Crypto & the metaverse are celebrities’ playground in 2022

First smart TV metaverse experience, IP debacles, plus more top stories

🎥 Metaproof Media, Entertainment, IP

Hey friends, this is Sophia from 🎥 Metaproof Media, Entertainment, IP, the weekly newsletter where we update you on how the metaverse and web3 are changing the media, entertainment, and IP industry.

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💌 A quick thanks to our friends…

Shout out to this week’s sponsor CyberBrokers. A project with futuristic, cyberpunk art and immersive storytelling, CyberBrokers tells an exciting story that takes users through the world of the Paradigm Lost. Create, collect, game, and experience in this journey that brings the metaverse to life. Expand your reality today and go explore the Paradigm Lost. Check them out here!

📲 By the numbers

  • Pudgy Penguins is roaring in value, climbing from 3.5 ETH to 6.5 ETH in a month’s time - a staggering 85% increase. (Source)

  • Azuki is on a roll with high sales, valued currently at 203.06 ETH ($246,074) (Source)

  • Asked in a July 2022 survey what they would be “most interested” in doing in the metaverse, 24% of adults said entertainment, beating the gaming sector and likely encouraging media executives. (Source)

  • Wonder where all the corporate funding in 2022 for the metaverse went? Here’s research from Nasdaq (Source):

📫 News & trends

From sports players and movie stars to models and musicians, 2022 has been a busy year for personalities dabbling in cryptocurrency and NFTs and entering the blockchain space. Here are some worthy of note:

  • English band Muse released an NFT album, with 1,000 NFTs available

  • Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather launched his NFT collection Mayweverse, comprising 5,000 unique NFTs

  • Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo partnered with Binance, launching his NFT collection on the exchange’s NFT marketplace

  • A handful of celebrities invested in the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection back in 2021, and the momentum was sustained this year with the likes of Brazilian soccer player Neymar and socialite Paris Hilton buying BAYC NFTs in the first month alone

The hype surrounding metaverse platforms weren’t for naught, too, as various metaverse-linked cryptocurrencies skyrocketed and interest among celebrities rose along with the price. These personalities became active in the metaverse themselves and created their own digital avatars.

A couple figured in the FTX debacle, such as athletes Stephen Curry and Tom Brady. Whether the stars will leave the crypto world behind in 2023 remains uncertain, but there are teasers for their own NFT and metaverse project releases in the pipeline for the entertainment public to see in the coming year.

Monetization platform Source Digital and social VR platform Sansar have announced what they believe to be the first metaverse experience on smart TVs. Available exclusively through LG Smart TVs (TVs running webOS), the Sansar app activated by Source is poised to provide viewers with access to hundreds of live entertainment events in a 2D or 3D environment synched in real time, where users can also buy merchandise, engage with communities, and do more. The app, downloadable on the Sansar website and to be showcased at CES in Las Vegas in January, is touted as the first in the world to be a practical, user-friendly app of metaverse capabilities on connected LG devices.

In the entertainment sector, the metaverse is expected to grow to $28.92B by 2026. Amid rapid transformation and innovations in technology, the metaverse is anticipated to change several areas of entertainment, including interactive storytelling and movies. Polygon already provided a list of Netflix’s interactive video specials, and while interactive stories today usually consist of a series of straightforward yes-or-no questions, complex plots with multiple paths may someday get deployed in metaverse storytelling. Who knows, you’re watching a movie one day and you get to be one of the main characters in a seamless merging of video games and traditional media in the metaverse’s interactive movies.

2022 has marked a rocky year for social media companies, from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover to TikTok going under scrutiny over national security due to its China links. But one stark highlight in the social media landscape this year is Facebook burning through billions of dollars trying to make the metaverse happen, starting from CEO Mark Zuckerberg renaming the company Meta to signal this new big bet on the immersive, virtual world that he banks on as the future of the internet.

Take a closer look at U.S. Patent No. 11443059, System and Method to Prevent Surveillance and Preserve Privacy in Virtual Reality. On September 13, the USPTO issued the ‘059 patent to Wilmington, DE-based IoT Holdings, a subsidiary of major patent filing firm InterDigital. As the ‘059 patent’s written description notes, opportunities to use avatars in metaverse environments lead to potential risks of surveillance, particularly as computer-operated “bot” avatars are becoming more human-like in their responses. The specification outlines certain embodiments, including splitting user avatars into multiple clones or disguising a user’s avatar in a form different from the user’s original avatar.

The culture and entertainment sector has been the biggest loser in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to CoinDesk Indices data. The quarter was driven mainly by the metaverse industry, and while new partnerships and investments made for exciting news, the sector’s pullback was affected by the collapse of FTX. Watch CoinDesk Indices managing director Jodie Gunzberg explain why the sector fared poorly.

The futuristic, cyberpunk art project CyberBrokers has offered a quick guide to its Mechs, which will be used in its new questing and crafting game that will earn users resources and enable them to build epic NFTs for the metaverse. In its Twitter thread on Mech reveal and assembly, the project notes that Mech parts can be purchased on OpenSea, with no deadline, with a reveal that begins in January 2023 and assembly starting February. Users are able to pick their revealed Mech parts, visualize their finished Mech before minting and assembly, and post-minting will get a couple of exciting treats, including a shiny new ERC-721 NFT of their custom Genesis Line Mech and a fully rigged 3D Mech ready to go inclusive of downloadable 3D files.

While a debate on the eventuality of the metaverse rages on - call it skepticism or something else - media and creative agencies haven’t stopped trying to innovate. It might remain unclear how one will traverse the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly, but these players cannot altogether ignore web3 and the evolution of technology that comes with it. They are delving into metaverse-related initiatives from content marketing to research and education, seeing how they can expand their offerings and support clients. According to an industry insider, marketers will need to champion unique creative experiences in 2023, having clear business objectives and KPIs linked to audience engagement.

From improved B2B marketing in the metaverse to more engaging virtual events, there’s a good view today of immersive marketing trends to come in 2023. Companies, for one, are learning to understand how they can leverage immersive media to meet their business objectives while solving their customers’ pain points at the same time. Immersive technology offered in the metaverse spills over to events, learning and education, and networking in B2B marketing, scaling existing efforts and only making things more exciting.

In NFT Now’s weekly roundup of innovative NFT projects, artists, and collections in the space, The Memes by Punk6529 leads the roster with its collection focused on the fight for the open metaverse: generally inexpensive drops and art coming from influential creators. Next are the Amari Artist Pass from Player Zero, a membership-based token collection centered around virtual artist Amari and Amari-specific IRL/metaverse activations, and TIME Magazine’s Build a Better Future, one of its first forays into web3 and granting holders unlimited access to TIME.com, 100th anniversary in 2023, in-person events, and more.

Sky has launched its “most ambitious” web3 marketing move to date by minting a 110 NFT collection, made exclusively available to Sky VIP members around the second season of British crime drama TV series Gangs of London. Designed to further immerse show fans in the series, each NFT offers “exclusive access, secret experiences, and never-before-seen content” for holders. The NFT drop is timed with the release of new graphic novel GHOSTS, created by the TV show’s season 2 lead director Corin Hardy, written by Rowan Athale, and illustrated by Ferenc Nothof. The graphic novel seeks to give fans greater insight into their favorite Gangs of London characters and the city of London they have been experiencing on screen.

It’s an experimental K-pop idol survival series called Girls’ Re:Verse, where 30 former and current girl group members will play as VR characters and compete within a metaverse called W. Five of the contestants will get a chance to re-debut as members of a virtual girl group, according to Kakao Entertainment. Expect the singers to participate in a program filled with virtual avatars and, with no one knowing their true identity, get deeply immersed in their characters and thus show sides of themselves they wouldn’t otherwise show in real-life TV programs.

As the adoption of NFTs and other web3 elements by businesses expands, legal issues stemming from intellectual property rights abound. This may be due to the decentralized and anonymous nature of the technology, which is seen to pose challenges to various stakeholders. Here are some prime examples this year:

  • Shoe manufacturer ike filed a lawsuit against online sneaker retailer StockX for launching an NFT that it believed violated its trademark

  • Luxury house Hermes sued artist Mason Rothschild for trademark infringement of its Birkin trademark, where the latter launched MetaBirkins as an NFT containing a digital image of the faux fur-covered Hermes Birkin handbags

  • Bored Ape Yacht Club sued digital artist and satirist Ryder Ripps when he offered an identical NFT collection called the RR/BYAC collection

NFT project Moonbirds is heading toward a bright new year as it offers NFT-curious consumers exposure to “a trusted web3 brand that is led by reputable founders who are building for the future.” Every Moonbird NFT unlocks “black card” access to the Proof ecosystem alongside community and collaboration. The collection of 10,000 PFPs grants holders access to the digital and IRL community, where members can nest their bird to signal their commitment and in return receive exclusive perks like trait-based physical and digital drops, the Oddities, and time-based nesting rewards. Learn more about the project on the informative one-pager on this akaGator Twitter thread.

In the thriving Indian film industry, it’s no longer just Indian celebrities investing or having their own digital avatar created that’s marking its grand entry into a metaverse future. In 2023, several local films are slated to enter the metaverse. The lineup is led by BadeMiyan ChoteMiyan, which will develop an immersive experience in the Poojaverse; Pooja Entertainment, owned by Vashu Bhagnani, became the first production outfit to enter the new universe. Made in Bengaluru and Rudra: The Edge of Darkness are other Bollywood offerings to look forward to among metaverse enthusiasts or film lovers with a curious take on these web3 debuts.

By the end of 2022, piracy is estimated to have cost industries a total of $51.6B, a figure based on the rapidly increasing levels of illegal streaming and downloading, which has led to a loss of $6.7B for the industry. Experts wonder: Could decentralized content streaming then be beneficial to the entertainment space? Blockchain technology, functioning as a peer-to-peer network, essentially removes any central authority. This P2P network works without using one single server, and instead distributes the media content. Increasing numbers of businesses are eyeing blockchains to slow down or even halt escalating piracy, with central storage and sharing platform services - which embed blockchain-based infringement monitoring to help media owners detect content leakage - as the most practical benefit so far.

💸 Finance buzz

  • Fintech and digital asset capital market advisory firm GDA International partnered with India’s web3 platform ReelStar to roll out its REELT utility token and bring ReelStar’s web3 offerings to a global audience. ReelStar is an “everything app” with social media, web3, and payment features, reimagining how creators and fans will engage and mutually benefit in the media and entertainment landscape. (Source)

  • Tokyo-based Financie started preparing for the initial exchange offering of the entertainment DAO project SUPER SAPIENSS, whose NFT has started a public sale last December 24. SUPER SAPIENSS is an entertainment endeavor initiated by three Japanese directors and “Midnight Swan” producer Takeshi Moriya executing the process from original creation to visualization. (Source)

🗣️ Quote of the week

"For Sony, working with creators to leverage the potential and opportunities of the metaverse is a key priority. Broadcast and packaged media played a key role in the 20th century, but in the 21st century, this has rapidly extended to networks. Now networks have expanded into an interactive entertainment space – fusing game technology that renders computer graphics (CG) in real time. I think the essence of entertainment is to be live, and spaces that are evolving to deliver these live experiences while also providing a social element, represents the metaverse.”

Jobin Joejoe, deputy managing director at Sony Middle East and Africa

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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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