Author: Bob Coiney

NFT Bytes – Everything you need to learn about NFTs!

Posted on by Bob Coiney

The crypto space is expanding at an exponential rate and to make the most out of these opportunities, people need to be educated. Luckily for us, Blockchained India has taken it upon itself to hold several virtual events catering to different avenues in crypto and educate people about the latest developments. 

Blockchained India hosts these events on Initialize Metaverse, a six-month conference organized by the collaborative efforts of Terra Luna and Draper Dragon fund, with Polygon Network as the ecosystem partner. With this conference, Blockchained India aims to explore the growing world of DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, DAOs, Identity Management, etc. and their correlation to the metaverse. The team is here with the next event in the line – NFT Bytes. 

NFT Bytes by Initialize Metaverse

NFT Bytes is the next event on the list and will include understanding the immersive NFT space and the different utilities behind the digital assets. The expert panel will discuss the future of the NFT industry and how digital creators can use this opportunity to expand their services. The agenda for the meetup includes: 

  • 5:00-5:10: Welcome Session
  • 5:10-5:30: Talk on Going Beyond the PFP: The Broader Potential of NFTs by Anuj Kodam, Co-Founder & CEO, Wall App
  • 5:30-6:10: Panel discussion on “NFTs: Is it a FAD or long term trend?”

The panel will be hosted by Sameer Malik, Partner Chain Assets Capital

Speakers for the panel:

1. Raghav Gupta, Founder Nova DAO

2. Yoel Aryeh, Co-Founder, The Meta Organization

3. Joshua Mapperson, Head of Communications & Ecosystem Development, RockX

  • 6:10-6:30: Networking Session 

Blockchained India is the largest and oldest crypto network working towards the adoption and promotion of Web 3.0 in India. One of the ways they achieve this is by organizing free knowledge sharing sessions to educate Indians about the potential of blockchain technology, NFTs, DeFi, GameFi, etc. Blockchained India has been hosting several meetups as a part of Initialize Metaverse in the last six months and is here with its next meetup on the agenda called NFT Bytes.

Meta starts Testing Digital Collectibles on Instagram with Polygon

Posted on by Bob Coiney

Last year Facebook rebranded to Meta to introduce a metaverse approach to the largest social media platform. Over the past few months, Meta has been making gradual progress, and recently Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has announced that Meta will start testing NFTs and digital collectibles on a small number of users on Instagram this week. 

According to this development, a small group of creators and collectors of Instagram in the US will be able to use NFTs as profile pictures, following a similar approach as Twitter. Users in the test group will also be able to post NFTs at zero cost by linking to third-party digital wallets in-app, according to the company. The profile pictures with NFTs will get a special shimmer around the photo. 

What to expect?

Initially, Meta will support Ethereum and Polygon and will expand its services to Flow wand Solana soon. The third-party wallets that are compatible with Meta are rainbow, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet, along with Coinbase, Dapper, and Phantom. 

“Soon, we will roll out digital collectibles on Facebook, and will also soon allow people to display and share their digital collectibles as AR stickers in Instagram Stories, bringing the benefits of this technology to even more creators and collectors,” said a rep from Meta. 

Zuckerberg or the company has not yet confirmed the same feature rollout on Facebook for now. However, on Instagram, the creators will also be able to use augmented reality NFTs on stories using Spark AR, a free studio that allows users and businesses to create their filters. This move will help creators place their digital art into physical rooms and spaces. 

In other news, Meta has also officially opened the doors to its first physical store to sell hardware for virtual and augmented reality.

“In the Meta Store, you’ll be able to get hands-on experience with all our hardware products,” said a statement from the company. “We want you to interact with everything. We want you to pick stuff up. We want you to feel it.”

SBI, a Japanese e-Commerce site, adopts BTC and XRP

Posted on by Bob Coiney

Cryptocurrencies are going mainstream, which is evident by the fact that several centralized marketplaces are now offering users the ability to make purchases using digital assets. Recently, one such development has taken place where SBI Motor Japan, a subsidiary of SBI Africa Co. Ltd., will allow the customers to make purchases for used cars using Bitcoin and Ripple. 

According to the announcement by SBI, this development will initiate the first incident ever where XRP digital currency will be used on a cross-border Japanese e-commerce site. Both BTX and XRP transactions will be settled on SBI VC Trade Co. Ltd, a cryptocurrency exchange owned by the SBI Group. According to the report, the cryptocurrency exchange will use various security methods to avoid money laundering and terrorist financing through crypto transactions. 

Moreover, SBI has also revealed that it is currently monitoring and scrutinizing its business partners to thoroughly verify and check if they have Anti-Money Laundering and corporate regulations in place. The announcement also mentioned that apart from BTC and XRP, the company will also support other projects that serve the growing demand of its clients. 

According to the statement, this move from SBI is to cater to the growing demand for digital currencies in developing nations such as Africa, where people do not have access to traditional financial services. 

Ripple’s Big Win

This announcement is a big achievement for Ripple, as it has been struggling with a lawsuit filed in 2020. The lawsuit that accused Ripple of selling unregistered securities led to the currency’s downfall. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed that he is positive about the long-ongoing lawsuit and hopes for a favorable outcome. 

According to a developer relations engineer at Ignite, Aliasgar Merchant, the adoption of XRP outside the US is a good indicator that a lawsuit in the United States “shall not deter a technology from adoption.”

He went on to add that global governments are seizing any possible moment to embrace digital currencies, and

“if they can implement security and technology together, that’s like a marriage in heaven.” Merchant also added that “a revolution in financial technology is much needed, especially in developing countries. This initiative will make sure developing and underdeveloped countries get good financial opportunities.”

Spotify is booming its way into the Metaverse

Posted on by Bob Coiney

Spotify, the popular music streaming platform, is officially launching its virtual presence in the metaverse by partnering up with kids gaming platform Roblox. This venture of Spotify makes it the first music-streaming platform to have a presence in the metaverse. 

Spotify has marked its presence in the metaverse with ‘Spotify Island,’ an interactive world where the company plans on “creating a place where fans can link up and create new sounds together, hang out in digital spaces, and gain access to exclusive virtual merch.”

With the help of Spotify Island, the company is “creating an easy opportunity for artists to connect with fans and to partner with Spotify on the creation of in-game virtual merchandise.”

The announcement further added, “Spotify’s portion of those sales will go directly back to the artists themselves. We’ll work with artists to create more opportunities like this in the months ahead”.

Spotify is moving up!

This launch on Roblox is paired with a recruitment drive for Web 3 experts at the company. The company was also recently hiring a Senior Backend Engineer who would be responsible for driving growth using new technologies such as Web 3. According to the job ad, Spotify is searching for individuals who can “Spotify’s portion of those sales will go directly back to the artists themselves. We’ll work with artists to create more opportunities like this in the months ahead”.

Talking about the partnership, Spotify said that Roblox users would be able to “mingle with artists, complete interactive quests, and unlock exclusive content.” Moreover, the players can also create music, and explore sounds at virtual beat-maker stations that are powered by Soundtrap. 

“THIS LAUNCH JUST SCRATCHES THE SURFACE WHEN IT COMES TO WAYS USERS CAN EXPERIENCE SPOTIFY ISLAND ON ROBLOX.”

Spotify

According to the reports, Spotify’s global users grew by 2 million in Q1 2022, increasing the total number to 182 million subscribers. It would be interesting to witness the music-streaming platform’s journey into the metaverse. 

Gucci to start accepting $BTC, $SHIB, $DOGE & More!

Posted on by Bob Coiney

The fact that renowned international clothing and fashion brands are now accepting digital currencies as payment mode and participating in blockchain technology, NFTs, and Metaverse is proof enough of the massive growth of digital currencies. 

Gucci, the international fashion brand, recently announced its plan in Web 3.0 to accept crypto payments in selected US stores by the end of this month. The high-end luxury fashion brand will also extend this service to its other stores in North America by this summer. 

What to expect?

According to the sources, in-store payment will be accepted as crypto, starting with Bitcoin, Shib, Dogecoin and more, using a link that will be sent to customers using email. The customer must scan the QR code using their digital wallets to make the purchase. 

As per the news, the first Gucci stores to accept crypto payments are Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, Miami Design District, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas.

Vogue, the American fashion and lifestyle magazine, also mentioned, 

“Gucci will accept payments in more than 10 currencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, and five stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. It will also accept Dogecoin, a “meme” cryptocurrency originally created as a joke.“

Marco Bizzari, the President and CEO of Gucci, also released a statement, 

“Gucci is always looking to embrace new technologies when they can provide an enhanced experience for our customers. Now that we are able to integrate cryptocurrencies within our payment system, it is a natural evolution for those customers who would like to have this option available to them.”

Gucci is one of the early adopters of crypto and Web 3.0 to target Gen Z. The brand has been interacting with the metaverse for the last year and also recently collaborated with Superplastic to release a collection of 500 NFTs to take its crypto approach a notch further. 

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