Nike's "Dot Swoosh" platform lands Footwear and apparel giant Nike has unveiled its latest foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) and Metaverse space with the launch of an NFT marketplace named “.Swoosh” While .Swoosh is still in the beta phase, Nike announced that its “first digital collection” is set to launch on the eb3 platform in 2023, with the rest of 2022 devoted to growing the platform and user base. ✅ About .SWOOSH ‍♂️ .SWOOSH is a platform for @Nike's virtual creations, for them to be more accessible and to onboard the next millions into the wonderful world of web3 …

Technology giant Apple appears to be working towards the development of a metaverse-sounding “3D mixed-reality world,” according to related patent filings and recent job postings. Since Nov. 1, over 30 jobs have been listed on Apple’s careers page related to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) with the Big Tech player seeking a mix of software and hardware engineers to be mostly based in its Technology Development Group (TDG). TDG is a secretive team within Apple that may reportedly stem as far back as 2017, which is understood to be working on developing AR and VR technology. Apple has never officially …

147 days have passed since Bitcoin (BTC) closed above $25,000, and the result is that investors are less sure that the $20,000 support will hold. Backing these concerns are persistent global financial and macroeconomic tensions, which escalated on Nov. 7 after European Union officials expressed concerns over the $369 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The extended tax, health and climate bill was approved in August and it also includes subsidies for electric cars and battery supply chains that are made in North America. According to CNBC, this is not the first time that Europe has expressed its concerns, citing international …

Giant companies like Apple have made a fortune by centralizing their powers and profits and expanding their product and services network to be a part of people’s lives in as many ways as they can. Until recently, however, Apple had also demonstrated an ability to tunnel-focus its efforts to stay relevant and up to date with what consumers wanted, what mattered to them and what they needed most from the tech giants they rely on. It seems that this is not strictly true anymore, and that is a real shame. In its updated App Store guidelines unveiled on Oct. 24, …

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied on the back of the U.S. stock market's 3.4% gains on Oct. 28, as the S&P500 Index rose to its highest level in 44 days. In addition, recently released data showed that inflation might be slowing down, which gave investors hope that the Federal Reserve might break its pattern of 75 basis-point rate hikes after their November meeting. In September, the U.S. core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.5% from the previous month. Although still an increase, it was in line with expectations. This data is the Federal Reserve's primary inflation measure for interest rate modeling. …

During a Wall Street Journal event, Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel revealed that they are not big fans of a metaverse in its current form. Spencer called the metaverse’s current iteration a “poorly built video game” referring to the ecosystem's bad graphics and low-quality interfaces. The Microsoft gaming chief noted that the gaming world still has an advantage over the Metaverse in creating different engaging virtual worlds. At the same time, he compared most of the current metaverse projects to virtual reality room meetings and explained: “Video game creators have an amazing ability to build …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how Apple released its first-ever set of rules for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), including a 30% “tax” and limits on how NFTs can be bought and exchanged. Check out how NFTs have the potential to change museum experiences in the future and how OpenSea revised its NFT rarity ranking protocol after feedback from the community. In other news, find out how NFTs are used to democratize scheduled TV programming in the era of Web3. Last but not least, NFT trading volume on Reddit hit an all-time high with nearly 3 million wallet holders. New Apple …

Technology heavyweight Apple has clarified its App Store rules around nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency exchanges marking the first time its codified specific rules for NFTs. The new rules confirm how NFT purchases will be taxed and what they can and can't be used for, while also clarifying rules around when a crypto exchange app can be listed. The Oct. 24 update to its App Store guidelines saw language added that allows fo in-app purchases of NFTs, but bars any NFTs acquired elsewhere to be used for anything other than viewing. It also allows applications to use in-app purchases to …

Tailoring his argument to many of the companies that were market leaders at the time, his ideas eventually also applied to companies that either hadn’t fully defined their markets or didn’t even yet exist but would go on to generate billions in market share: Uber, Lyft, TikTok/ByteDance, Robinhood and Coinbase, among several others. If you were going to be a unicorn in the 21st century, software was probably going to be a key part of earning that horn. The hidden motor behind this complete disruption of modern economies and life was the emergence of true cloud computing and cloud giants, …

Non-fungible token (NFT) app developers and others have balked at a decision by tech giant Apple to impose a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on its marketplace, effectively putting NFT purchases in the same boat as regular in-app purchases. According to a Friday report from The Information, the smartphone company is now allowing NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on its marketplace but imposes its standard commission on in-app purchases of 30% — similar to that imposed by Android’s app store Google Play. The commission rate has however been slammed by some for being “grotesquely …

China’s pandemic-hit economy needs all the help it can get after a surge in COVID-19 infections triggered mass lockdowns across the country. In an attempt to revive consumption, the southern city of Shenzhen used Beijing’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, to airdrop free money to local residents. A similar strategy was used in the northern Hebei province, where even more digital yuan was deployed. Think of all the things governments can do when they have full control over fiat money on-ramps. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter explores China’s helicopter CBDC strategy, the latest funding news from the world of …

In the lead-up to the 33rd edition of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) set to commence on June 6, tech giant Apple has unveiled plans to showcase the developments of four new devices and software models: iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and watchOS 8. Alongside this, fanatical forums such as MacRumours, which center their coverage around supporting and debating Apple’s progress, discovered that by clicking on the Memoji characters, an augmented reality mode is revealed with three trading card characters available to be claimed. The Memoji characters have become a consistent fixture in Apple’s consumer branding strategy over …