First MTV Video Music Award for Best Metaverse Performance

This week the first MTV Video Music Award for Best Metaverse Performance was announced, the crypto bear market continued, there were major movements at Snap, Meta and PwC, and social gaming giant Fornite could potentially be coming to VR.

An Eye on the Charts

Bitcoin and Ethereum both started the week with steep dives, at times seeing BTC back below $2k and ETH below $1,500. Both coins ended the week with similar valuations to this time last week.

Altcoins including ApeCoin, IOTA, and Hedera also had falls earlier in the week, with upswings toward the middle of the week, only to fall again in the last few days – achieving some stability, but ending the week slightly in the red.

The First MTV Video Music Award for Best Metaverse Performance Goes to …

BLACKPINK won the Best Metaverse Performance category at the MTV Video Music Awards for their concert performed virtually in PUBG. The virtual concert was reportedly watched by over 15 million people. Even outside of this concert, a number of their music videos are recorded in this and other virtual environments.

The VMAs also featured a virtually-produced music video for “From the D 2 the LBC”, a collaboration by Eminem and Snoop Dogg in which both performers are represented by the Bored Apes. The video also featured imagery and settings from OTHERSIDE, the virtual world under development by Yuga Labs, owners of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Meebits, and other popular NFT communities.

Fortnite Coming to VR?

Fellow online game Fortnite has also been the host to several immersive concerts – many of which were also VMA nominees. Despite being social, virtual worlds, some purists question the status of these platforms as “Metaverse” platforms because they lack – among other potential qualifiers – total immersion. However, a recent update to Fortnite included content that some speculate the platform will soon allow VR play.

Meta Moves

The most recent in a series of staff shake-ups at Meta involved the departure of Vice President Vivek Sharma, who was the head of Meta’s Horizon virtual world. The role will be filled by Vishal Shah.

It’s not all bad news from Meta. The platform also announced a new tool for showcasing NFTs on Instagram, and came to an agreement on custom chips from Qualcomm.

Snap Cuts

Snap announced layoffs and project closures amidst a challenging year for the image and video heavy social media company.

While the belt-tightening gives the company some needed breathing room and is popular with stockholders, many of the cuts were some of the biggest differentiators between Snapchat and its competitors. This raises questions about how positive the changes will be as the platform continues to compete with the likes of TikTok and Instagram.

The Metaverse is in Texas?

Unexpected Bitcoin bull Senator Ted Cruz toured the world’s largest Bitcoin mining facility, which is eyeing expansion around its Texas home. Cruz is himself reportedly a Bitcoin holder, and has been an outspoken advocate of the cryptocurrency, both locally in Texas and on the national stage.

Austin, Texas is also the new home of PwC’s head of Metaverse initiatives Jeremy Dalton. Dalton is heading the new branch with his previous seat in the U.K. being filled by Alex Rühl.

Both of these moves help to establish Texas as a physical Metaverse hub – potentially in a Two Towers relationship with Miami, Florida.

Virtual (and Physical) Fashion

RTFKT studios announced a system for avatar holders to redeem NFTs for physical clothing items with different items available based on the avatar that an individual owns.

The Genies avatar system also launched “the warehouse,” a store for virtual clothing items. Some of the items are developed by Genies, while others are developed by partner groups or individuals.

Virtual clothing studio The Fabricant held a week of community events to celebrate their first anniversary.