1.UK-based venture capital firm Northzone recently launched a €1bn fund and is starting exercise interest in web3 startups and fintech.

2.Analytical platform Goldsky closed the $20 million seed round. Round participants include entrepreneur Elad Gil, Plaid founders Zach Perret and William Hockey, and Uniswap Labs and 0x Labs.

3.Google Cloud collaborates with BNB Chain to support web3 projects.

4.Merger will cut electricity consumption worldwide by 0.2%

5. Korean went to jail for sexual assault in the metaverse

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison for harassment and possession of porn with minors whom he "corrupted" in the metaverse. On which site did the crime take place? news do not speak.

During communication, the offender offered children digital gifts and bonuses for certain actions, including sending pornographic photos and videos.

Last week, the country formulated the basic ethical principles of the metaverse and allocated $6.7 billion for its construction.
Back in June, an MP from the opposition Democratic Party put forward a proposal for a special law for sexual crimes committed in immersive digital spaces.

Case clearly showed the possible dangers of the metaverse.
How to control decentralized sites and not go into totalitarianism? Will the community be able to create a safe environment for children and enforce these rules?

6. In the metaverse The Sandbox will open a hotel

The first player in the metauniverse hotel business was the Dutch chain Citizen M. They bought land in The Sandbox and announced that they had begun building a hotel there. The project will also open an NFT gallery. Buyers of tokens will become members of the DAO and will be able to vote on the development of real hotels.
The Dutch have said they want to welcome guests wherever they are. Citizen M noted that their goal is to provide quality service in both the real and virtual worlds.

It's interesting to watch the pioneers, but for now, of course, it's more about trying to stake out a place for yourself than about developing a business. It is on such examples that it is best to work out hypotheses and monitor the reaction of the audience. It remains to wait for upgraded solutions from Hilton and Marriot.

7. A manufacturer of gloves that allow you to touch the metaverse has raised $23 million in funding.

HaptX founded in the USA in 2012. The company is developing a technology of gloves that allows you to literally touch virtual reality. Each HaptX pair contains 260 impulse points that simulate contact.
Gloves are already in production, mainly used for training, education and industrial design.

The main potential competitor of HaptX is Meta, the company announced the development of a similar device last year. According to the CEO of the startup, competitors will not be able to create anything similar, because HaptX managed to create a unique device and patent the possibilities for its development.

The total amount of HaptX investments raised is $58 million, among the main contributors are Verizon Ventures and Mason Avenue Investments.
The basic version can be purchased now for $3999, the company also has motion sensors for $2999 and PRO versions of the gloves.

8. What will replace decentralization?

The main concept underlying the blockchain is decentralization. Looking ahead a little, it becomes clear that this is only an intermediate stage.
Decentralized systems are already moving towards convergence, and interoperability is becoming an important criterion. Its key advantage over decentralization is that data can be easily transferred between multiple projects.

In theory, in an interoperable system, all altcoins can be used to pay for digital clothing on all marketplaces, and you can wear it on any site.
Common formats will help connect everything that blockchain companies are currently building into one digital world.
Interoperability will certainly increase the stability of the theoretical unified metaverse. For its effective operation, completely different connection speeds and new reliability protocols will be required.

Many blame Web3 for complexity and instability. Interoperability is likely to be the buzzword Web4 and bring into it the convenience of the Web2 world along with the principles of Web3.

9. Cardano Blockchain Will Help Digitalize Georgian Wine

The network has entered into an agreement with the National Wine Agency of Georgia. The project is aimed at combating counterfeiting. The authenticity of the wine will be recorded on the blockchain, and buyers will be able to verify its authenticity by scanning a QR code.
Cardano notes that it has been an honor for them to bring innovation to an industry that has been developing in the country for 8000 years.
The test launch of the project will take place in the city of Bolnisi, which is called the wine capital of the country. Within its framework, 100 bottles will be digitized and a system will be created to analyze their sales around the world.

It turns out that in 2022 two very ancient spheres have joined: cryptography and winemaking. Ideas for similar collaborations in the metaverse are only limited by your imagination, stock up on popcorn and join the brainstorm.

10. The most expensive NFT artist Beeple has joined the artistic comprehension of the Ethereum update. 

Yesterday he released 2 pictures. The one on the left is called "PROOF OF STAKE" - this is the designation of the new algorithm, according to which the cryptocurrency will now work. (it's greener and a bit faster).
The name of the second is “THE MERGE” (unification) - the blockchain update is called so because, technically, the old version merged with the new one, forming the current Ethereum.

The event turned out to be very important for crypto artists. The media even began to divide the NFT era into “before” updates and “after”.
Already appeared on Opensea first collection of "Post merge" era. Her anime characters increased in price from 0.1 ($144) to 0.44 ETH ($633) per day.