‘Metaverse’ Term Creator Neal Stephenson Not Bullish About Massive Adoption of Virtual Worlds

February 28, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Car makers, fashion giants and pet food brands seek Web3 trademarks as 2023 rolls on

February 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

The first two months of 2023 haven't seen a slowdown in trademark filings, with recent filings covering automotive, clothing and fast-moving consumer goods.

Despite a broader downturn in related markets, multinational corporations don’t appear to have slowed down on their trademark applications covering Web3, crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverse.

The month of February — now drawing to a close — saw the likes of General Motors and Lacoste, and Walmart making their territory with Web3-related trademark applications. January was an even busier month.

One of the latest NFT-related filings involved automotive giant General Motors, which filed for two new trademark applications on Feb. 16 covering its Chevrolet and Cadillac brands.

According to the filing, the firm is interested in downloadable digital media files containing collectible artwork, text, audio, and video, authenticated as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

GM has filed a pair of new applications to trademark:
Chevrolet
Cadillac

The applications cover NFT-authenticated media files.#NFTs #Web3 #GM #Chevy #Cadillac pic.twitter.com/otf2PNH3fP
— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) February 21, 2023

A day later on Feb. 17, French clothing giant, Lacoste filed five trademark applications for “CHAMPS-ELYSEES”. The applications detail plans for NFTs, crypto transaction software, virtual clothing, stores for virtual goods, and virtual real estate services.

In early February, USPTO licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis shared on Twitter that American multinational retail corporation Walmart had filed trademark applications for the “SamsClub” name and logo.

The retail giant claimed plans for NFTs, blockchain software, virtual reality healthcare, cryptocurrency trading, brokerage, and financial services.

January was no different with Web3, NFT, Metaverse and crypto-related trademark applications filed by pet food firm Pedigree, Nationwide insurance company, Irish distillers Jameson, French fashion giant Yves Saint-Laurent, and even the National Geographic Society, among others.

Speaking to Cointelegraph last month, Kondoudis said that trademark filings are “reliable signals of future plans to use marks for the products and services listed in the applications.”

Furthermore, despite the bear market, there were record numbers of trademark applications for NFTs, Metaverse, and crypto-related patents in 2022, the intellectual property lawyer noted.

Tech companies enter agreement for ‘Japan Metaverse Economic Zone’

February 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A group of major Japanese technology companies including Fujitsu Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation came together in a new agreement to help advance the country’s metaverse sector.

Interest in the metaverse is accelerating at a global rate, with countries all over the world joining in the rush to get involved.

In Japan, a country often associated with its legacy technology sector, a group of well-known tech companies entered into an agreement on Feb. 27 to forward the creation of the “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone."

Along with creating the Japan Metaverse Economic Zone, the agreement's focus is on building an open metaverse infrastructure called “Ryugukoku," which will spark the next wave of metaverse development.

This open metaverse infrastructure will help create interoperable tools available for users and developers across various platforms. It will also serve as a new social infrastructure for enterprise digital transformation.

According to its terms, companies who have signed the agreement will integrate their “respective technologies and services'' in an effort to create Ryugukoku. This includes gamification, fintech, and information and communication technologies.

The Japan Metaverse Economic Zone will be an ecosystem that will ultimately be a result of the interoperability between different metaverse services and platforms available to consumers in Japan. The agreement also mentions the future possibility of “providing this infrastructure to companies and government agencies outside of Japan.”

Japanese companies who have entered into this agreement include Fujitsu Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation and TBT Lab Inc., among a handful of others.

Japanese regulators have been shifting their attention to the country’s financial technology sector. On Feb. 1, the country’s prime minister recognized decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as a way to support the government’s ‘Cool Japan’ strategy.

However, the exploration of DAOs as governance tools goes back to November 2022, when Japan’s Digital Agency launched its own DAO.

Most recently, the Bank of Japan announced that it plans to launch its official central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot before May 2023.

Colombia’s legal system experiments in the metaverse: Report

February 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Cathy Hackl

Colombia has positioned itself at the forefront of innovative ways to conduct legal proceedings after recently hosting a trial in the metaverse.

A Colombian court recently hosted its first legal trial in the Metaverse, with the court magistrate saying it felt “more real than a video call,” according to a recent report.

According to a Reuters report published on Feb. 24, Colombia’s Magdalena Administrative Court held a court case in the Metaverse on Feb. 15, involving participants in a traffic dispute.

The case, which went on for two-hours, was brought by a regional transport union against the police, which will progress “partly” in the metaverse, with a potential for the verdict to also be given in the metaverse.

The participants appeared as avatars in a virtual courtroom, with Magistrate Maria Quinones Triana dressed in black legal robes.

It was noted that Columbia is one of the first countries in the world to test legal proceedings in the metaverse, with Quinones telling Reuters that it felt more “real than a video call.”

This comes after a recent survey released by CoinWire on Jan. 16 found that 69% of respondents believe that the metaverse will eventually modify social lifestyles due to new approaches taken for entertainment and activities.

Cathy Hackl, author of Into the Metaverse: The Essential Guide to the Business Opportunities of the Web3 era told Cointelegraph on Jan. 31 that the “physical world side” of the metaverse will “come in the next 10 years.”

Hackl added that if that is considered, then how we “socialize will be deeply impacted by the metaverse

The World Economic Forum (WEF) held in January this year was seen boasting metaverse experiences, with the conference allowing delegates to experience the forum in its own 3D immersive digital sessions called the “Global Collaboration Village.”

Tencent to Offer Metaverse-Building Services for Asian Markets

February 24, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Snow Crash manuscript that coined the term ‘Metaverse’ to be auctioned by Sotheby’s

February 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The manuscript is part of a larger series of physical and digital items related to the famous book.

The original manuscript of Neil Stephenson’s Snow Crash — the book which coined the term “Metaverse,” — will be auctioned by Sotheby’s, according to a page on Sotheby’s official website. The auction is part of a Feb. 23 series called “Infocalypse” that includes six physical and six digital items related to the famous book.

The original manuscript is in Lot 2 of the series. It is “wrapped in original Xerox 4200 Paper,” secured with masking tape and contains “corrections and notations throughout in Neal Stephenson's hand in blue ink.” It also has the title of the book written on the spine with a sharpie by the author.

A “revised typesetting manuscript” is also up for auction in Lot 4. This is a later version filled with additional handwritten notations and revisions by the author.

Attention Snow Crash readers and fans!

Infocalypse, an open edition collection of digital art created to mark the 30th anniversary of @nealstephenson's novel Snow Crash, which coined the term "Metaverse", will open 27 February.

Find out more: https://t.co/3a4DfSrdBg https://t.co/nL1HRYboyf
— Sotheby's Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) February 23, 2023

Other physical objects being auctioned as part of the series include the original painting used as cover art for the 1993 mass market paperback edition of the book, a leather jacket that was to be used in a video promotion for the graphic novel, slides used for the graphic novel concept, and a real sword inspired by the one the book’s protagonist wielded.

In addition to these physical items, the series will also contain digital art NFTs inspired by the graphic novel concept that preceded Snow Crash.

Published in 1992, Snow Crash was set in a dystopia where most human beings live in small storage facilities, according to the publisher’s description. It followed the exploits of protagonist Hiro, a pizza delivery man who has to fight off bandits to deliver his pizzas. Hiro spends all of his spare time in a virtual world called “The Metaverse,” where citizens go to escape the misery of everyday life. But a computer virus was causing residents of the Metaverse to become “nothing more than a jittering cloud of bad digital karma.” The plot of the novel revolved around Hiro’s attempts to figure out how to stop the virus.

The book sold over 125,000 copies, according to the Washington Post. Since the book’s release, virtual reality enthusiasts have increasingly used Stephenson’s “Metaverse” term to describe the emerging virtual world being created by VR technology, and in recent years, it has become a frequently searched buzzword.

The rise of the Metaverse has led to new career opportunities for some and has helped to reshape Web3 gaming.

Mastercard to allow crypto payments in Web3 via USDC settlements

February 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Mastercard-Immersve partnership uses decentralized protocols to settle real-time cryptocurrency transactions on outlets accepting Mastercard payments online.

A partnership between Web3 payment protocol Immersve and payments giant Mastercard will allow users to make crypto payments on digital, physical and the Metaverse worlds. USD Coin (USDC) tokens — a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle — will be used to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network.

The Mastercard-Immersve partnership uses decentralized protocols to settle real-time cryptocurrency transactions on outlets accepting Mastercard payments online. Users will be able to use their existing Web3 wallets to make direct crypto payments without relying on a third party for collateral.

Instead, Immersve will partner with a third-party settlement provider and allow its users to use USDC for all purchases. Once the transaction is successful from the user’s end, USDC will get converted to fiat before settling on Mastercard’s network.

*Immersve-Mastercard partnership for crypto payments in the Metaverse. Source: immersve.com*

Users will be able to access the feature through popular Web3 wallets and use their private keys to approve payments. In this regard, Jerome Faury, CEO at Immersve, shared optimism toward crypto use cases, stating:

“Collaborating with a well-known and trusted brand like Mastercard is a big step towards mainstream adoption of web3 wallets.”

Moreover, Web3 wallets and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols can integrate into Immersve’s APIs and smart contracts to transact anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Over several years, Mastercard has fostered numerous partnerships to stay relevant in the crypto ecosystem. One such initiative was Mastercard’s partnership with crypto exchange Binance to launch a prepaid card in Latin America.

Olá, Brasil! #Binance Card has just launched in Brazil - another step towards crypto adoption pic.twitter.com/UJRmpMhpbQ
— Binance (@binance) January 30, 2023

The card allows real-time crypto-fiat conversions for 14 tokens in Brazil. At the time of the launch, perks included up to 8% cash back in crypto on eligible purchases and zero fees on some ATM withdrawals.

Metaverse