the funding announcement, Aptos has also launched a public devnet with an open-source codebase. The team told the publication that big names such as Anchorage, Binance and Coinbase have been providing guidance and contributing code for the devnet. The announcement stated:
“Later in Q2, there will be an incentivized testnet to help scale the network and stress test it as it marches toward mainnet. We invite validators and other infrastructure providers to join our community now in anticipation of that.”
Aptos expects Mainnet to launch in Q3 later this year, giving developers roughly six months to build projects before the network is live to the public.
Related: Vale Diem: How Facebook’s ambitious stablecoin project came to an end
In a blog post late last month, Aptos emphasized that the focus of its blockchain is based on “absolute safety, extensible scalability, and credible neutrality,” while being able to work on its ideas without intense scrutiny from regulators like in the case of Diem:
“Since departing Meta (formerly Facebook) we have been able to put our ideas into motion, ditch bureaucratic red tape, and build an entirely new network from the ground up that brings them to fruition.”
“Aptos is using Move, the safe and reliable language originally developed for Diem. The ideas we conceived then are still relevant and will serve as an important foundation for a safe, scalable, upgradable Web3. Our plans for decentralization and permissionless access are progressing quickly and will be developed in the open,” the post added.
Blockchain and the play-to-earn gaming movement could become even more addictive in 2022 as popular game developer Zynga fleshes out its team.
Hot off the news that the FarmVille and Words With Friends developer Zynga will release the first nonfungible token game this year, Zynga’s blockchain gaming aspirations are taking shape.
Matt Wolf, marketing veteran with experience at Electronic Arts and Sega, is the new vice president of blockchain gaming for Zynga. He’s setting up a new team, bringing a wealth of “traditional gaming” experience to play-to-earn (P2E).
In an interview with Cointelegraph, he said the talent pool in P2E gaming is:
“Off the charts in terms of economics and traditional finance firepower — incredible people. Also, on the innovation side and on the technology side, it’s off the charts.”
However, he surmised many gamers’ thoughts when commenting on the gamification elements of nonfungible tokens (NFT) and P2E games. He conceded that the level of talent with regards to gaming is “thin,” which is undoubtedly where Zynga’s credentials come in.
Famous for FarmVille, CSR Racing and Words With Friends, Zynga builds addictive “social” games that work well on mobile and while on the go. They regularly register over 100 million regular users per quarter, featuring on social media platforms and enticing users with multiplayer gaming types.
The P2E gaming space, by comparison, has been one that prioritizes speculation over gamification.
Ultimately, Zynga’s entry into P2E and NFTs could breathe life into a space dominated by entry-level graphics combined with excellent tokenomics.
Wolf comments that Zynga has a “strong game muscle, and we’re developing our DeFi muscle.” They’re recruiting more specialists who “have that piece of the equation.” In all, Zynga’s focus is “on the intersection of creating fun, value and purpose-built games with stability and trust at the core.”
Related: YGG-backed Oasys blockchain hopes to take P2E gaming mainstream
When put on the spot about whether the anti-blockchain and anti-P2E sentiment could pose a challenge to a “traditional” game developer, Wolf was balanced:
“As you look at the historical nature of the gaming community, you’ve witnessed folks standing on the sidelines and are resistant to change. They had the same sentiment when free-to-play was launched, and you’re seeing much of that now.”
Ultimately, Wolf reckons the “overall anti-blockchain sentiment will fizzle out.”
With NFT games released daily, here are five NFT games that could put up a fight to Zynga’s games in 2022.