Tag: web3

Anti-Crypto China Forms Standard-Setting Body for Metaverse, Huawei and Tencent Join Team

China, that banned all uses of cryptocurrencies back in September 2021, is taking an interest in exploring the metaverse sector. The country has gathered a bunch of its native tech giants to form a body that would set the standards for use and exploration of metaverse in China. Huawei, Ant Group, Tencent, and Baidu are among the tech majors that have been included to be part of this newly formed organisation. A group of universities and institutions have also been made part of this project bringing the total member headcount to 60.

Moving forward, China is planning to conduct thorough research around the potential applications and possibilities of manufacturing and communicating using the metaverse. China is also looking to explore the concept of ‘digital humans’, a report by China’s Global Times said this week.

“The use of digital humans and virtual environments can boost productivity and reduce costs for businesses,” the report quoted Liu Dingding, a tech industry analyst as saying.

Among other initiatives that the group will undertake, members plan to train people around metaverse and participate in the formulation of global industry standards to govern the technology.

Built on blockchain, the metaverse can be explained as a fully functional virtual universe that provides a digitally immersive environment for people to work, socialise, and play games in. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Solana amongst others are used to purchase virtual commodities in the metaverse.

In that respect, its rather interesting that China – that is strictly anti-crypto – is now turning its focus to experiment with the metaverse tech.

As per a Global Times’ report, this shift in the country’s focus comes after its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) unveiled an ambitious three-year action plan for the industrial innovation and development of the metaverse in September 2023.

China’s metaverse industry is projected to boom to the valuation of CNY 180 billion ($25.29 billion or Rs. 2,08,049 crore) in the next two years by 2026. The country is also reportedly exploring digital IDs and real punishments for crimes committed in the metaverse.

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Number of Unique Active Wallets, Decentralised Apps Spiked in 2023 Testifying to Web3 Boom: Report

The overall Web3 industry witnessed a bunch of ups and downs in the year of 2023 – but in the midst of all the turmoil, it did manage to attract more attention and recorded a boom. The number of unique active wallets (UAW) that interacted with Web3 spiked by 124 percent in 2023, as per a fresh report by DappRadar. In addition, the number of decentralised apps (dApps) also saw the addition of 2,985 new ones last year.

Unique Active Wallets is a term of measurement in the Web3 sector. It represents the number of crypto wallets that were linked with dApps or saw transactions of digital assets over a period of time. In 2023, an average of 4.2 million UAWs engaged with dApps, that run on blockchain networks rather than on traditional servers.

Binance’s BNB Chain topped the list of the top ten blockchains by UAW in 2023. Wax, Near, zkSync-Era, Polygon, Ethereum, Abritrum, Hive, Klaytn, and Solana ranked second to tenth respectively on the list, the report by DappRadar showed.

“NFT collections have gained increased interest, as the number of new wallets trading and using these assets increased 166 percent. Blockchain-powered games continue to lead the charge in terms of dApp activity, recording a yearly dominance of 34 percent with an average of 1.1 million UAW by year’s end,” the report noted.

For the overall sector of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), the year of 2023 emerged to be rather fruitful. The Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi rallied by 77 percent in 2023, reaching $103 billion (roughly Rs. 8,54,454 crore) with Ethereum dominating with 57 percent share.

The DappRadar report has credited PancakeSwap as the leader in the DeFi space, emerging as the most used dApp in 2023 with over 860,000 monthly UAW. PancakeSwap is a decentralised crypto exchange that is famous for charging lesser fees and processing brisk transactions.

The report also noted that the overall crypto sector saw a drop of 96 percent in financial losses due to hacks and exploits.

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Visa Plans Web3 Loyalty Service With Gamified Giveaways, Immersive Treasure Hunts

Payments giant Visa is drilling deeper into the Web3 sector with a new initiative that it has announced in the very first week of 2024. The US-headquartered company has announced a new Web3 loyalty service to assist brands experiment with Web3 elements like NFTs, metaverse, and cryptocurrencies. Visa is one of the world’s largest fintech companies to have kept a rather welcoming approach towards the crypto sector, despite regulatory challenges crippling the industry on an international level.

Tailored specifically for brands that are customers of Visa, the name of this new initiative is — the Visa Web3 Loyalty Engagement Solution. Through this, the company will let brands create digital wallets for the storage of reward points on behalf of their customers.

“Through immersive programs like gamified giveaways, augmented reality treasure hunts, and new ways to earn and burn loyalty points, the new value-added service ushers in the future of customer engagement and loyalty, helping brands meet next-generation customers,” Visa wrote an official post.

Before launching this initiative, Visa conducted internal research, where it found that the next generation of customers for brands have heightened expectations about what they receive from loyalty programs — extending beyond traditional points-based benefits. More people are now looking to be rewarded for even engaging and interacting with brands, the study added.

“This is underscored by the fact that more than 77 percent of consumers worldwide value real-world experiences. With the new Visa solution, brands can engage customers by providing a digital wallet where they can apply rewards – such as perks and benefits – towards virtual, digital, or real-world experiences, in various sectors such as travel, sports and more,” Visa’s note added.

The fintech firm has collaborated with SmartMedia Technologies – which is an end-to-end Web2-to-Web3 platform — to bring this Web3 programme to life.

“Imagine earning a unique digital collectible, whether it’s from purchasing tickets for a sports event or participating in an augmented reality treasure hunt. Our new innovative digital loyalty solution empowers brands to reward customers not only for their transactions but for their active engagement,” said Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore, SVP and Global Head of Issuing Solutions, Visa.

Visa has been consistent in-terms of introducing Web3-friendly services in the last few years. In December 2022, Visa designed a functionality to enable users to make their telephone and electricity payments via self-custodial crypto wallets.

The same year, Visa launched a creator programme to help digital-age artists understand and use NFTs. In January 2023, Al Kelly, the CEO of payments at Visa pegged his hopes on stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), both of which are powered by blockchains, to open newer and faster ways to facilitate day-to-day as well as hefty payments.

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Web3 Gaming Market to Churn Over $614 Billion by 2030, Role Playing Games to Lead Sector: Report

The NFT-backed Web3 gaming ecosystem is showing big promise in the next few years. A recent report by Fortune Business Insights has forecasted that the blockchain gaming market would be churning up to $614 billion (roughly Rs. 51,07,086 crore) in the next seven years leading to 2030. The category of role-playing games (RPGs) is projected to be leading the sector owing to its immersive nature. This estimation bodes well for the future of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which recently underwent a slump this year.

The Fortune Business Insights report is basically projecting that the blockchain gaming business will grow by 300 percent from its current valuation of $154 billion (roughly Rs. 12,80,944 crore) in the next seven years.

More virtually realistic in appeal than traditional video games, Web3 games allow internal trading of game related NFTs that lets players generate some passive income as well. The data of in-game asset sales have shown growth at the rate of 21.8 percent between 2017 and 2021.

“With the adoption of NFTs in blockchain technologies, gamers can have more ownership and productive making opportunities. This also helps generate economic returns on their time invested in gaming sessions, fuelling the growth of the market. The convergence of blockchain technology and NFTs has led to the evolution of the gaming industry,” the report said.

Interestingly, not Asia but North America currently holds the largest share of the blockchain gaming market. Gaming companies in the US are stitching blockchain with their operations after research showed 50 percent blockchain gamers there owned crypto assets and 80 percent wished to use crypto to process in-game transactions.

The Asia Pacific is not far behind though. Owing to the thriving community of developers and gamers in Japan, China, and South Korea, the APAC region is expected to drive maximum growth for the blockchain gaming industry during the forecasted period. Afterall, over 55 percent of the global gaming community resides in Asia. The continent contributes over $72 billion (roughly Rs. 5,88,229 crore) in annual gaming revenue.

Dapper Labs, Sky Mavis, Animoca Brands, WAX, and Illuvium have been named in the report as key players in the global Web3 gaming market.

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Asia’s Line Messaging App Plans to Expand into NFT Ecosystem, Bags Millions in Investment

Line, the Asian messaging giant based in South Korea, has decided to foray into the Web3 waters. It has created a special venture called Line Next Corporation that will be dedicated to expanding the NFT ecosystem. In a recent development, the Line Next Corporation has raised an investment of $140 million (roughly Rs. 1,165 crore) and the round was led by private equity firm Crescendo Equity Partners. With this funding, Line Next is looking to launch a global NFT platform in the near future.

In January 2024, Line Next plans to officially launch its global NFT platform named Dosi. This platform will let users engage in trading digital assets and products. Line Next plans to launch Dosi as a mobile app and provide new solutions to help brands give ownerships of digital assets and trade them. This will help users and brands linked to the Line Next platform integrate Web3 elements with their identities.

“It is significant that we were able to secure this funding in the context of a globally contracting investment environment. We plan to use this opportunity to further popularize Web3 and develop a new service ecosystem where users own the value of their digital goods,” Youngsu Ko, CEO of Line Next said in an official statement.

Dosi will use Finschia public blockchain. Line Next and Crescendo will become governance members of the Finschia Foundation.

Line has clocked 5.5 million users worldwide and more than 470,000 cumulative transactions since its launch in 2011. Its NFT initiative could hence open the digital assets sector for experimentation to the masses.

The South Korean messaging giant’s pivot towards Web3 does not quite come as a surprise, given that the country is trying to keep a progressive approach towards the digital assets sector.

Last year, Seoul-based SK Telecom has decided to create and operate a crypto wallet, powered by advanced Web3 capabilities in partnership with two blockchain firms — AhnLab Blockchain Company and Atomrigs Labs — to assist the development of its crypto wallet.

Lim Hyesook, the minister of science, information and communication technologies in South Korea had also announced last year that the nation is planning to invest over $177 million (roughly Rs. 1,372 crore) in supporting metaverse projects that will also trigger job opportunities in the sector.

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CoinSwitch Lifts Curtains off New Umbrella Brand ‘PeepalCo’, Plans to Expand Wealth Tech

CoinSwitch, one of India’s popular crypto trading platforms, announced its new umbrella brand on Tuesday, December 12. Called PeepalCo, the new brand will envelope three platforms owned by the same company. Out of these three internal units, one is CoinSwitch’s crypto retail app and advanced trading platform called CoinSwitch Pro. The market entries of the other two units — a soon-to-be-launched platform with newer investment classes and a wealth-management division catering to High-Net-Worth Individuals — are around the corner as for now.

“The new structure is designed to unlock the full potential of our organisation and align our resources more effectively. We will focus on capital allocation and PeepalCo will guide us in the journey forward, to democratise wealth-creation for India,” Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder and Group CEO, PeepalCo group said in an official statement.

Balaji Srihari has been chosen as the Business Head to lead PeepalCo’s CoinSwitch division. Srihari has previously managed CoinSwitch apps. In the coming months, PeepalCo would be unveiling its upcoming initiatives that largely aims at expanding its offerings.

The company’s plans to do so do not come as a surprise given that the Web3 sector in India is still largely unregulated. As per recent updates shared by government officials, concrete laws to govern the crypto sector could still be up to 18 months away.

Due to a drop in user engagements, CoinSwitch had recently trimmed its customer support team. To ramp up engagements with its platform, CoinSwitch launched a new feature called ‘Earn’. Through this, the platform will let users ‘lock-in’ their crypto assets and earn rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies and monetise their holdings without having to sell their assets.

In the months to come, PeepalCo will expediate the process of bringing in services like fixed deposits, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, and mutual funds — all of which are classified as highly-regulated investment products — to keep its business on the roll despite a growth lag in the core crypto segments.

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India to Support Startups Innovating in Web3, IT MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar Tells Lok Sabha

The government of India is committed to supporting startups that are working in the Web3-related fields, with blockchain being an important area of focus. The information was revealed by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for electronics and technology. Chandrasekhar called Web3 the future of Internet as we know today while answering to Web3-related concerns at the Lok Sabha on December 6. He further said that the IT ministry has established collaborative initiatives to identify and incubate promising Web3 startups in the country.

In order to identify and evaluate blockchain startups, a centre of excellence (CoE) in blockchain technology in collaboration with MeitY, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Government of Haryana, Padup Venture Private Limited, IBM, Intel, Global Blockchain Association (GBA), and Foundation of Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) has been established.

This CoE is domain-specific in nature and provides incubation facilities for Web3 startups seeking assistance.

“Web3 represents the future of Internet and the government is committed to ensuring that the innovators and innovation from India create the future of Web3 and internet. MeitY supports startups that are innovating in the emerging technologies in the form of incubation or mentorship,” Chandrasekhar said.

In addition, the IT ministry has also initiated a programme titled ‘FutureSkills Prime’ — that offers nine courses designed around exploring the use cases of blockchain. A total of 1,999 enrolments have been registered for this programme so far. Over 1,000 government officials have also already been trained in Blockchain in the recent past.

“We are delighted to see initiatives such as Algobharat, Regulatory Sandbox, and a startup-friendly environment created by the government. Such initiatives will not only create jobs for the youth of the country but also bring in a lot of foreign investment to create a thriving Web3 startup ecosystem in India. We remain optimistic that India will lead the world in blockchain innovation by leveraging the power of its technical workforce and a ready market for using Web3-related products and services,” Om Malviya, President at Tezos India told Gadgets360.

Chandrasekhar has however noted that the government is yet to come up with a proposal to collaborate with industry stakeholders and create awareness and understanding about the potential of Web3 technologies.

Earlier in November this year, Chandrasekhar reacted strongly to Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao’s admission to having violated US’ anti-money laundering laws. At the time, he had warned crypto firms against misusing technology to flout laws and accomplish illegal activities.

“Using new technology to break the law does not make you a disrupter. It makes you a criminal,” Chandrasekhar had noted at the time.

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JP Morgan Looking Forward to Testing ‘Immersive Training Applications’ of Metaverse

The world of banking is gearing up to explore the use cases of up-and-coming technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the metaverse to benefit their present working conditions. JP Morgan, for instance, is excitedly looking to try out immersive training applications for new bank staff members, all through the metaverse technology. The idea was recently shared by Blair MacIntyre who serves as the Managing Director (MD) and the global head of immersive technology at the US-headquartered bank.

Speaking on MIT’s Business Lab podcast, MacIntyre said that newly joining staff members could benefit from stepping into an immersive virtual ecosystem rather than having them watch videos or go through presentations, EfinancialCareers said in a report.

Along with JP Morgan, Citi Bank is also running a virtual reality internship experience. This lets the trainers provide feedback in real time. As part of his vision of ushering-in an immersive era of hiring, MacIntyre wishes to bring together the technologies of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) into the day-to-day office working like gathering for meetings. To make that occur however, MacIntyre believes that these technologies first need to see widespread adoption and seamless connection.

JP Morgan, as for now, has established its name as one the first Wall Street banks to keep a friendly approach towards the Web3 sector.

Back in February last year, JP Morgan became the first major global bank to establish its virtual presence in the Decentraland metaverse.

Later in September 2022, JP Morgan had begun scouting for roles that would bring-in the metaverse and Web3 technologies into the bank’s working.

As per a research report by Markets and Markets, the global metaverse market is expected to grow from $83.9 billion (roughly Rs. 6,99,616 crore) in 2023 to $1,303.4 billion (roughly Rs. 108,65,313 crore) by 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 48 percent during the forecast period.

JP Morgan is not the only international bank that is testing the waters of virtual reality and metaverse.

HSBC, Mastercard, Standard Chartered Bank, and American Express are among lenders that are experimenting with Web3 technologies.

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Bharat Web3 Association Signs MoU with Maharashtra State Skills University to Grow Ecosystem

As India braces itself to get its crypto laws hopefully in December, several states in the country are taking brisk steps to establish themselves as lucrative locations for Web3 entrants to set their shops. Recently, India’s crypto-focussed group of industry players called the Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) has signed an MoU with the Maharashtra State Skills University (MSSU). The aim of this partnership is to make Maharashtra ready to host the Web3 ecosystem comprising of players in the sectors of cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the metaverse among others.

The announcement of this MoU was made on Wednesday, November 15. Moving forward, both parties involved will engage in initiatives around skill enhancement, education, and research in the Web3 arena while making young Indians ready to be employed in the sector.

“This Memorandum of Understanding reflects our shared commitment to advancing the Web3 ecosystem in India through a fusion of academic excellence and industry acumen. As we embark on this journey, the Bharat Web3 Association is excited about the possibilities that lie ahead, envisioning a future where skilled talent thrives and contributes to our nation’s digital economy,” said Dilip Chenoy, BWA Chairperson commenting on the development.

The BWA has members from several crypto players like CoinSwitch and CoinDCX among other. Formed in December 2021, the organisation aims to bridge the gap between the crypto industry as well as the policymakers of the country.

In a 2022 report, Nasscom had said that 11 percent of the world’s Web3 talent, especially developers, resides in India. Hence, for Mumbai-based MSSU, it seems only natural to show interest in training students in Web3 branches that may get them jobs sooner that other competitive tech fields.

The government of Maharashtra has also meanwhile been trying to test the Web3 waters. It has already been trying to stitch NFTs into its health data storage using the Algorand blockchain. Last year, the revenue department of Maharashtra also decided to move all records to blockchain to make sure they are tamper-proof.

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Growing Metaverse Platform Zep Chooses Near Protocol to Create Games, Boost Userbase

South Korean metaverse platform Zep announced a new partnership with Near Protocol. Using the Layer-1 blockchain platform Near Protocol, Zep aims to create online games in the metaverse ecosystem and onboard more users onto its platform. Zep is a joint venture between online game developer Supercat and creator platform Zepeto. It claims to have 1.3 million monthly active users and 8.3 million total users that joined its platform this year. In the coming months, Zep plans to expand internationally to the Japanese and Southeast Asian markets.

In a bid to help Zep create a diverse range of online games in the metaverse, Near Protocol’s offerings like large scale user-oriented services, user-friendly interface, and Web2-like stability will come in handy. It is because of these offerings, that Near-based Web3 apps have managed to rank 1st and 2nd among all blockchain applications as per DappRadar.

As part of their partnership, Near Protocol and Zep are looking to develop Web3 features that would not only make the metaverse experience more immersive for end users, but also assist developers in regard to the convenience of creating.

“Through collaboration with dApps in the content and gaming fields based on NEAR, we will assist ZEP’s business expansion in the Web3 domain,” Mark Mi, Gaming Director of NEAR Protocol said in an official statement. “

South Korea has been evidently supportive in terms of exploring the metaverse industry. Last year, South Korean lawmakers had spoken about plans of investing over $177 million (roughly Rs. 1,370 crore) in supporting metaverse projects that will also trigger job opportunities in the sector.

In February 2022, Seoul’s Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning of South Korea allocated KRW 223.7 billion (roughly Rs. 1,400 crore) towards the development of a national metaverse project.

In December 2022, Shinhan Bank, named among the top four lenders in South Korea, launched a metaverse site named ‘Cinnamon’, where people get to access an array of services from financial, as well as non-financial sectors.

This support for metaverse from South Korean industry mammoths coupled with a nudge from the government and a big online gamer base, Near Protocol can also attempt at reaping big benefits from expanding its platform’s presence there.

“Based on this collaboration, ZEP’s partners are expected to easily issue and distribute various Web3-based digital assets, allowing users to enjoy a convenient Web3 experience in the ZEP metaverse environment,” the official press release from Near Protocol said.

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