Gucci and Yuga Labs’ KodaPendant in rich metaverse storytelling

🔮 Metaproof

Metaproof is a media company that covers the business of the metaverse. We keep you informed how the metaverse and web3 are changing YOUR industry.

✨ Top Picks

The Future, today. In just 3 minutes.

1/ Gucci and Yuga Labs share more details on partnership, unveiling the KodaPendant

Not long after announcing their multi-year deal, luxury fashion house Gucci and Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs unveil the KodaPendant, a limited-edition Gucci-branded pendant on the lore of the Otherside metaverse and Legends of the Mara. Some choice details:

• KodaPendants revolve around a rich narrative involving the flask of blue fluid, a mysterious voyager carrying Gucci emblems, and flasks transforming into pendants.

• A further unraveling shows KodaPendants also act as an NFT upgrade that unlocks exclusive features in Otherside, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

• The upgraded NFT owners can claim the NFT’s physical counterpart: a silver pendant showing a GG-eyed Koda design.

Just last July, Otherside held its “first trip” demo exclusive to Otherdeed holders for exploring digital plots of land. Last week, “second trip” took place and gathered over 7,200 users in the metaverse game world.

If the storytelling, gamification, and fashion NFTs around this Gucci-Yuga Labs collab don’t define an immersive experience, then we don’t really know what will.

2/ Dogecoin soars after Twitter replaces its blue bird logo with the token's dog

An apparent fan of the meme coin, Twitter CEO Elon Musk causes a Dogecoin surge of more than 35% after replacing the social media platform's iconic blue bird with the crypto's Shiba Inu dog logo.

Musk frequently touts DOGE, even suggesting the meme coin may offer a better payment functionality than Bitcoin.

The meme coin logo appeared on Twitter 2 days after Musk asked a judge to throw out a $258B racketeering lawsuit saying he’s running a pyramid scheme to support the dogecoin.

3/ SHIB The Metaverse takes action to promote gender diversity in crypto and blockchain

Shiba Inu's SHIB The Metaverse is teaming up with The International Women of Blockchain (IWB) and NOWPayments, which facilitates crypto payments and donations, to break down barriers and promote gender diversity in the world of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and web3.

The crypto and blockchain world has been getting a bad rap for its lack of female representation across all roles, from execs to game developers. Olayinka Odeniran, executive director of IWB, and Xena Kash, CEO of NOWPayments, are determined to change the landscape and get more women in the game.

Despite the wild swings of crypto prices, the industry has seen a tremendous boom in recent years; as it matures, so should the views on gender diversity, with more industry insiders recognizing the need for a more inclusive atmosphere to guarantee progress and creativity.

4/ What is decentralized identity?

Web3 is building decentralized identity systems where users have control of their data, allowing them to choose what info to share and with whom. The goal: to end the reliance on a few entities controlling digital personas and let people’s digital selves move with them.

Some pertinent decentralized identity solutions:

• Non-custodial crypto wallets give users control over their private keys to verify transactions and prove ownership of a blockchain address.

• Soulbound tokens are non-transferable NFTs that represent a person's identity and achievements in web3.

• Proof of Humanity is a decentralized social identity verification system built on Ethereum that lets users create profiles and vouch for other humans they know.

The future of decentralized identities looks bright as NFTs showcase identities online in a novel manner, while metaverse platforms let users build their own avatar to show off their digital self.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Web3 gaming and metaverse platform Nakamoto Games, with 180 blockchain games to its name, taps into Facebook for its latest release. (Link)

• Jurassic Park is coming to Fortnite (fresh from its Creative 2.0 release), but there’s a twist. (Link)

• Epic Games boss is bullish on metaverse, but less keen on NFTs. (Link)

• Apple’s next major product, an AR/VR headset, may be a shot across Meta’s bow as it’s been working on the same devices for years, since acquiring Oculus in 2014 for $2B. (Link)

• Raini Studios' new game The Lords of Light merges NFTs and blockchain tech for a turn-based card strategy experience. (Link)

• Meta World: My City, a metaverse board game featuring virtual real estate and building collection, is on its way to the world. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• From AR try-ons to gaming skins and collaborations with IRL luxury brands, virtual fashion is both the future and the present. (Link)

• Luxury fashion brands: Level up in the metaverse. (Link)

• Virtual fashion is booming at a global spending of $33B in 2021 and 70% of Gen Z getting real-world style inspo from avatar dressing. (Link)

• In its ongoing inclusivity journey, does fashion really have to turn to “diverse” AI models? (Link)

• Influencers, twin collections and more: fashion in the metaverse. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• FIFA debuts its AI-powered World Cup mobile game, with plans underway for NFTs. (Link)

• Uh-oh: Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Binance get hit with $1B crypto lawsuit. (Link)

• AI-powered golf caddies could be coming soon to VR. (Link)

• FIFA and web3/AI developer Altered State Machine launch FIFA-themed tournament game AI League. (Link)

• Web3 developer OKX launches a metaverse training session with football star Rúben Dias. (Link)

• Web3 sports founder Baron Davis and CasperPunks expand the reach of the CasperPunk Digital Collectibles. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Spotify Live app's sunsetting; it "no longer makes sense" as a standalone app. (Link)

• The Metaverse Theater Festival is an experiment - a play that explores boundaries of the virtual world. (Link)

• What’s there to explore inside shoe brand Clarks’ fashion-forward entertainment hub Clarks Arcade? (Link)

• Quirky parody The R3al Metaverse follows 5 NFT characters inspired by top collections: Bored Ape Yacht Club, World of Women, Doodles, Cool Cats, and Robotos. (Link)

• 5G's rapid expansion can quicken web3 and metaverse development. (Link)

• Niki J. Borger stars in NFTease, a new streaming series funded by crypto-studio LIF. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Bon appetit! National chain Papa John’s is serving pizza-themed NFTs. (Link)

• 2FlowerGallery, a creative studio focused on concept and digital illustration art, enters the NFT space. (Link)

• South African artist Blessing Ngobeni merges physical art with NFTs in his metaverse foray. (Link)

• The future of live events may involve NFT tickets living on a blockchain, providing access to live or virtual events. (Link)

• Thai tourism office’s Amazing Thailand NFTs Season 2 lets tourists and expats collect NFT art and score discounts until July. (Link)

🤖 AI

• Microsoft eases AI image generation across its consumer app portfolio. (Link)

• Web3 +AI = next chapter in storytelling: web3 entertainment firm Kaleidoco CEO Cassandra Rosenthal. (Link)

• Optimism for AI from Brazil, India, China, and South America in a new KPMG study. (Link)

• Microsoft, Santander, and Oxentia team up to challenge entrepreneurs across 11 nations to get their AI game on. (Link)

• AI's coming for 25% of jobs; who’s safe from the robot takeover? (Link)

• An AI model predicts cancer survival with more accuracy and accessible data than ever before. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Generative AI content creation and management platform Narrato raises a $1M pre-seed round. (Link)

• Flybondi and TravelX join forces to offer NFT tickets. (Link)

• Korean AI startup Xinapse intends to launch an IPO with its AI-voice tech and the metaverse. (Link)

• Averett University and Dalrada Energy Services join forces on a 3-part collaboration bringing together the metaverse, education, and sustainability. (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

📈 If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse 📈

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