Institutional NFT and metaverse adoption is picking up, according to US patent data

Edition #10 - 25 MAR 2022

The total amount of US NFT-related trademark applications filed in Q1 2022 have already exceeded those filed throughout the whole of 2021.

gaming developments

• Krafton, the developer of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has partnered with Solana Labs to support the development and promotion of Solana based blockchain games and services;

• Nike’s “Nikeland” store in Roblox has been visited by almost 7 million players since its introduction in November;

• Amazon has launched its first metaverse-like game AWS Cloud Quest, although crypto integration is currently unavailable.

metaverses & Adoption

• Satoshi’s Island, an under-construction private island with “100% crypto economy” receives over 50,000 applications for its NFT citizenship;

• Despite declining NFT sales, Binance Smart Chain registered over 1,000% month-on-month increase in NFT volumes generated on BSC;

• A survey by OnePoll and Tokenise found 24% of Britons willing to invest in cryptocurrencies and NFTs in 2022. KuCoin finds 44% of Germans to be “motivated to invest in crypto”;

• World’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates is preparing to invest in its first digital-asset fund;

• Heineken has launched Heineken Silver, the world’s first digital beer, in its Decentraland brewery.

zen portfolio highlight

This week we highlight our portfolio company Wizardia, a triple-A Play-to-Earn gaming experience based on innovative combat, player decision-driven game evolution and upgradable character progression.

Utilize your Wizard NFTs to fight other players in PvP turn-based battles for territory, resources, and the chance to survive in this high fantasy metaverse.

The team at Wizardia has already raised over $4.5 million in oversubscribed private rounds with backing from top tier VCs and, as of 24th March, completed its highly anticipated public offering on Gate.io and PancakeSwap.

Find out more about Wizardia by joining its thriving communities on Twitter, Discord and Telegram.

defi

• FannieMae survey conducted on 205 lending institutions found 44% of bankers believing in DeFi disrupting traditional finance;

• Stargate Finance, a cross-chain liquidity transfer platform, reaches almost $2 billion TVL in under a week;

• Anchor Protocol held another governance vote this week to replace its fixed 20% stablecoin yield with Dynamic Anchor Earn Rate (DAER) to ensure protocol’s sustainability;

• Goldman Sachs makes its inaugural OTC crypto transaction, marking the first instance for a major US bank;

• Cashio Dollar, a stablecoin built on Solana, lost $52.8 million in an “infinite mint” glitch heist this week – subsequently going to zero.

funding rounds

• Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yach Club NFTs, completed a $450 million funding round led by a16z, valuing the business at $4 billion;

• Jeeves, a corporate expenses platform, raises $180 million in a Series C. The round, led by Tencent and including a16z amongst others, values the platform at $2.1 billion;

• Worldcoin, a biometrics company scanning people’s eyes for its native tokens, raises $100 million at a $3 billion valuation, with a16z leading the the round.

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Twitter user @dino_dealer has lost their pet rock this week, in a listing mistake costing $1 million:

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