Autor Cointelegraph By Ornella Hernandez

Fortnite creators Epic Games raise $2B from Sony and LEGO to fund metaverse plans

Fortnite creators Epic Games raise $2B from Sony and LEGO to fund metaverse plans

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 11, 2022 |

Epic Games, the video game publisher behind the popular PC and console game Fortnite, announced a $2 billion funding round with plans to accelerate the company’s vision to make its mark in the Metaverse. The deal, which is still subject to customary regulatory approvals, would bring Epic’s equity valuation to $31.5 billion.This round includes a respective $1 billion investment from existing investor Sony Group Corporation and from KIRKBI, the holding company behind the LEGO Group. Sony, the company behind PlayStation consoles, also invested $200 million into Epic in April 2021.According to a statement, the three partners plan to combine expertise and technologies to influence the future of entertainment and digital play by developing new virtual production initiatives and digital fan experiences in sports and gaming. Announcing a $2 billion funding round with Sony and KIRKBI to build the future of digital entertainment. https://t.co/V0bcFftNkg— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) April 11, 2022Tim Sweeney, chief executive officer and founder of Epic Games, stated that this investment will serve to “create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.” The capital raise follows an announcement by Epic and the LEGO Group to partner to make the Metaverse “safe and fun for children and families.” They intend to build provide kids with access to “tools that will empower them to become confident creators” in a positive and family-friendly digital space.Epic Games also developed Unreal Engine, one of the biggest platforms used to create games, rivaling the likes of Microsoft and Valve. Its latest update, Unreal Engine 5, facilitates the creation of NFT-based play-to-earn, or P2E, games.Related: Is Illuvium the first fun crypto RPG video game?In a string of recent large deals within the gaming industry, Sony acquired video game maker Bungie, the studio behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, for $3.6 billion. This move followed Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, home to Call of Duty and Candy Crush, for the massive sum of $69 billion.

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Mastercard files 15 metaverse and NFT related trademarks

Mastercard files 15 metaverse and NFT related trademarks

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 11, 2022 |

Payments giant Mastercard has filed 15 nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO.Highlights of the filings include plans for a virtual community for interacting with digital assets, the processing of payment cards in the Metaverse, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital goods, virtual reality events and more.One trademark filing for the company’s “Priceless” slogan consists of multimedia files such as artwork, text, audio and video that are authenticated by NFTs. Another application illustrates plans for its red and yellow “Circles” logo to process card transactions used for payment of goods and services in the Metaverse and other virtual worlds. An additional patent  intends to add the Mastercard name to cultural events, concerts, sporting events, festivals, and awards shows in the Metaverse, as well as to financial education seminars and programs.As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Mastercard added 500 new hires in February to consult with banks and merchants about adopting crypto-enabled technologies and NFTs. But it is not the only major fintech firm that is applying for NFT or metaverse trademarks. Visa and American Express have submitted their own crypto-related USPTO filings.Back in 2020, Visa first filed a patent application to create a digital currency and is currently developing a native digital currency on its card networks. In the case of American Express, there are seven applications related to its branding with virtual payment cards, concierge services in the metaverse and using its cards at an NFT marketplace. Additionally, these credit card companies have taken several initiatives to remain competitive within the virtual economy. While Mastercard created a three-month program, called Start Path Crypto, to help blockchain and crypto startups scale their businesses, Visa also launched its own Creator Program, to mentor entrepreneurs about NFTs to grow their small businesses.Related: MetaMask rolls out Apple Pay integration and other iOS updatesMastercard is part of the PCI Security Standards Council, or PCI SSC, made up of the major global credit card firms including American Express, Discover, Visa and JCB that operates to improve payment data security worldwide. Recently, Scallop, a regulated DeFi banking app joined the PCI SSC, with the intention of contributing DeFi-industry insights and recommending initiatives to the Council.

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Cash App users can now invest paychecks into Bitcoin

Cash App users can now invest paychecks into Bitcoin

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 7, 2022 |

At the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on Thursday, Cash App announced a new feature for U.S. customers that will allow them to automatically invest a portion of their direct deposit paychecks into Bitcoin (BTC). The mobile payment service run by Jack Dorsey’s Block, formerly known as Square, will enable Cash App Visa Cash Card users to opt into this “Paid in Bitcoin” feature at no cost.Cash App’s Bitcoin product lead Miles Suter, who made the announcement Thursday, explained that any percentage from 1% to 100% of their direct deposits can be automatically converted into Bitcoin, and adjusted, if needed, at any time. Additional features include the option to round up to the nearest dollar any Cash Card transaction made on a Visa debit card connected to a Cash App balance and divert the spare change into BTC.Recently, Cash App announced compatibility with the Bitcoin Lightning Network for BTC transfers. This enables U.S. Cash App users to make faster BTC transactions across mainstream businesses. Lightning Labs, the leading developer of the Lightning Network, closed a $70 million Series B funding round this week to further faster and cheaper Bitcoin and stablecoin transactions.Following this announcement on the main stage of the Bitcoin conference, tennis champion Serena Williams the NFL’s Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Rodgers, sat down with Suter to discuss Bitcoin. Both Rodgers and Beckham Jr. were among a growing list of athletes that partnered with Cash App and opted to receive a portion of their salaries in Bitcoin last year. From left, Odell Beckham Jr., Serena Williams, Aaron Rodgers and Miles Suter.Williams, who founded her own venture capital firm called Serena Ventures, announced on stage that she is working with Cash App to advance Bitcoin adoption. She revealed she has been investing in Bitcoin for the past nine years and stated that there is “still so much that needs to be done” in terms of education around Web3 to “increase access and opportunity to invest.”

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Spells of Genesis game celebrates 5 years by opening a virtual NFT history museum

Spells of Genesis game celebrates 5 years by opening a virtual NFT history museum

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 7, 2022 |

Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of Spells of Genesis; generally regarded as the very first play-to-earn blockchain game. EverdreamSoft, the game studio behind SoG, first distributed many of the game’s trading card-based NFTs back in 2015, though its mobile trading card game did not go live until 2017. To commemorate the occasion, Everdream Soft announced the opening of an NFT History Museum within the CryptoVoxels metaverse on April 20. This virtual exhibition will feature new and vintage SoG cards as well as assets from various other popular NFT collections.Spells of Genesis fuses a trading card game with point-and-shoot arcade gameplay. Players have to collect and combine cards to create the strongest deck in order to fight their enemies and earn cryptocurrency at the same time. Original cards from the collection’s inception will play a prominent role in the upcoming showcase. Each month, one vintage card will be chosen and displayed on the museum’s rooftop. Users who click on the showcased card will be transported to the Spells of Genesis Showroom, which acts as a gateway to learning about blockchain gaming history. According to the company, the museum has been in development for several months and features collections from projects that “have advanced the ongoing evolution of digital assets.”Shaban Shaame, CEO of EverdreamSoft, believes that the NFT History Museum “puts forward some of the most historical and iconic NFT projects in the industry.” Other assets to be displayed in the museum include the Bitcoin Genesis Block, the Nakamoto card from RAREPEPE Series 1, as well as collectibles from another early game named Etheria. Cryptopunks, Counterparty, Mooncats and Axie Infinity collections will also be exhbited. Additionally, users will receive a special discount on the card of the month and one lucky participant who signs the NFT Museum’s guestbook in April could secure a Spells of Genesis card from 2017. Other signees could gain exclusive access to a future SoG experiences and events throughout the rest of the year. Related: Crypto Stories: Spells of Genesis card game resurges in popularity as sales skyrocketRecently Cointelegraph interviewed Shaame for a YouTube episode of Crypto Stories, where he answered questions about the game’s recent resurgence in popularity. Originally, in-game cards could only be minted on the Bitcoin blockchain using an early blockchain protocol known as Counterparty. After several years of stagnation, it wasn’t until SoG became compatible with the Ethereum blockchain in 2020 that sales started to rise again. In conversation with Shaame, he revealed his vision, that has now become a reality, of displaying those so-called rare SoG trading cards in a museum setting.

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ESPN and Tom Brady's Autograph ink multi-year NFT deal

ESPN and Tom Brady's Autograph ink multi-year NFT deal

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 6, 2022 |

ESPN and Autograph, the nonfungible token (NFT) platform co-founded by Tom Brady, announced a multi-year partnership on Wednesday that kicks off with a documentary release and an NFT collection. A 10-part ESPN+ documentary series called “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady” chronicles the milestones of the NFL legend’s career through a psychological and emotional lens. The docuseries is produced by Religion of Sports, a media company in which Brady is also a co-founder.Autograph and Religion of Sports designed the “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady Collection” to be ESPN’s first series of NFT collectibles. Dropping at the same time on Wednesday, the documentary is available to subscribers across the Disney streaming bundle — ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ while the NFT collection is available to view on Autograph.io and for sale on DraftKings Marketplace.Just set my alarm. #ManInTheArena @Autograph https://t.co/Sn0RVV9g8B— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 6, 2022Related: DraftKings Marketplace plans to launch gamified NFT collection next NFL seasonThe collection consists of three magazine covers from ESPN’s special edition December issue, which included 14 stories that ESPN had written on Tom Brady. Fifty editions of those NFT covers will be signed by Brady. Once the tenth and last episode of the docuseries airs, a second NFT collection called “Back in the Arena” will also drop.Dillon Rosenblatt, co-founder and chief executive officer at Autograph, said in a statement that “As the first NFT partner for ESPN, the possibilities across sports and technology are endless, and we couldn’t be more excited to get this content out to the world in a massive way.”While die-hard Tom Brady fans may be excited about his new show and NFT collection, others expressed their concerns about the partnership on Twitter under ESPN’s tweet. The comments included statements like, “Nobody asked for this, ESPN” and “I still don’t know what an NFT is” to GIFs depicting dislike.  pic.twitter.com/SQVEEBufWa— Sazón Art (@OnSazon) April 6, 2022

Related: Tom Brady tweets he’s ‘a big fan’ of Vitalik ButerinESPN recently launched the ESPN Edge Innovation Center in Collaboration with Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution to pursue technology partnerships such as this one with Autograph. In addition to Web3 experiences, ESPN intends to leverage augmented and virtual reality to interact with sports fans in new and engaging ways, said the company. From sponsorships in F1 to popular NFT trading cards like NBA Top Shot and to crypto companies renaming sports arenas, the sports industry has largely embraced Web3 and NFT initiatives. A recent PwC report even called NFTs “the future of digital assets in sports.” 

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