Walmart Trademark Filings Indicate Intent to Produce Metaverse and NFT Concepts, According to a Report

According to a recent report, Walmart Inc., an American multinational retail giant that manages a network of department stores, is preparing to enter the non-fungible token (NFT) technology and metaverse ideas industries.

NFTs, Blockchain Technology, Digital Collectibles, Metaverse, and Virtual Department Store Games are all mentioned in Walmart's trademark filings with the USPTO.

• "Walmart is secretly planning to join the metaverse," according to CNBC writer Lauren Thomas, who released a piece on January 16. According to seven US Patent and Trademark Office filings, this is the case (USPTO).
• Cryptocurrency solutions, blockchain technology, and non-fungible token (NFT) assets are all mentioned in the trademark registrations. Downloadable software that may use digital currency and concepts such as augmented reality is described in one specific file.
• Walmart informed the reporter in a statement that the international retailer is "continuously studying how emerging technology may affect future shopping experiences." Walmart, on the other hand, refused to disclose Thomas about the seven particular trademarks.
• "We're always exploring new concepts," a Walmart official told the reporter. "Some ideas turn into goods or services that reach customers. We test, iterate, and learn from some of them."
• Another USPTO application from Walmart mentions a virtual reality (VR) game that includes a virtual version of a Walmart shop and a large number of the retailer's products. Healthcare items, personal care products, patio furniture, electronics, appliances, fashion, and athletic goods might all be represented by virtual things, or NFTs.
• Walmart is hoping to employ a "digital currency and cryptocurrency product lead" in mid-August 2021, according to the petition. "As Walmart's digital currency/cryptocurrency lead, you'll be in charge of establishing the digital currency strategy and product roadmap," the job posting read at the time.
• Walmart joins a slew of other merchants and well-known brands in attempting to profit from metaverse concepts, NFT technology, and Web3. Samsung, Gap, Adidas, Nike, Hennessy, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Cola are among the companies that have gone headfirst into the burgeoning blockchain business.
• Crocs, Urban Outfitters, Ralph Lauren, and Abercrombie & Fitch have all submitted trademark applications related to digital collectibles and blockchain technology with the USPTO.
• The seven trademarks aren't the only ones that mention blockchain technology and cryptocurrency that Walmart has registered. Walmart was revealed to have submitted a patent in August 2019 for the construction of a stablecoin idea.
• "The digital money may be tied to the US dollar and only be used at a limited number of merchants or partners." In other cases, the digital currency may be used almost anyplace. "The digital currency can provide a fee-free or low-cost location to deposit wealth that can be spent, for example, at stores and simply converted to cash if needed," according to Walmart's 2019 filing.

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The Castlevania Anniversary NFT Sale at Konami netted almost $160,000.

In its first excursion into the non-fungible token (NFT) arena, Konami, a Japanese game producer and software publisher, earned more than $160,000. This was the outcome of an NFT auction commemorating Castlevania's 35th anniversary, one of the company's most popular franchises. The ultimate outcome is in stark contrast to what other corporations have faced in the past when engaging in these actions, which has resulted in a negative backlash.

With Castlevania NFTs, Konami takes to the open sea.

During its first NFT-related operation, Konami, one of the most well-known Japanese gaming development businesses, raised more than $160,000 in revenue. The firm held an NFT auction to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Castlevania, one of its most popular titles, which has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. During the auction, 14 NFTs were sold, with the highest price being for an NFT portraying the map of the original Dracula's Castle, which went for over $26,000.

A three-minute film that showcased some highlights from the various games in the series, which sold for roughly $17K, received the second-highest offer. The lowest item is now offered at 30 ETH, a little more than $100K at the time of writing, on the collection's website on Opensea.

A Different Outcome

Even with the negative response that the NFT auction received from gaming-related sites, Konami's maiden step into the NFT realm had a significantly different outcome than what other gaming firms have encountered thus far. While blockchain-related organizations (like Axie Infinity) have had a lot of success using metaverse and web3 features in play to earn initiatives, conventional corporations are still experimenting with similar aspects for their franchises.

Square Enix, another major Japanese game developer, has advocated in favor of introducing token economies into games. According to Yosuke Matsuda, the company's CEO, the shift to "give to earn" would encourage individuals to interact with games and other players, resulting in self-sustaining economies. Since last year, Square Enix has been considering entering the decentralized gaming market.

Another game firm, Ubisoft, has already developed Quartz, a native NFT marketplace that leverages Tezos technology to issue and distribute NFTs to its customers. Until recently, the project has received a poor response, with players and corporate employees denouncing it. Due to the outrage it received on social media, GSC Game World, the makers of the Stalker franchise, had to abandon their NFT plans as well.

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Cardano and Tron are two of Vitalik Buterin's Twitter followers' favorite cryptos to overtake Ethereum.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has set up a pair of polls on Twitter, asking his followers which currency they would prefer if 80 percent of all transactions and savings in the year 2035 are in and it isn't ether. He gave them a list of cryptocurrencies to pick from, including bitcoin, cardano, solana, tron, and Binance coin.

Cryptocurrency Twitter Polls by Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, set up a pair of polls for the Ethereum community on Twitter on Thursday. "When you wake up in 2035, 80% of all global transactions and savings are in one currency that isn't ETH." "Would you want it to be one of the two?" He penned something.

The third-largest cryptocurrency, Binance coin, has a market worth of $83 billion, and is included in Buterin's second vote. Tron has a market worth of $7 billion, whereas Neo has a market cap of less than $2 billion.

People questioned Buterin's motives for posting such polls, the cryptocurrencies he included, whether votes were made by bots, and the likelihood that 80 percent of transactions will be in one currency, despite the fact that the Ethereum co-polls founder's appear to be fun and have received many comments and likes on social media.

Meanwhile, numerous others have pointed out that the results of Buterin's polls simply represent the popularity of specific cryptocurrencies among his followers and Twitter users, and that they have no influence on a cryptocurrency's popularity in the real world. Bank of America, however, believes that Solana could take market share away from Ethereum.

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Ripple and Anon Whale have moved 445 million XRP in anticipation of a price spike in April 2022.

Nearly half a billion XRP has been shoveled by Ripple, an anonymous wallet, and a prominent exchange, with the price expected to rise in spring 2022. Whale Alert, a popular cryptocurrency tracker, said that Ripple's tech giant wired 200 million XRP coins in the previous sixteen hours after unlocking one billion the day before. In addition, a transaction of comparable magnitude was carried out between anonymous crypto wallets.

Major crypto players have moved 425 million XRP.

Ripple has locked 800 million XRP back in escrow after releasing a staggering 1 billion of these currencies on the first day of 2022, according to the aforementioned crypto monitoring platform's latest tweets. An anonymous crypto whale also transmitted a somewhat larger XRP lump — 225,329,020 coins – to another crypto wallet with an unregistered owner, according to Whale Alert. The seventh biggest cryptocurrency is valued $190,900,260.

Bitstamp is transferring XRP to BitGo.

Bitstamp sent 20,154,126 XRP to the custodial provider BitGo, according to the Whale Alert Twitter account. Many financial institutions use it to store their crypto, and it was bought last year by Galaxy Digital, which was led by Mike Novogratz, an early Bitcoin and Ethereum investor and hedge-fund wizard. XRP is currently trading in the $0.8 area at the time of writing.

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