In this week’s newsletter, read about how a nonfungible token (NFT) protocol was affected by the FTX collapse leading to layoffs. Despite the effects of the FTX collapse, industry players within the NFT space are still confident in the recovery of NFTs. Meanwhile, Disney brought back metaverse-backer Bob Iger as its CEO, and check out how NFTs have taken center stage at Formula 1. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring China-based tech companies offering FIFA World Cup fans a metaverse-like viewing experience of the soccer event. Nickel Digital, Metaplex and others continue to feel the impact of FTX …

Polygon (MATIC) emerged as the best-performing asset among the top-ranking cryptocurrencies on Nov. 3 as the market's attention turned to the latest Instagram and JPMorgan announcements. Polygon in high-profile partnerships Notably, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, named Polygon as its initial partner for its upcoming nonfungible token (NFT) tools that allow users to mint, showcase, and sell their digital collectibles on and off the social media platform. Meanwhile, banking giant JPMorgan used Polygon to conduct its first live trade (worth about $71,000) on a public blockchain, marking a concrete step toward integrating cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial frameworks. MATIC, …

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 …

The Walt Disney Company could be on the verge of expanding into the crypto space after posting a new job for an “experienced corporate attorney” to work on “emerging technologies” such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse. According to the Sept. 23 listing on the Disney careers website, the company is hiring for a “Principal Counsel — Corporate Transactions, Emerging Technologies & NFTs” to work on transactions involving NFTs, the Metaverse, blockchain, and decentralized finance (DeFi). Specifically the entertainment conglomerate is seeking someone to provide “full product life cycle legal advice and support for global NFT products" and ensure …

Unlike bull markets where traders can basically throw a dart at a list of coins to pick one that will go up, bear markets require much more effort to find projects that could perform well over the long-run. One project that has continued to show signs of mainstream adoption despite the onset of a crypto winter is Polygon (MATIC), a layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum (ETH) network that is looking to build a sustainable Web3 infrastructure on the top smart contract platform. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $0.316 on June …

Polygon (MATIC) reached lofty price levels this July 14, a day after getting selected for the Walt Disney Company's benchmark business development program. MATIC's price surged 22.5% to $0.657 a token, its highest level in a month. In doing so, the token also climbed above its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave), a curvy resistance level that had been capping MATIC's upside attempts since January 2022. Polygon enters the Disney World MATIC's move upside appeared synchronous with similar intraday recovery actions witnessed elsewhere in the crypto market. Nonetheless, Polygon fared better than most of its top-ranking rivals, …

Layer-2 scaling platform Polygon has been selected to partake in Disney’s 2022 Accelerator Program to build on Polygon’s Web3 technology, which will commence this week. The Ethereum scaling platform is one of six projects to be accepted into the Accelerator Program, which is focused this year on augmented reality (AR), nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and artificial intelligence (AI), according to a statement from The Walt Disney Company on Wednesda. Polygon CEO Ryan Watt noted on Wednesday that Polygon was “the only blockchain selected” to Disney’s prestigious Accelerator program. The hits keep on comin’!@0xPolygon has been invited to @Disney’s prestigious Accelerator program. …

Chris Wang has done it all. As well as selling a business to Disney for hundreds of millions of dollars, he was one of Web3's earliest champions. Here, he speaks to Cointelegraph about the hurdles that Web3 needs to overcome in order to reach billions of users, and how he thinks the industry will evolve in the years ahead. Plus, Chris also tells us more about what ThunderCore, his latest venture, is doing to achieve a "mobile entertainment revolution." 1. Hi Chris! You were the quickest person to graduate with a PhD at Carnegie Mellon University. What was that like …

ESPN and Autograph, the nonfungible token (NFT) platform co-founded by Tom Brady, announced a multi-year partnership on Wednesday that kicks off with a documentary release and an NFT collection. A 10-part ESPN+ documentary series called "Man in the Arena: Tom Brady" chronicles the milestones of the NFL legend's career through a psychological and emotional lens. The docuseries is produced by Religion of Sports, a media company in which Brady is also a co-founder. Autograph and Religion of Sports designed the “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady Collection” to be ESPN's first series of NFT collectibles. Dropping at the same time …

Within 24 hours of its launch on digital collectibles marketplace Veve, crypto enthusiasts purchased all 54,995 pieces of the Disney Pixar Pals nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, collection. The drop consisted of iconic characters and moments created by Pixar Animation Studios, including Sheriff Woody, Mike Wazowski, Lightning McQueen, The House from Up, and Edna Mode. Users purchased their NFTs from a blind box, meaning that they receive a random collectible as part of the series, and would not know which collectible until after payment. Pixar Pals NFT collection | Source: Pixar/Disney/VeVe The list price for each Pixar NFT was 60 gems …

Following the announcement that Facebook’s parent company would be rebranding in a shift towards the Metaverse, many projects have started similar initiatives entering the virtual space, from buying property to testing the limits of what this universe has to offer. Visit Disneyland… in the Metaverse? The entertainment company behind some of the most popular theme parks in the world recently had a patent approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue.” Though the Los Angeles Times reported that Disney had “no current plans” to use the simulator in the near future, the application does suggest Disneyland and Disney World …

Disney has been approved for a patent that would create personalized interactive attractions for theme park visitors. The technology would facilitate headset-free augmented reality (AR) attractions at Disney theme parks. The tech would work by tracking visitors using their mobile phones, and generating and projecting personalized 3D effects onto nearby physical spaces, walls, and objects in the park. The entertainment giant was approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue,” patent on Dec. 28, 2021. It was originally filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in July 2020. The “Metaverse” has largely been imagined as existing on …