Metaverse Productivity Becomes Metaverse Entertainment
Spatial pivots to entertainment, Shopify bring NFTs into e-commerce
Cultured is a newsletter by Otis that gets readers up to speed on the most interesting things going on at the intersection of finance, art, collectibles, NFTs, and more.
🗞 STORIES OF THE DAY
Spatial drops workrooms, pivots to metaverse cultural events
Spatial has raised $25 million in capital to help it switch to metaverse events and NFT exhibitions.
Founded in 2016, Spatial was initially focused on creating AR/VR workspaces. Over the past year, the company found that their platform was increasingly popular with artists looking to exhibit NFTs in virtual galleries.
The company will host NFT drops, which can be used to gain access to exclusive events. The Utah Jazz recently sold an NFT that gave fans access to a virtual locker room meet-and-greet.
Our Take: Spatial’s pivot is part of a bigger move into metaverse entertainment, but also a response to Meta’s own developments.
Earlier this year, Meta introduced Horizon Workrooms, a product that’s basically identical to Spatial’s old offering. Meta is carving out productivity as its niche in the metaverse, and smaller players like Spatial can’t compete. So they’re turning to entertainment, which has become a rapidly growing sector of the metaverse.
Shopify has teamed up with blockchain company GigLabs to enable NFT sales on its platform.
Shopify Plus users can now create and sell NFTs on their storefronts, as long as they are built on the Flow blockchain.
GigLabs has teamed up with a sports t-shirt company and a company that makes video prints to test the NFT concept.
Our Take: With Shopify’s latest collab, NFTs are becoming part of e-commerce.
E-commerce companies have been experimenting with blockchain tech for quite some time. As the NFT market grows and becomes mainstream, companies in more traditional e-commerce spaces are catching on. This could result in an even faster adoption of the technology, as everyday consumers begin to experience its use cases.
✨ AROUND THE INTERNET
Melania Trump is getting into the NFT game — I really don’t care, do u?
The first-ever Superman comic went under the hammer last week for $2.6 million. The price when it first came out in 1939: $0.10.
A ticket stub from MJ’s debut on the court sold for a record $264,000, making it the most expensive collectible ticket ever sold.
The NFT market reached a mind-boggling $22 billion in 2021, according to new data from DappRadar. Last year the market was worth just $100 million.
Reseller alert: Nike is bringing back its iconic Air Flight Lite Mids — the ones worn by Scottie Pippen during the 1992 Olympics. But Pip’s most recent shots have been at Jordan, who he’s accused of ruining the sport.
A rare postcard of Ty Cobb, the Detroit Tigers star, is going up for auction. It features a close-up photo of the young player, who helped win the 1907 pennant.
Spider-Man: No Way Home smashed box office records over the weekend, bringing in $253 million. The movie’s success is due in no small part to a massive PR campaign, which included giving away NFTs to advance ticket buyers.
