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<ul><li>Sale of land within <keyword id="11121339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword> <keyword id="12166193" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-sandbox" source="Orion">The Sandbox</keyword> accounted for a quarter of all non-fungible tokens’ (NFTs) sales in the last one week.</li><li>Companies are spending millions to get in on the ground floor and secure prime real estate within these crypto virtual worlds.</li><li>The creation of metaverses is spurring changes in other sectors, like consumer technology, as well.</li></ul>Real estate in the metaverse is selling like hot pockets, and for crazy amounts of money. Accordingly to <a href="https://nonfungible.com/">NonFungible.com</a>, more than $300 million worth of non-fungible tokens (<a href="http://coindcx.com">NFTs</a>) were sold last week — almost a quarter of sales were for <keyword id="9219798" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-land" source="Orion">digital land</keyword> in The Sandbox metaverse. Sales of digital realty in metaverses from November 29 to December 5 <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Metaverse project </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sales in the last 7 days </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Number of assets sold </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">The Sandbox </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$70.5 milion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4,433 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Decentraland </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$6.6 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">399 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CryptoVoxels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$650,000 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">81 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: NonFunglible.com’s weekly newsletter While The Sandbox is raking in the most sales, individual plots within <keyword id="12222085" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="decentraland" source="Orion">Decentraland</keyword> are more expensive. All of the top 10 sales, with the most expensive clocking in at $758,250, were for digital land within Decentraland. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Companies want to get in on the ground floor of the metaverse" comment="subhead" text="Companies want to get in on the ground floor of the metaverse">Companies want to get in on the ground floor of the metaverse</cmsannotation> Spending millions for land that doesn’t actually exist in the real world may not fit everyone’s appetite, but crypto enthusiasts are hoping to get in on the ground floor before prices get even higher. US-based firm Republic Realm, for instance, told the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nfts-are-spurring-a-digital-land-grabin-videogame-worlds-11616414401?mod=article_inline">Wall Street Journal</a> that it spent a record $4.3 million for digital land within The Sandbox on November 30. Meanwhile, The purchase broke the previous all-time-high held by Tokens.com, which purchased land in Decentraland for a whopping $2.4 million last month for a prime patch of real estate within the platform’s Fashion Street district. Grayscale, the largest digital assets investment company in the world, pegs that the value of these virtual gaming worlds could grow from $180 billion in 2020 to <a href="https://grayscale.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Grayscale_Metaverse_Report_Nov2021.pdf">$400 million by 2025</a>. Crypto exchanges, like Binance and others, have established digital headquarters within the metaverse where employees can meet and collaborate. The old-school video game giant, Atari, recently announced the Atari arcade, where players within Decentraland can come in and play mini-games. Moreover, even artists like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/snoop-doggs-new-project-with-let-fans-party-with-him-inside-his-la-mansion-and-potentially-be-neighbours/articleshow/86478559.cms">SnoopDogg</a> are getting in on the trend, by hosting concerts within the metaverse — which is smart, considering the restrictions and risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Swiss multinational investment bank, UBS, the metaverse is also having an impact on the consumer tech segment, especially with Facebook expected to increase capital spending as it focuses on the metaverse. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Notable new consumer tech launches next year, including metaverse-aligned artificial and virtual reality devices, could help offset weaker demand for other types of hardware." auname="UBS report dated December 3"></div> Metaverses, or crypto virtual worlds, are in the midst of creating a multi-million dollar market for creators and asset owners. However, as compared to the rest of the <keyword id="9348354" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crypto-world" source="Orion">crypto world</keyword>, the metaverse is still in its nascent stages. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/organic-star-trek-nft-stored-on-dna-code-of-bacteria-of-gene-roddenbery-signature/articleshow/88089514.cms">A new Star Trek NFT is stored on the DNA of bacteria, and there are billions of copies already</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/hackers-steal-120-million-from-defi-protocol-badgerdao-platform-hits-indefinite-pause-on-all-smart-contract-activity/articleshow/88068762.cms">Hackers steal $120 million from DeFi protocol BadgerDAO — platform hits indefinite pause on all smart contract activity</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/alibaba-tencent-and-other-chinese-players-are-betting-big-on-the-metaverse-but-the-government-is-yet-to-buy-into-the-hype/articleshow/88062372.cms">Alibaba, Tencent, and other Chinese players are betting big on the metaverse — but the government is yet to buy into the hype</a>

Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor

For the past several weeks, the Insider reporters Kari McMahon and Lisa Kailai Han have been attending concerts with some of the hottest stars in the music industry, visiting stunning temples, skateboarding on the streets of California, and fighting undead villagers in Dracula's castle.This is all happening in the <keyword id="11121339" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword>, of course.The "metaverse," a term coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science-fiction dystopian novel "Snow Crash," is defined today as a 3D virtual-reality world that's supposed to be the next, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-metaverse-crypto-blockchain-gaming-vr-real-estate-2022-2">more physical evolution of the internet</a>.Last year, the concept shot into the global spotlight when Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meta-rebrand-damaged-reputation-study-finds-2021-11">rebranded to Meta</a>, kicking off a Gold Rush-esque sprint into the space by companies far and wide.Following in Meta's footsteps, tech titans like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-did-microsoft-buy-activision-2022-1">Microsoft</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-google-labs-ar-vr-iris-blockchain-crypto-metaverse-web3-2022-2">Google</a> announced their intentions to pioneer the new frontier, investors poured <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-virtual-land-sales-record-last-week-sandbox-decentraland-2021-12">$106 million</a> into virtual real estate in a single week last November, and brands including Gucci, JPMorgan, and <a href="https://medium.com/sandbox-game/the-sandbox-launches-nft-collection-to-celebrate-care-bears-40th-anniversary-450fba279619">the Care Bears</a> swooped in to launch virtual <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/someone-spent-over-dollar4000-on-this-gucci-bag-in-roblox/">clothing lines</a>, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/jpmorgan-decentraland-onyx-lounge-metaverse-virtual-real-estate-crypto-dao-2022-2">corporate lounges</a>, and games.With all that hype, it's easy to think that the metaverse has arrived.But has it?Having never set foot inside the metaverse before, we explored seven of the hottest virtual worlds to find out what the metaverse is really all about, whether it's ready for mainstream adoption, and what's still holding it back.We also went behind the scenes to interview the founders and creators of the worlds we explored to get their perspective on what the future holds for the metaverse.Insider hopes to serve as your guide to the metaverse, providing unbiased and frank opinions on the good, the bad, and the ugly of these virtual worlds from the ground up. The metaverse promises a lot, and in this series we wanted to find out whether it's living up to its potential.Click on any of the virtual worlds below to find out more, or, if you've still got any lingering questions about the metaverse, check out our original <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-metaverse-crypto-blockchain-gaming-vr-real-estate-2022-2">guide to the metaverse</a>.<h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/axie-infinity-review-walkthrough-metaverse-how-to-play-earn-strategy-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the Axis Infinity metaverse" height="1800" width="2400" msid="91076190" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/axie-infinity-review-walkthrough-metaverse-how-to-play-earn-strategy-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axie Infinity</a> </h2>In a throwback to the early aughts, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/axie-infinity-review-walkthrough-metaverse-how-to-play-earn-strategy-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2D game Axie Infinity</a> consists of cute creatures battling against one another in a turn-based card game — think Pokémon crossed with Neopets. What makes Axie Infinity stand out is the fact that players can earn real money by playing the game. During the pandemic, the platform became hugely popular in the Philippines when some players earned more from the game than in some minimum-wage jobs there. While Axie today is more of a gaming platform than a complete virtual world, the developers' ultimate goal is to build Axie into a wider universe of games.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/axie-infinity-review-walkthrough-metaverse-how-to-play-earn-strategy-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cryptovoxels-review-walkthrough-token-crypto-real-estate-nft-metaverse-opensea-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cryptovoxels</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cryptovoxels-review-walkthrough-token-crypto-real-estate-nft-metaverse-opensea-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the cryptovoxels metaverse" height="1800" width="2400" msid="91076193" hostid="261"></div></a></h2>The online world <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cryptovoxels-review-walkthrough-token-crypto-real-estate-nft-metaverse-opensea-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cryptovoxels</a> is one of the smaller, lower-key metaverses on this list, since its creators haven't really focused on big brand partnerships thus far — though that may change this year. Rather than aimed toward gaming or questing, the platform is used primarily for social events like digital concerts and fashion shows. The mostly older user base includes a huge community of artists and creators, with a large emphasis on NFT wearables modeling. The world itself has a pixelated feel and is crammed with eclectic, user-built structures, spanning from bizarre Doge temples to funky jungle gyms that are a ton of fun to explore.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cryptovoxels-review-walkthrough-token-crypto-real-estate-nft-metaverse-opensea-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/decentraland-review-walkthrough-coin-mana-price-crypto-metaverse-real-estate-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the decentraland metaverse" height="1000" width="1333" msid="91076196" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/decentraland-review-walkthrough-coin-mana-price-crypto-metaverse-real-estate-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decentraland</a> </h2>The 3D virtual world <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/decentraland-review-walkthrough-coin-mana-price-crypto-metaverse-real-estate-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decentraland</a>, one of the more predominant metaverses to make headlines in recent months, recently hosted a digitized Australian Open and has also worked with other prominent companies like Sotheby's and Samsung to build virtual replicas of their real-life headquarters and stores on the platform. The open world, which features neon, cartoon-like graphics, is divided into more than 90,000 parcels of land for users to buy and build on. While some smaller minigames and quests exist, they're often glitchy, and the major draw of Decentraland seems to be the platform it provides for its community to attend virtual events together.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/decentraland-review-walkthrough-coin-mana-price-crypto-metaverse-real-estate-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-review-walkthrough-metaverse-games-stock-creators-marketplace-nft-crypto-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roblox</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-review-walkthrough-metaverse-games-stock-creators-marketplace-nft-crypto-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the Roblox metaverse" height="1800" width="2400" msid="91076198" hostid="261"></div></a></h2>Founded in 2006, the seasoned gaming platform <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-review-walkthrough-metaverse-games-stock-creators-marketplace-nft-crypto-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roblox</a> enables people to interact, build, and play together. The company, which went public last year, is much more commercial than the other virtual worlds and is also the only one not built on blockchain technology. While the platform originally catered to a younger audience, Roblox is now actively trying to target an older demographic. The user experience, which was more advanced than some of the other worlds we visited, is a testament to Roblox's existing immense popularity. Famous DJs have played sets on the platform, and key brands like Nike and Vans are also prominently featured, with each having its own themed game. At the same time, the central ownership and commercialization has led to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/09/the-trouble-with-roblox-the-video-game-empire-built-on-child-labour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the exploitation of creators, many of whom are startlingly young</a>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-review-walkthrough-metaverse-games-stock-creators-marketplace-nft-crypto-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-sandbox-review-walkthrough-alpha-metaverse-crypto-game-make-money-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the sandbox metaverse" height="1000" width="1333" msid="91076200" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-sandbox-review-walkthrough-alpha-metaverse-crypto-game-make-money-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sandbox</a> </h2>The voxel-style gaming world <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-sandbox-review-walkthrough-alpha-metaverse-crypto-game-make-money-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sandbox</a> has jumped to public attention for its large number of expensive real-estate sales, particularly after the clamor over the re-creation of Snoop Dogg's mansion. The platform, which is still in the alpha testing stage and hasn't been widely released yet, also counts brands like the Smurfs, the Care Bears, "The Walking Dead," and Adidas in its wheelhouse of partnerships. Compared with the other featured platforms, The Sandbox stands out because it emphasizes a mix of quest-style gameplay and events like clubbing. The platform is also unique because it actively seeks outside game developers to create diverse quests in return for funding, marketing, and guidance.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-sandbox-review-walkthrough-alpha-metaverse-crypto-game-make-money-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/somnium-space-review-walkthrough-metaverse-crypto-token-review-vr-nft-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Somnium Space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/somnium-space-review-walkthrough-metaverse-crypto-token-review-vr-nft-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the Somnium Space metaverse" height="1000" width="1333" msid="91076202" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/somnium-space-review-walkthrough-metaverse-crypto-token-review-vr-nft-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Somnium Space</a> is one of the few virtual worlds that primarily focus on the virtual-reality component of the metaverse, with the company developing its own proprietary headsets and haptic Teslasuits for complete sensory immersion. While Somnium Space has been under development for years, the platform has managed to stay relatively under the radar — with its founders seeming to prefer it that way. Somnium Space focuses on highlighting art, housing both the Beeple and Dogecoin museums, and on providing its users with a social experience, hosting daily events for new members to meet up. While the virtual-reality visuals look fantastic in the tutorials, this platform also has the highest barrier to entry.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/somnium-space-review-walkthrough-metaverse-crypto-token-review-vr-nft-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/star-atlas-review-walkthrough-crypto-solana-game-token-metaverse-nft-marketplace-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div type="image" title="Illustration of the Star Atlas metaverse" height="1800" width="2400" msid="91076203" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/star-atlas-review-walkthrough-crypto-solana-game-token-metaverse-nft-marketplace-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Star Atlas</a> </h2>As the name implies, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/star-atlas-review-walkthrough-crypto-solana-game-token-metaverse-nft-marketplace-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Star Atlas</a> is a space-focused game offered in an immersive virtual world with sophisticated graphics. Because of its proposed visual and gameplay complexities, Star Atlas targets more-experienced gamers than the other metaverses. Users are able to earn income from the game, though we've found that it involves quite an outlay on the player's side to get involved. This virtual world is still in the early innings, with development starting in 2020, but it's already gained a lot of attention as one of the biggest games on the solana blockchain.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/star-atlas-review-walkthrough-crypto-solana-game-token-metaverse-nft-marketplace-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read the full story.</a>

Insider's Guide to the Metaverse: How to play, make money, and party in 7 of the most popular virtual worlds right now

<ul><li><keyword id="677056" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="humanoid-robot" source="Orion">Humanoid robot</keyword> Sophia now plans to enter the <keyword id="11121339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword> with an anime version of herself.</li><li>An auction of 100 intelligent non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will launch as a part of the <keyword id="12691522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="initial-game-offering" source="Orion">initial game offering</keyword> (IGO) for ‘Noah’s Ark’.</li><li>The auction will take place over five days, with twenty <keyword id="12691524" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="infts" source="Orion">iNFTs</keyword> being released one day at a time, from December 16 to December 21.</li></ul>Sophia, the humanoid robot who spoke at the United Nations (UN) and has Saudi citizenship, is now set to hit another milestone by entering the metaverse. And, her virtual world will be called Noah’s Ark. <div type="image" title="NFT_sopia" msid="88156890" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;iNFTs flashing through various versions of Sophia beingAI&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But Sophia’s a robot. In order to enter the metaverse, she needs a digital version of herself — enter Sophia beingAI, a virtual anime version of the robot. In a video interaction between the two, the original Sophia didn’t seem to be amped about having a virtual version of herself out there. <div type="Youtube" id="mjXghxn6mhE" title="Sophia beingAI says hello to Sophia the Robot" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mjXghxn6mhE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The company behind both personalities, beingAI, plans to launch 100 intelligent non-fungible tokens (iNFTs) called in collaboration with Alethea AI. An NFT is said to be ‘’intelligent’ if they have their own artificially intelligent (AI) personality. Within a game environment, these iNFTs can interact autonomously with people — kind of like in the movie Free Guy, featuring Ryan Reynolds. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Through my collaboration with David Hanson, I was inspired by his vision for creating benevolent AI, and deeply appreciate his trust in empowering us to create Sophia beingAI as a parallel, virtual existence of Sophia." auname="Statement by co-founder and CEO of beingAI, Jeanne Lim, on launching the IGO"></div> Sophia’s collection of iNFTs is called ‘The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI’. It will be featured on <keyword id="6359140" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="binance" source="Orion">Binance</keyword>’s NFT marketplace as a part of an initial game offering (IGO) set to go live on December 16. The auction will take place over five days, with twenty iNFTs being released one day at a time, until December 21. Sophia, the humanoid robot, has lived a more exciting life than most humans. In addition to being an internet celebrity, she’s met Prime Ministers, movie stars, business leaders, and spiritual leaders from all over the world while having traveled to more than 50 countries. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/key-points-from-indias-national-blockchain-strategy/articleshow/88123973.cms">44 key areas, a national framework, and a multi-institutional approach — Here's what you need to know about India's new National Blockchain Strategy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/organic-star-trek-nft-stored-on-dna-code-of-bacteria-of-gene-roddenbery-signature/articleshow/88089514.cms">A new Star Trek NFT is stored on the DNA of bacteria, and there are billions of copies already</a>

Humanoid robot Sophia is entering the metaverse with ‘intelligent’ NFTs

<ul><li>The CEO of <keyword id="6360701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spacex" source="Orion">SpaceX</keyword>, <keyword id="107096" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tesla" source="Orion">Tesla</keyword> and the Boring Company took a dig at <keyword id="12465420" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="web3" source="Orion">Web3</keyword> earlier today asking, “Has anyone seen Web3?” on <keyword id="6354616" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="twitter" source="Orion">Twitter</keyword>.</li><li><keyword id="265395" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jack-dorsey" source="Orion">Jack Dorsey</keyword>, founder of Twitter and <keyword id="688028" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="square" source="Orion">Square</keyword>, jibed back with, “It’s somewhere between a and z.”</li><li>The tech billionaires were poking fun at the hype around Web3, the so-called ‘next generation of the internet’.</li></ul>There were non-fungible tokens (NFTs), then the ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-metaverse-may-change-the-way-you-earn-money-shop-or-even-chill-with-friends-in-the-future/slidelist/86677906.cms">metaverse</a>’ and the next wave that’s building seems to be around Web3 — the next generation of the internet. However, not everyone is buying into the hype, including tech billionaires <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword> and Jack Dorsey. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring Company, took a dig at Web3 with a message on Twitter. While the hype around <a href="http://coindcx.com">Web3</a> has been building this year, real use cases — at least ones that have some kind of mainstream adoption — are few and far between. <div type="twitter" handle="elonmusk" handlename="Elon Musk" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1442634650703237120/mXIcYtIs_normal.jpg" favoritecount="110702" retweetcount="8430" status="Has anyone seen web3? I can’t find it." createdat="1640064984000" id="1473165434518224896"></div> Dorsey, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/parag-agrawals-top-priority-at-twitter-as-new-ceo/articleshow/88157925.cms">recently quit</a> as the head of Twitter, chimed in with a reply <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1473165759224463360">stating</a>, “It’s somewhere between a and z.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Web3, where art thou?" comment="subhead" text="Web3, where art thou?">Web3, where art thou?</cmsannotation> The general understanding is that Web3 will be based on the blockchain, which is what most people remember. However, the second part of Web3’s identity is its aspiration to be decentralised, which is short-hand for taking the power of data away from tech giants like Meta, formerly known as <keyword id="6354576" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook" source="Orion">Facebook</keyword>. However, Dorsey believes that the entire concept is ironic. Blockchain startups working on Web3 applications are, at the end of the day, being funded by venture capitalists (VCs) and limited partnerships (LPs). This still leaves the people with money in power. “It’s ultimately a centralised entity with a different label,” Dorsey said on Twitter. <div type="twitter" handle="jack" handlename="jack⚡️" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1115644092329758721/AFjOr-K8_normal.jpg" favoritecount="28554" retweetcount="4604" status="You don’t own “web3.”The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centraliz… https://t.co/Rre1m6uAzc" createdat="1640058684000" id="1473139010197508098"></div> Dorsey is the same guy who also poked fun of Facebook when it changed its name to Meta. He called the new name, ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1453789734791090189">self-referential</a>’. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Why aren’t more people excited about Web3?" comment="subhead" text="Why aren’t more people excited about Web3?">Why aren’t more people excited about Web3?</cmsannotation> To be fair, it’s not that they aren't excited about Web3, they just think the utopian version of the internet is still a <a href="https://timdaub.github.io/2020/09/08/web3/">considerable</a> jump away. One of the issues that have repeatedly been pointed out is scaling. Smart contract platforms, including those touted as ‘Ethereum Killers’, have at one point or another faced issues when transaction volumes suddenly spike. And, as much as we want to believe in a version of the decentralised internet, there’s always a loophole like we saw when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/aws-outage-shows-that-dexs-arent-are-decentralised-as-expected/articleshow/88186644.cms">Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) servers were hit</a> earlier this month. The company’s servers are the basis for one-third of the internet. So, a crypto exchange like dYdX may be decentralised but if most of its computing power comes from Amazon’s servers — a centralised service — can it be truly autonomous? SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/alibaba-tencent-and-other-chinese-players-are-betting-big-on-the-metaverse-but-the-government-is-yet-to-buy-into-the-hype/articleshow/88062372.cms">Alibaba, Tencent, and other Chinese players are betting big on the metaverse — but the government is yet to buy into the hype</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/bitcoin-mining-is-bring-immersion-cooling-back-in-vogue/articleshow/87998756.cms">Immersion cooling has been around for over a decade, but it’s coming back in vogue thanks to Bitcoin mining</a>

Tech billionaires Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk take a dig at Web3 — ‘It’s somewhere between a and z’

<ul><li><keyword id="11973832" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="terra" source="Orion">Terra</keyword> is now the second-biggest decentralised finance (<keyword id="4164994" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="defi" source="Orion">DeFi</keyword>) player in the <keyword id="6380571" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crypto-market" source="Orion">crypto market</keyword>, after Ethereum.</li><li>However, its total value locked (TVL) ratio shows that the cryptocurrency may be overvalued as its current price of $82.04.</li><li>Terra’s <keyword id="216973" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="luna" source="Orion">LUNA</keyword> token hit an all-time-high of $83.81, earlier today.</li></ul>Terra, whose LUNA token has been bucking the doldrums of the crypto market to barge its way into the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrency by value, is now the second-biggest smart contract platform after Ethereum. Moreover, Terra’s LUNA token’s price hit <a href="http://coindcx.com">all-time-high</a> of $83.81 earlier today as it continues to surge. Compared to last year, LUNA’s price is 12,000% percent higher. This means if you had invested ₹10,000 in the token on January 1, it would be worth ₹12,00,000 today. Top five smart contract platforms by total value locked (TVL): <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Seven-day change </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total value locked </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ethereum (ETH) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5.88% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$153.18 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Terra (LUNA) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$18.06 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BSC (BNB) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3.87% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$16.61 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Avalanche </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">16.37% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$12.33 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Solana </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6.85% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$11.7 billion </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: DeFi Llama <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Is Terra headed for a dip?" comment="subhead" text="Is Terra headed for a dip?">Is Terra headed for a dip?</cmsannotation> According to data cited by <a href="https://defillama.com/chains">DeFi Llama</a>, the total value locked (TVL) in Terra has surged by 55% in the last seven days, overtaking Binance Smart Chain (BNB). TVL is an indicator of how many assets are currently being staked on a specific platform. Simply put, it’s the overall underlying supply. However, at a price of $82.04 and market capitalisation of $30.48 billion, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/">CoinMarketCap</a>, the TVL ratio of Terra comes up to 1.68. This indicates that the recent bull run has left the cryptocurrency overvalued. According to <a href="http://fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/cryptocurrencies-price-prediction-cardano-terra-bitcoin-american-wrap-20-december-202112202038">FXStreet</a>, investors will now be looking to book profits, which is likely to push LUNA to lower, but more stable, levels. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total Value Locked (TVL) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Market capitalisation </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">TVL Ratio (TVL/M Cap) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$18.06 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$30.48 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1.68 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Data as of 3:00pm Indian Standard Time (IST) | TVL figure from DeFi Llama, Market capitalisation from CoinMarketCap | Calculation done by Business Insider India As of 3:00pm Indian Standard Time (IST), Terra’s price has jumped by nearly 9% in the last 24 hours with a 44% increase over the last seven days. During the last week, it broke into the top 10 most valued cryptocurrencies in the global market alongside Avalanche’s re-entry. And, a lot of the credit goes to the hype behind DeFi. Terra UST (UST) is one of the stablecoins — others include the Euro (EUT), the Canadian Dollar (CAT), and the Japanese Yen (JPY) — that’s based on the Terra blockchain. It is now the most valuable decentralised stablecoin in the world after overtaking DAI. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/alibaba-tencent-and-other-chinese-players-are-betting-big-on-the-metaverse-but-the-government-is-yet-to-buy-into-the-hype/articleshow/88062372.cms">Alibaba, Tencent, and other Chinese players are betting big on the metaverse — but the government is yet to buy into the hype</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/bitcoin-mining-is-bring-immersion-cooling-back-in-vogue/articleshow/87998756.cms">Immersion cooling has been around for over a decade, but it’s coming back in vogue thanks to Bitcoin mining</a>

Terra is the second-biggest DeFi player in the crypto market, but it may be overvalued

<ul><li><keyword id="10910561" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ethereum-mining" source="Orion">Ethereum mining</keyword> saw revenue of nearly $2 billion in November.</li><li>This is the seventh consecutive month that revenue from mining for Ethereum has been higher than the returns from Bitcoin mining.</li><li>One of the reasons for the boost in Ethereum mining fees is the jump in demand for validating transactions as the hype around <keyword id="902592" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nfts" source="Orion">NFTs</keyword>, the <keyword id="11121339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword> and <keyword id="4164994" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="defi" source="Orion">DeFi</keyword> continues to build.</li></ul>High gas fees may not be a good thing for users trying to push transactions through on the Ethereum blockchain, but miners are more than happy raking in the big bucks. According to research by <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/126301/ethereum-miners-outpaces-bitcoin-miners-in-revenue-for-seventh-straight-month-in-november?utm_source=telegram&amp;utm_medium=social">The Block</a>, <keyword id="12696641" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ethereum-mining-revenue" source="Orion">Ethereum mining revenue</keyword> clocked in at $1.99 billion in November. <div type="image" title="ETH REV" msid="88168897" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Revenue from Ethereum mining by month since 2017&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Not only is this an 11.8% increase over October, but it’s also the seventh consecutive month that revenue from <a href="http://coindcx.com">Ethereum</a> mining has been higher than revenue from Bitcoin mining this year. <div type="image" title="BTC rev" msid="88168915" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Revenue from Bitcoin mining by month since 2017&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ethereum’s high gas fees as are a boon for miners" comment="subhead" text="Ethereum’s high gas fees as are a boon for miners">Ethereum’s high gas fees as are a boon for miners</cmsannotation> Gas fees are basically the transaction fees paid to miners for validating a transaction. Simply put, miners are incentivised to keep Ethereum gas fees high. And, they have control. The threshold that miners’ can charge is determined by the simple economics of demand and supply. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/ethereums-scaling-issues-strike-again-as-time-magazines-nfts-sell-for-30-times-their-price/articleshow/86490791.cms">congested a network</a> is, the higher will be the gas fees. For a miner, gas fees going to the moon is a good thing. For a developer or a trader, a transaction can get delayed, or just simply rejected, if it doesn’t meet the miner’s threshold. And, until <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/heres-how-ethereum-2-0-cryptocurrency-promises-to-be-green-scalable-and-far-more-efficient/articleshow/83003150.cms">Ethereum 2.0</a> kicks in to solve the problem, miners are raking in the big bucks. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ethereum transactions are raging on the NFT, metaverse and DeFi hype" comment="subhead" text="Ethereum transactions are raging on the NFT, metaverse and DeFi hype">Ethereum transactions are raging on the NFT, metaverse and DeFi hype</cmsannotation> There may be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/solana-cardano-polkadot-and-others-heres-a-quick-look-at-why-these-crypto-tokens-are-being-touted-as-ethereum-killers/articleshow/88045517.cms">a lot of contenders</a> out there, eyeing Ethereum’s throne as king of the smart contract universe, but the blockchain platform continues to remain the biggest bull out there with a market value of $504 billion, according to the data collected by <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/">CoinMarketCap</a>. Moreover, the hype around <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/record-breaking-digital-artist-beeple-says-the-nft-craze-is-just-like-the-dotcom-bubble-of-the-late-1990s/articleshow/82292926.cms">non-fungible tokens (NFTs)</a>, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/alibaba-tencent-and-other-chinese-players-are-betting-big-on-the-metaverse-but-the-government-is-yet-to-buy-into-the-hype/articleshow/88062372.cms">metaverse</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/ethereum-vs-solana-vs-cardano-who-is-defis-darling/articleshow/86608461.cms">decentralised finance (DeFi)</a> led the cryptocurrency to hit an all-time-high of $4,859 on November 10. Platforms like the NFT marketplace <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/nft-zombie-cryptopunk-7252-just-sold-for-5-billion-doubling-value-in-less-than-one-month/articleshow/85594193.cms">OpenSea</a>, the metaverse called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Decentraland</a>, play-to-earn (P2E) game Townstar and others are built on the Ethereum blockchain. Top five blockchain platforms in the DeFi space: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cryptocurrency </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ethereum (ETH) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$168.91 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Binance Smart Chain (BSC) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$16.53 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Terra (LUNA) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$13.17 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Avalanche (AVAX) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$12.28 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Solana (SOL) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$12.05 billion </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/chains">DeFi Llama</a> as of December 8 <a href="https://defiprime.com/ethereum#:~:text=We%20have%20236%20DeFi%20projects,of%20them%20built%20on%20Ethereum.">DeFiPrime</a> pegs that of the 236 DeFi applications in the world right now, 213 are on the Ethereum blockchain. There’s a total of $255.8 billion of total value locked across all DeFi protocols and Ethereum accounts for more than half of that at $168.91 billion. The growth of applications being built on the Ethereum blockchain has caused an increase in demand for Ethereum transactions. It may be expensive, but there are enough people out there willing to pay the high gas fees in order to get their hands on NFTs worth millions and real estate within the metaverse. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/key-points-from-indias-national-blockchain-strategy/articleshow/88123973.cms">44 key areas, a national framework, and a multi-institutional approach — Here's what you need to know about India's new National Blockchain Strategy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/humanoid-robot-sophia-is-entering-the-metaverse-with-intelligent-nfts/articleshow/88156738.cms">Humanoid robot Sophia is entering the metaverse with ‘intelligent’ NFTs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor</a>

With the metaverse, NFTs and DeFi on the rise, Ethereum miners rake in $2 billion in revenue — a jump of 11% over October

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sales of virtual land have boomed in the last week, bringing in $105.87 million for just four <keyword id="11121339" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword> projects, DappRadar said. </li><li>Gaming platform Sandbox dominated with $86.56 million in NFT sales, with Decentraland in second place. </li><li>The surge in metaverse-related activity has followed Facebook's name change to Meta, the report said.</li></ul>The metaverse is thriving right now, as individuals and companies pile in. A total of $106 million was spent on virtual property in the last week, with purchases of digital land, luxury yachts and other assets, according to data from <a href="https://dappradar.com/blog/over-100-million-in-metaverse-land-sales-last-week">DappRadar</a>.The Sandbox, an online gaming world that allows users to own plots of land, has dominated activity. Between November 22 to 28, the platform attracted $86.56 million in unique non-fungible token land sales that are tied to the blockchain, DappRadar said.In second place was Decentraland, another virtual platform that brought in $15.53 million in sales of digital plots of land. Smaller competitor CryptoVoxels sold digital land for a total of $2.68 million, while Somnium Space, a metaverse platform, sold $1.10 million worth of real estate. <div type="image" title="Virtual worlds land NFTs trading volume in 7 days" height="768" width="1541" msid="88053125" hostid="261"></div>Last week, buyers spent record amounts of money on virtual plots of land in the metaverse, where users can play games, trade digital assets and buy and sell anything from digital sneakers to digital dresses using <keyword id="11892695" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrency" source="Orion">cryptocurrency</keyword> tokens.Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-property-decentraland-sale-price-mana-coin-cryptocurrency-2021-11?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">bought</a> digital land for $2.43 million last Tuesday, a record for property sales on Decentraland. Another <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-crypto-digital-land-sold-axie-infinity-nft-decentraland-2021-11?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">plot</a> was purchased for $2.3 million on Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn gaming platform, in the same week. "Undoubtedly, metaverse land is the next big hit in the NFT space. Outputting record sales numbers and constantly increasing NFT prices, virtual worlds are the new top commodity in the <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> space," DappRadar said. Last week, the four leading virtual worlds had attracted over 6,000 traders. Over the previous week, Sandbox boasted the second most traded NFT collection, while Decentraland came in 8th place. The report said the surge in metaverse-related activity started with Facebook's decision in late October to rebrand itself as "Meta", in a nod to its commitment to building out its own digital world for its users."Metaverse events are becoming an industry-standard in the crypto space. Allowing brands, artists, and creators to showcase their work and product to millions of people worldwide, virtual events in the metaverse will only become more popular," the report said. Crypto asset manager Grayscale has said the metaverse is a $1 trillion <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-1-trillion-opportunity-grayscale-virual-land-sales-decentraland-2021-11">opportunity.</a> This week, Sandbox saw the sale of the most expensive piece of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-property-sandbox-virtual-real-estate-deal-record-4-million-2021-11">virtual land</a> ever, after Republic Realm spent $4.3 million on a plot.Decentraland is gearing up to host a 2022 edition of this October's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-decentraland-festival-happening-again-next-year-nft-sandbox-2021-11">virtual festival</a> that drew in 50,000 attendees who claimed a total of 11,204 NFTs. Sports clubs are diving in too. English soccer club Manchester City has teamed up with Sony to build its own virtual world, according to a <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-investing-crypto-sport-manchester-city-sony-nft-sandbox-decentraland-2021-12">statement </a>Tuesday. And German sportswear maker Adidas said recently it had teamed up with crypto exchange Coinbase after announcing it would expand its activities in the metaverse.Gemini exchange founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss said they had purchased a plot of virtual land and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/gemini-crypto-millions-funding-metaverse-winklevoss-meta-zuckerberg-2021-11">raised</a> $400 million in a funding round recently which they will use to help build their own metaverse.

Just 4 metaverse projects sold $106 million in virtual land last week, with The Sandbox taking a massive lead: DappRadar

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, are the key to the <keyword id="11121339" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword>, experts say.</li><li>With the digital tokens, people are becoming owners on the internet, instead of simply renters.</li></ul>And just like that, the term "metaverse" has gone mainstream. Last week, social media giant <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/fb-stock">Facebook</a> announced it would change its name to "<keyword id="12416504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="meta" source="Orion">Meta</keyword>" in an effort to move into the future of the internet, called <keyword id="12461337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="web3" source="Orion">Web3</keyword> or the metaverse.Now, headlines about the metaverse, blockchain, and NFTs are dominating the news, and you might be wondering how they're all connected. But let's start with the basics. What even is the metaverse?Think of your physical world, the things around you, what and who you interact with. Now think of that physical world being digital. That's it. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-metaverse-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-roblox-animal-crossing-2021-8">That's the metaverse</a>.Cathy Hackl, who has earned the title of godmother of the metaverse, put it like this to <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/the-fashion-execs-guide-to-the-metaverse">Vogue</a> in an interview in September: "It's about the internet breaking free from the rectangles in our hands, desks and walls and being all around us."It's like that Sims game so many grew up with, but better. Platforms like Decentraland and <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">Crypto</keyword>voxels are already the social media of the metaverse in a way, said Andrew Steinwold, who hosts the crypto podcast Zima Red.There, "you can build a gallery; you can put photos of yourself, just like regular social media. You can get creative, scratch that itch. You can be social. You can go talk to your neighbors, go attend events."But what do NFTs and crypto have to do with all this?Everything!<keyword id="11919795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nft" source="Orion">NFT</keyword>s are the digital key to unlocking the metaverse, Shreyansh Singh, the head of Polygon's NFT and gaming arm, wrote in a <a href="https://decrypt.co/82992/nfts-key-accessing-metaverse-beyond">Decrypt article</a>. An NFT, or a nonfungible token, is a unique digital asset stored on a blockchain, the same technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The tokens give users ownership in the digital world."That was kind of the missing piece of the puzzle," said Steinwold, who's also a managing partner of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-podcaster-andrew-steinwold-nft-fund-andreessen-horowitz-winklevoss-twins-2021-11">NFT-focused firm Sfermion</a>. "Now that that's enabled, the metaverse is actually coming to fruition."Wait ... what?Let's say you have a Fortnite skin, Steinwold said, referring to a digital outfit for your video game character. You don't actually own it, even if you spent countless hours getting it. Epic Games, which makes Fortnite, owns it. "It's kind of up to Epic Games' total purview whatever they want to do with it," Steinwold said. "If they want to delete my account, then they can do that ... They can just say, 'You know what, Andrew tweeted "screw Epic Games" this morning, we're going to delete all this stuff.'"It's a communist system in the sense that users add value to the system but get nothing in return, Steinwold said. With NFTs, the internet is becoming more capitalistic, "where your time-money effort is actually rewarded through ownership.""It's like if I use <keyword id="11892960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook" source="Orion">Facebook</keyword>, and they somehow gave me some portion of stock from commenting, from liking, from uploading photos, because I'm adding value to that platform," he said, adding that people on the internet are becoming owners, instead of renters. Will Facebook - I mean Meta - be part of the metaverse?Some, <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/10/29/john-carmack-facebook-oculus-metaverse-mark-zuckerberg/">including a key architect</a> of Facebook's metaverse, have been skeptical of the company's plan.As Steinwold put it, "If Facebook turned into a decentralized organization where it was user owned and governed, that would be a true part of the metaverse."So what's next?We haven't seen anything yet. You may remember, perhaps, the early days of "dial-up" internet in the 1990s when aol.com was the main platform. That's where we are with the metaverse and NFTs, Steinwold said. "It's almost like if you asked me about Google or Airbnb or Uber back in the 1990s. I couldn't even explain to you what those are," he said. "We are not even in the first inning, like the game hasn't started. We're still warming up."

Why NFTs and the metaverse will make you an owner - not just a renter - on the internet

<ul><li>Cloud service <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> Web Services (AWS), which runs around one-third of the internet, saw a massive outage.</li><li>Not only were centralised crypto exchanges hit, but decentralised players like <keyword id="12702350" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dydx" source="Orion">dYdX</keyword> went down in the chaos that followed.</li><li>The time-sensitive nature of transactions on crypto exchanges has users questioning what ‘<keyword id="427340" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="decentralisation" source="Orion">decentralisation</keyword>’ truly entails.</li></ul>Amazon Web Services (AWS) was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/AWS-appears-to-be-down-and-its-taken-popular-services-like-Ring-smart-home-systems-Netflix-and-Disney-with-it/articleshow/88151211.cms">down for nearly half a day</a> on December 8. As a result, centralised crypto exchanges like Binance, <keyword id="1972612" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coinbase" source="Orion">Coinbase</keyword> and others came to a standstill. Moreover, even decentralised crypto exchanges, like dYdX, were unable to process transactions. Even though dYdX is decentralised, which is to say that it allows for direct peer-to-peer transactions unlike a centralised <a href="http://coindcx.com">exchange</a> where investors need to use the company’s designated wallet, it is still dependent on AWS — a centralised service. <div type="twitter" handle="dydxprotocol" handlename="dYdX 🦔" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1364590285255290882/hjnIm9bV_normal.jpg" favoritecount="474" retweetcount="81" status="Due to a major AWS outage, dYdX exchange is currently down. We are experiencing greater latency across services and… https://t.co/rF8tx8Of28" createdat="1638903438000" id="1468293558360805381"></div> Proponents argue that this undermines the entire objective of being a decentralised platform. The ideology is that a decentralised network can ‘technically’ never face an outage since the nodes are distributed among users. However, when the platform’s website front-end uses AWS — it negates this aspect. Meanwhile, the dYdX exchange’s governance token (DYDX) , which had begun recovering after last week’s dip, fell by 5% again during the outage, and then recovered later the same day. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Traders were left out of the loop for hours in a market that’s online 24/7" comment="subhead" text="Traders were left out of the loop for hours in a market that’s online 24/7">Traders were left out of the loop for hours in a market that’s online 24/7</cmsannotation> AWS’ glitches left customers unable to login or trade for a period of time. Retail traders are claiming losses of up to $200,000 due to multiple outages. Some have even started a<a href="https://binanceclaim.com/"> campaign to seek damages</a> from Binance — the largest crypto exchange globally with transaction volumes of $23 billion, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/">CoinMarketCap</a>. Since cryptocurrency and its derivatives are known to be volatile, trader strategies of ‘timing’ their buys and sells depend entirely on the exchange remaining accessible to monitoring. For example, on December 4, the ETH token on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/ethereum-may-offer-the-best-returns-but-investors-have-been-pulling-away-over-the-last-two-weeks/articleshow/87137546.cms">Ethereum</a> blockchain dropped from $4,100 to $3,600 within 50 minutes, before recovering most of the drop an hour later. Executing desired trades exactly in time, would have decided whether a trader profited or lost from the market moves. To support such 24x7 operations that may see massive traffic increases in the space of minutes, large cloud-based providers such as Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure have a number of features to increase reliability. With server farms <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/aws-expands-india-footprint-with-plans-for-a-second-cluster-of-data-centers-in-hyderabad-by-2022/articleshow/79075220.cms">located across</a> the globe, they claim better reliability than smaller providers or self-hosted data centres. Yet they aren’t entirely immune to disruptions or human error, and have had many<a href="https://awsmaniac.com/aws-outages/"> service outages</a> over the years. Because AWS powers almost<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/967365/worldwide-cloud-infrastructure-services-market-share-vendor/"> one-third of the internet</a> according to Statista,<a href="https://status.aws.amazon.com/"> yesterday’s outage</a> affected a wide cross-section of the internet, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/AWS-appears-to-be-down-and-its-taken-popular-services-like-Ring-smart-home-systems-Netflix-and-Disney-with-it/articleshow/88151211.cms">Netflix, Disney+</a>, Slack, and Amazon’s own shopping site. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="88173084" title="Videos show Amazon warehouse workers dancing and singing karaoke during the server outage that halted work" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> When a person’s cloud backup or a fun website of cat memes is temporarily inaccessible, it is merely inconvenient. But when governments and large companies have business interruptions, the outages become a concern. Finally, a ‘decentralised’ service suffering an outage due to centralised systems, just adds another layer of irony. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Unfortunately, parts of the exchange still rely on centralized services (AWS in this case). We are deeply committed to full decentralization and this remains one of our top priorities as we continue to iterate on the protocol." auname="Statement by dYdX after issues with AWS were resolved"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The importance of decentralisation to the crypto community" comment="subhead" text="The importance of decentralisation to the crypto community">The importance of decentralisation to the crypto community</cmsannotation> Most of the big names on the Internet have not made a big deal about yesterday’s outage, as it is just one more disruption which is<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/s3/sla/"> covered in Amazon’s SLA</a> (Service Level Agreement). However, the service disruption and the loss of retail investors’ money stood out as an egregious event for the cryptocurrency community. Keep in mind the crypto community’s belief in a ‘ground-up’ architecture with a ‘decentralise’ philosophy. After all, crypto believers are drawn to Bitcoin because no single entity can control it. They have worked out how to transact money with each other without a central bank. They are drawn to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/facebook-microsoft-and-others-look-towards-the-1-trillion-dollar-metaverse-opportunity-but-that-contradicts-the-base-philosophy-behind-web-3-0/articleshow/87959802.cms">Web3-based metaverse</a> which is not controlled by big corporations and is open to all. They are working out a decentralised internet<a href="https://docs.ens.domains/frequently-asked-questions"> naming system</a> (ENS), decentralised file storage (<a href="https://filecoin.io/">filecoin</a>), decentralised<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/why-defi-could-be-an-800-billion-industry-next-year-according-to-a-crypto-expert/articleshow/85470528.cms"> finance systems</a>, and more with no external control. Ironically, Coinbase chief product officer Surojit Chatterjee, told <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/12/01/inside-coinbases-budding-plan-to-become-the-aws-of-crypto/?sh=17b36659415c&amp;utm_source=TWITTER&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=6008928150&amp;utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesCrypto">Forbes</a> that it wants the company to become the “AWS of crypto” with Coinbase Cloud, which will — again — be centralised. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/ethereum-miners-rake-in-more-money-than-bitcoin-as-nfts-defi-and-metaverse-rise/articleshow/88168903.cms">With the metaverse, NFTs and DeFi on the rise, Ethereum miners rake in $2 billion in revenue — a jump of 11% over October</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/humanoid-robot-sophia-is-entering-the-metaverse-with-intelligent-nfts/articleshow/88156738.cms">Humanoid robot Sophia is entering the metaverse with ‘intelligent’ NFTs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/the-sandbox-decentraland-and-cryptovoxels-see-sales-surge-as-companies-look-to-get-in-on-the-ground-floor/articleshow/88137990.cms">Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor</a>

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Battle of metaverses: The Sandbox, Decentraland and CryptoVoxels see sales surge as companies look to get in on the ground floor

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Humanoid robot Sophia is entering the metaverse with ‘intelligent’ NFTs

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With the metaverse, NFTs and DeFi on the rise, Ethereum miners rake in $2 billion in revenue — a jump of 11% over October

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Just 4 metaverse projects sold $106 million in virtual land last week, with The Sandbox taking a massive lead: DappRadar

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Why NFTs and the metaverse will make you an owner - not just a renter - on the internet

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