LensLinks: Issue 19

Today in LensLinks:

• Google Cloud’s New Blockchain Node Engine

• What is "Play to Die" model?

• Is the Metaverse "a poorly built videogame"?

• Vitalik Buterin's Four Key Goals for Ethereum (ETH) in 2023

• Hong Kong to overturn crypto rules?

• 101: Top five metaverse ecosystems that will likely shape the virtual world in 2023

• Meta ESG Risk?

• And Much, Much, More...

Google unveils its “Cloud’s Blockchain Node Engine” on one of its official blogs. The company has embraced blockchain technology, stating that it is changing the way the world moves and stores information. As a supporting tool to Web3 developers, Google announced the new engine. It will help them build and launch products on blockchain-based platforms.

Google stated that self-managed nodes are difficult to manage, as they require constant monitoring. The new blockchain node engine can cut down the necessity for node operations. The company also stated that Ethereum will be the initial blockchain supported by the new engine.

The metaverse is exciting(opens in new tab), it's mystifying(opens in new tab), but above all else, it's kind of a mess. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg got brutally dragged in August because of his horrific, dead-eyed meta-selfie(opens in new tab); the beatdown resumed earlier this month when Zuck announced that Meta avatars would be getting legs(opens in new tab). And it's not just the online hoi polloi who don't care for the current state of things. Speaking at today's WSJ Tech Live 2022 conference, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the metaverse is "a poorly built videogame."

Buterin says in a new interview with Bankless that solving scalability is their “number one” priority.

Hong Kong is planning to put new rules in place that would make retail crypto trading legal in the city, as part of its efforts to become a center for crypto, Bloomberg reported.

The program, which is expected to launch in March next year, would reportedly put in place mandatory licensing for crypto platforms.

Metaverse & Gaming - A Little More...

Blockchain, Tokens & Defi - A Little More...

Two Solana-based DeFi protocols have reopened following the $114 million hack of lending protocol Mango Markets.

Yield aggregator Tulip and stablecoin provider UXD have recovered tokens from Mango Markets, which was hit with a major exploit earlier earlier this month, and can now continue their services, they both said on Twitter.

Crypto Trading - A Little More...

Metaverse and TikTok aside, Meta also faces several risks in the short- to medium-term. One of them is the likelihood of some form of economic downturn hitting advertiser spending. The firm’s data also exposes it to ESG and commercial regulatory risk.

"Even with Meta’s dominant position in the social network market, its high dependence on continuing growth of online advertising could heighten the negative impact of a lengthy downturn in online ad spending, resulting in a much lower FVE," Mogharabi says.

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