#108 | Will We Get 1.4 Billion Metaverse Users By 2030?

Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

Hey friends,

Wonderful to have you joining us, on today’s specially curated edition we have some bullish bitcoin news in our brew-up, PUMA’s new NFT show platform, and a huge growth report for the Metaverse, so let’s just jump in!

Crypto saw a good bounce back with both Bitcoin and Ethereum seeing 6% gains since their lowest point this week, this could be because of the bullish Blackrock news we are about to cover but nonetheless, it’s great to see crypto recover so quickly in a downturn. Moving into this week it’s hard to tell what will happen with both bears looking at the SEC lawsuit and bulls looking at Blackrock, but let’s just sit tight and see what the next few days have in store.

Blackrock may be a name you're familiar with, but if not they are the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion in active assets, and this week they have made a very significant investment in Bitcoin. Importantly the company has added bitcoin futures to two of its funds, giving investors exposure to the cryptocurrency without having to directly buy it. Not only is this a major development for everyday people to diversify into crypto, but it shows how one of the most traditional and conservative investment firms is now taking bitcoin seriously, it’s a potential sign that the institutional investment in bitcoin is starting to pick up steam.

There are a number of reasons why BlackRock has decided to invest in Bitcoin. First, the company sees Bitcoin as a potential hedge against inflation. As the US dollar continues to lose value, bitcoin could become a more attractive investment for investors who are looking to protect their wealth. BlackRock is likely also attracted to the high returns that bitcoin has generated in recent years, especially as we come up to the bitcoin halving next year. This move is also likely a defensive move since as crypto continues to gain popularity, BlackRock will want to be able to offer these institutional investors exposure to the cryptocurrency.

The investment by BlackRock is a major vote of confidence in Bitcoin. It shows that cryptocurrency is no longer just a fringe investment, but is now being taken seriously by some of the biggest players in the financial world.

Footwear and apparel conglomerate PUMA has just launched Black Station 2, a new metaverse platform that aims to connect the digital and physical realms through NFT-backed phygital footwear. The idea of these “phygital” assets has continued to grow in popularity after seeing the likes of NIKE launch .Swoosh virtual apparel store and Adidas launch wearable NFTs, but it seems PUMA is also taking some important steps into Web3 with a revolutionary retail experience.

Featuring two distinct and explorable worlds, Black Station 2 sees the birth of Unkai which draws from the vibrant Japanese city of Shibuya with lively footwear designs, and Unter which is a tribute to Berlin’s underground club culture with dynamic and edgy footwear designs. In this new platform, Puma Pass NFT holders – formerly known as Nitro Collection – can choose to purchase a Materializer NFT (physical “to-be-produced”) and/or a digital collectible NFT. A maximum of 4,000 of each NFT will be released, giving access to customize your shoes with various colors, materials, and textures before being created and shipped off to you.

This new initiative from Puma is a pretty great example of NFTs opening up a new world of opportunity on the internet, the idea of customizable and collectible digital shoes for your virtual identity that comes paired with its physical counterparts is a unique opportunity for Web3 sneakerheads and fashionists to level up their games.

The Metaverse is a hot word attracting all kinds of press these days, but a recent report by statista shows some extremely bullish signs for our Web3 future with a projected 1.4 billion users by 2030. Thats a pretty staggering number, and with the likes of Apple launching their Vision Pro headset only this month in an attempt to mainstream this meta future, it’s hard to imagine where these 1.4 billion users will come from, but there are some interesting takeaways from this report so let’s take a look.

In 2023 the Metaverse and gaming industry will reach $13.8 billion, but by 2027 that number is set to grow to $710 billion as more and more traditional Web2 companies make the transition. The rising popularity and user metrics of AR and VR technologies fuel the demand for gaming in the Metaverse, with projected global sales of 76.7 million units by 2024 which could be a real driver for mainstream adoption.

Whether or not you support of a “Metaverse”, when you really try to think of what the metaverse is, you realize we're already in it. We already live in a digital world through social media, zoom meetings, YouTube, computer games, and messaging apps to name a few, and this was highlighted by statista saying “Companies have adopted the Metaverse for real-time collaboration, especially due to remote and hybrid work arrangements”. In the eventual Metaverse, NFTs are going to be one of the most important building blocks with the concept of real provable authentication of what you digitally own. NFTs are the infrastructure for sustaining any type of commerce with any type of item in the digital realm, whether that’s your new Puma shoes or Adidas digital wearables, this insane uptake of the Metaverse will no doubt have dramatic impacts on future use cases of NFTs.

It’s been a crazy weekend in NFTs, with everything from influencer boxing matches to BAYC FUD.

It all started when ben.eth was doxxed by Pauly who seems to have been instigating a fight.

Who knows if the fight will actually happen — but they sure profited in terms of Twitter engagement. Although the spotlight was quickly stolen by another fight…

“Internet sleuth” ZachXBT did an exposé on MachiBigBrother a few months ago, and the Taiwanese-American millionaire did not take it in kind. Zach is now being sued for defamation — an expected drawn-out battle that will use Machi’s significant resources against internet sensation.

Of course, the internet came up with funds to support Zach.

In other news, Yuga Labs has received a wave of criticism regarding its lack of updates; probably a sign that its holders have been slowly bleeding money for a little bit and the receding floor price position (due to NFT liquidity disappearing) has made holders a little unhappy.

This controversial tweet in particular has hogged up the spotlight:

Prompting responses such as:

Only time will tell if it works out or not.

Thanks for joining today, we hope you enjoyed this edition and can’t wait to see you on the next Morning NFTea, take care!

Be honest! Your feedback helps us improve!

Connect with us on socials for a more personal experience!

Twitter: @MorningNFTea
Our Team: @BuckyGang | @Wickyy.eth | @subvert
Discord: Morning NFTea

DISCLAIMER:

None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.#1058