Thursday, March 28

Walmart considers a future with metaverses, NFTs and cryptocurrencies


Key facts:
  • Walmart is considering creating and selling virtual products, similar to those it offers in physical.

  • The company had been looking for a representative for its cryptocurrency department.

US retailer Walmart appears to be taking its first steps into the metaverse. Apparently, the company will create its own cryptocurrency and, in addition, a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Without major announcements, the company, which is one of the most famous in the United States, recorded on December 30 last several applications before the Patent and Trademark Office. It is about seven petitions, all of which are related to the intention of beginning to make a presence in this virtual world.

In detail, Walmart wants to create and sell virtual products, similar to those that it already offers physically in its thousands of branches. For example: toys, sporting goods, ornaments, appliances, among other things.

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Added to this is the offer of a virtual currency for its users. Who could be as indicated, «members of an online community through a virtual computer network», which can be defined as a metaverse. However, they do not clarify whether they will create one from scratch, or take advantage of those that are already in the cryptocurrency market, as is the case with Decentraland o The SandBox.

In addition, they want to provide liquidity, allowing financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Although it is not specified, it is likely that this has to do with the consumption that can be made when the metaverse is active.

Added to this are financial custody services, such as maintaining possession of third party assets for management purposes. Likewise, Walmart plans to issue its own digital tokens, which would be used within the digital space.

All of this, according to the company, responds to the continuous exploration of “how emerging technologies can shape future shopping experiences.”

“We are trying new ideas all the time. Some ideas become products or services that reach customers. And some of them we test and iterate on and learn from,” Walmart says, as informs the CNBC news network.

Walmart had already warned

Walmart’s approach to metaverses, NFTs and cryptocurrencies itself, was already coming. The company had several relationships with the new ecosystem in the past and even announced the search for personnel to fill the position of director of cryptocurrencies.

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CriptoNoticias reported it. In August 2021, the chain announced that the main task of the professional they were looking for was the design of a cryptocurrency strategy. and the search for associations and investments in that sector.

In the job offer, they stated that the new cryptocurrency director had to also develop the product roadmap in Walmart stores.

Beyond work, Walmart is also one of the many stores where you can buy with bitcoin. In November, we reported that the online store 1commerce offered users the ability to buy and sell precisely through this and other companies, such as MercadoLibre or Shopee.

Likewise, it is one of the places where it is possible to buy BTC, since there are already at least 4,700 ATMs available and operating and in various branches. 200 of them respond to the Coinstar firm, as reported by this medium.

Big brands in the metaverses

That Walmart takes another step to venture into this virtual universe also responds to the progress that other large companies in the world have made in this regard. It seems that he does not want to be left behind and that is why he does everything possible to enter the same trend.

As has been outlined, Adidas, Nike, L’Oreal Paris and other major brands from various fields have been allowed to enter and start operating in these digital spaces, supported by web 3.0.

A clear example is the prestigious TIME magazine, which, in addition to entering the metaverses, became one of the publishing companies that fully opens up to cryptocurrencies. According to what this newspaper records, the company would begin to hold ether (ETH), the cryptoactive of Ethereum.

wallmart-metaverso
Walmart is a company that has opened up to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Source: wolterke/stock.adobe.com

And if that wasn’t enough, sporting events have also planted their flags in the metaverses. This is the case of the Australian Open, the tennis championship where great figures participate and which will also be played in the virtual space of Decentraland.

It is clear that, after the announcement of Mark Zuckerberg and the birth of Meta last year, many companies undertook a key movement to fit into the digital space, which, apparently, it is the irrefutable destiny for the economy and life itself.



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