The Italian high-end fashion label Gucci has announced it will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments by the end of the month in five of its United States stores, with plans to extend the service to all of its 111 stores in North America. Gucci will accept 12 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and five U.S. dollar stablecoins, according to Vogue Business. Customers paying with crypto in-store at the pilot locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas will be sent an email with a …

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. With the news that Meta plans to take a nearly 50% cut of virtual asset sales in Horizon Worlds, it will not be surprising if independent artists and content creators turn away from the Metaverse entirely. Or at least from its Meta rendition, no matter how excited the company might be about the creator economy. It’s one thing to pay this much when the …

Identity, the qualities, beliefs and appearance that characterize a person are considered an individual's most valuable assets. While one's identity was once represented by their participation in the real world, it has quickly shifted to take on the meaning of "internet identity" on social media. However, as value transfers to the digital realm, each individual's identity is now undergoing another evolution in which the physical world will become augmented with the digital one. The intent is that in this augmented reality, users can share interests, passions, communities, investments, projects and pastimes through their social identity, which conveys who they are …

How to use Minecraft to understand Web3? Minecraft makes the transition from analog block building to an immersive gaming experience rather easy and playful. Users can turn the Minecraft experience into whatever they want it to be. They can play, create, socialize and invest. For everyone who wants to hop on the Web3 train and explore the opportunities of the Metaverse can start by playing the game in a 3D world. It goes without saying that if you’re familiar with Minecraft or even the concept of online gaming in general, you can imagine how to build and play in one …

Cryptocurrency markets remain caught in a macro-based downtrend, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) showing further signs of weakness at the end of April. But, venture capital activity in the crypto and blockchain sectors is the strongest it has ever been, offering further evidence that major investors are looking beyond immediate price action and ignoring divisive bull/bear narratives. The latest edition of VC Roundup highlights the growing excitement surrounding Web3 gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain infrastructure. bloXroute secures $70M from major investors Blockchain distribution network provider bloXroute has raised $70 million in funding to continue developing scalable infrastructure services …

Crypto exchange Binance announced the parallel launch of three key educational initiatives to fast-track educating Indian investors and students about the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. While recognizing the importance of investors’ awareness of crypto and blockchain, Binance highlighted that Indian regulators and policymakers cite the lack of education as an area of concern, which currently hinders the widespread adoption of crypto. Primarily targeting the student demographic in India, one of the three educational initiatives launched by Binance involves the initiation of the “Blockchain for Good” ideathon, a platform for college students to come up with solutions for making crypto more …

Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, .eth domains ranging from 0000 to 9999 have recently been causing a stir among nonfungible token (NFT) investors, speculators and enthusiasts alike. Even though three- and four-digit names have been around for years, the number of people registering for ENS domains and purchasing these digit number names on secondary markets over the past week has significantly affected the market’s trading volume. According to a Dune Analytics dashboard for ENS, the spike in sales began on April 21, and the number of eth. name registrations have since jumped from 2,721 to 21,188 by Thursday. Over the …

OneFootball, a German football media application, has raised $300 million in a Series D round to grow the company's presence on Web3 and develop new features on its platform. According to a Thursday announcement, OneFootball and nonfungible token (NFT)-centric Animoca Brands created a joint venture called OneFootball Labs. The new platform will "enable clubs, leagues, federations and players to provide digital assets and fan-centric experiences based on blockchain technology." Furthermore, fans will be able to obtain and store virtual collectibles using their email address and credit card. The financing round was led by Liberty City Ventures, with participation from blockchain …

America’s housing market may soon be facing its next bubble as home prices across the country continue to be fueled by demand, speculation and lavish spending that could result in a collapse. Moreover, many homeowners are opting to stay put due to climbing mortgage rates, creating a housing shortage. Data from the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, found that 92% of homeowners think their current home is affordable. Yet, findings further show that 69% of the general population, consisting of both homeowners and renters, believe it’s becoming too difficult to find affordable housing. Web3 and the …

If you’re into cryptocurrency or blockchain, there’s a good chance I don’t have to spell out the benefits of decentralization. You’re a first-generation user of a technology that will increasingly define the future of the internet, and you have front-row seats to the world premiere of Web3. The internet’s use and control were always as centralized as we see now. In the early days, under the stewardship of the United States Department of Defense, the network needed not to rely on one core computer. What if a terrorist attack or missile strike took down the principal node? Individual network parts …

What is the Metaverse? The Metaverse is a term coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash to describe a future virtual reality-based online world. Some have gone as far as pronouncing Stephenson’s novel a prediction of the future. Before you agree that it’s some mystical peek into the future and invoke the rules of time travel, let’s first investigate what the Metaverse is through the lens of something much more accessible: Minecraft. But, more on this later. Unlike the internet or even virtual reality as we know it today, the Metaverse would be a fully …

Metaverse skeptics fear the prospect of unprotected data and large-scale user surveillance on a scale never seen before. Ironically, the largest company pushing the Metaverse, Meta (previously known as Facebook), has faced its own fair share of privacy scandals in the internet’s current iteration, culminating in Mark Zuckerberg being infamously hauled before the United States Congress to answer for Facebook's inability to combat hate speech and data privacy violations. In a U.S. Senate committee hearing, whistleblower Frances Haugen accused Meta of prioritizing “profit over the well-being of children and all users” when it came to creating manipulative algorithms that tap …