Into the Metaverse

On the latest episode of This Week in the Metaverse, Yon and Matthew once again break down three key items that are influential in shaping the development of the metaverse and on which we believe we can provide unique insight and expertise. First, we look at the announcement from Mojang that they are banning all NFT’s in Minecraft. Then, we discuss Dubai’s goal to create 40,000 blockchain and metaverse jobs over the next five years. Lastly, we look at Yuga Labs’ new tech demo for its Otherside metaverse and discuss what it means for the future of the company and for PFP NFT’s.

The metaverse is emerging from interactive entertainment, most notably the gaming sector, and there’s no better authority on everything happening in gaming than VentureBeat and GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi. We discussed a range of topics about all things gaming and the metaverse including the evolution of gaming in the metaverse era, how that compare and contrasts with Meta Platforms’ view of the metaverse, the impact of gaming consolidation and the role crypto may play in all of this.

On the ninth episode of This Week in the Metaverse (not the eighth as mistakingly said on the recording), Yon and Matthew break down Unity’s $4.4 billion announced acquisition of ironSource and what it means for Unity’s near-term and longer-term prospects as a metaverse infrastructure company. We also look at the impact of Disney accepting Polygon into its Accelerator program to develop AR, NFT and AI experiences and supermodel Karlie Kloss’ pop-up fashion boutiques in Roblox.

As the metaverse emerges, some applications and experiences today are already giving us a taste of what the ultimate end state of the metaverse may look like. Tim O’Reilly, CEO and Chairman of O’Reilly Media, a partner at early stage venture firm O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and the man who helped popularize the term Web 2.0 in the aftermath of dotcom crash, joins us to discuss the future of interactive, social, web-based experiences, where we are in the development cycle towards building the true metaverse vision, the role governments should play in shaping the metaverse’s development and how crypto and blockchain technologies fit into his view of the metaverse.

On the eighth episode of This Week in the Metaverse, Yon is still on vacation so Matthew is joined by Aaron Bush, the co-founder of Naavik. We broke down three news items that we thought were influential to the development of the metaverse and on which we believe we can provide unique expertise and analysis. First, we debate the need for blockchain in the metaverse and what role the technology can and will play over time. Then, we dive into reports that Meta is slowing its hiring pace substantially. And lastly, we discuss the boom in user-generated content platforms after Soba raised a $13.5 million seed round.

The man who coined the term “Metaverse” over 30 years ago, esteemed author and technology advisor, Neal Stephenson and his new business partner Peter Vessenes, the CEO, Chairman and Exec Founder of CoinLab and co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, join Yon and Matthew to have a wide-ranging discussion about all things metaverse and their new venture Lamina1. We dove into many amazing topics including how Neal’s definition of the metaverse has evolved over the years, how blockchain technology will be a key enabler for creators to monetize their work in the metaverse and how Lamina1 is positioning itself to provide the economic guardrails to power this creative boom.

On the seventh episode of This Week in the Metaverse, Yon is on vacation so Matthew is joined by Mario Stefanidis, the Vice President of Research at Roundhill Investments and one of our esteemed season 1 guests. We broke down three news items that we thought were influential to the development of the metaverse and on which we believe we can provide unique expertise and analysis. First, we look at TF Securities’ analyst Ming-Chi Kuo cutting his shipment forecast for Meta’s VR headsets. Second, we discuss the rapid growth of Fortnite Creative mode and assess the competitive threat to Roblox. And last, we break down the news that Solana is launching a smartphone and a software stack to help build blockchain phones.+1780

China’s metaverse is set to evolve on a separate, parallel path to the rest of the world given consumption, regulatory and geopolitical differences. Alex Xu, the CEO of MultiMetaverse Inc, a leading animation company in China and formerly the CEO of games company Leyou Technologies, and Nina Xiang, a renowned author, award-winning journalist, and an expert on the Chinese venture capital and technology sector, join us to discuss China’s burgeoning metaverse, its parallel path to the rest of the world and empowering creators to export content to a global audience.

On the sixth episode of This Week in the Metaverse, Matthew and Yon break down three news items that are influential to the development of the metaverse and on which we can provide unique perspective and expertise. First, we dive into Tencent’s creation of a new XR unit to focus on building hardware and software for the metaverse. Next, we look at the creation of a new open standards setting body led by the Khronos Group for the metaverse. And lastly, we discuss the implications of Manticore enabling ethereum NFTs into its Core platform.

As large technology companies invest heavily to emerge as leaders in the metaverse, the risk remains that walled gardens extend from the social-mobile era of the Internet into the metaverse era. On this episode, we chat with Professor Udi Shapiro, an interdisciplinary scientist, Internet pioneer, artist, and proponent of e-democracy. He has been with the Weizmann Institute of Science since completing his PhD at Yale University in 1982. Udi provides great insight into his work on e-democracy and building an egalitarian, democratic metaverse and empowering communities with grass-roots cryptocurrencies. Check out all of Udi's research here: https://arxiv.org/search/?query=Shapiro%2C+Ehud&searchtype=author&order=&size=50