gm & welcome back to What The Block, a newsletter packed with insights & intelligence about the Web3, Blockchain, NFTs and the Metaverse—written by me, David Klingbeil

Through this newsletter, I hope to make the world of web3 more accessible and entertaining by curating news and insights that will make you think... What the Block ?!

WAGMI*

David Klingbeil
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*We’re All Gonna Make It, a popular way to cheer in Web3 ;)

I’ve had the pleasure to interview Dave Carr, head of business development at Parcel. Parcel is the first NFT marketplace tailored exclusively for virtual real estate users; think about it like "Zillow for the metaverse".

Dave has been quite involved in onboarding brands in the metaverse. For this week’s What The Block, I’ve asked him for his top learning around the virtual fashion week hosted by Decentraland earlier this year.

Here’s what Dave from Parcel had to share about it:

WTB: What are 3 learnings from this virtual fashion week that brands must keep in mind?

Dave Carr:

1. Partner with active community members in the project. They can help you engage with the community which is crucial to a successful experience. This is key. It’s not about replicating what you’re already doing.

2. Immersion, interactivity and ownership are key characteristics of the open metaverse . Give your customers the chance to participate and have a genuine connection with your brand. Product and merchandise drops, and gamification are popular features.

3. More specifically for fashion: functional wearables are shaping up as a huge element in the metaverse fashion industry, as well as digital twins and physical versions of digital assets.

WTB: What are the most interesting brand use cases of the metaverse that you've seen

DC: It’s early days and the things we look for – and advise brands to consider – are enhancements of activities in the real world or complementary experiences that offer new forms of connection with your brand.

Estée Lauder’s activation at Metaverse Fashion Week was a good example – they constructed a giant bottle of Advanced Night Repair Serum and dropped free NFTs versions of the product that would give recipients’ avatars a healthy, radiant glow. Nice idea.

WTB: One thing that you'd love to see a brand doing with Parcel but that nobody has ever done yet

DC: The metaverse is still being built. Many brands treat it like the mainstream is already there and then wonder why their efforts (typically splashy and short-lived) have been largely ignored or quickly forgotten.

There is a really great opportunity right now for brands to join with creators, communities, landowners and other builders to create valuable, long-term experiences.

Parcel sits at the intersection of these groups and works with brands to help them understand the space, establish their presence and find unique ways to make the most of the metaverse. That said, we’d love to collaborate on a game or a global Pokémon GO-style scavenger hunt using augmented reality. All the mechanics are in place. It would be incredible!

Learn more about Parcel

🎨 NFTs

• Meta will test NFTs on Instagram starting this week

• How Popular are NFTs in 2022?

• Nike Is Proving That Even Their NFTs Are One-Of-A-Kind Premium Choice

• Ethereum Name Service surpass 1M created domains

• How Did the Bored Ape Yacht Club Get So Popular?

💸 Cryptocurrencies & DeFi

• Gucci will accept payments in 12 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins

• Bitcoin Mixers obfuscate the data linking users to Bitcoin transfers

• Can we mine Bitcoin using the energy stored in wasted tires?

• Why Decentralized Finance Will Completely Take Over Traditional System

• Ukraine's New Fundraising Platform Supports Over 100 Cryptos

🕹️ Gaming & the Metaverse

• How Yuga Labs launched the largest NFT mint ever with its $300m virtual land sold

• Is the Metaverse Economy A Creator’s Paradise?

• Avalanche is diving into metaverse with a $290 million incentive program

• Spotify Gets in Fashion and Launches Island on Roblox

• Top 5 Play-to-Earn Games on Polygon

✌️ Misc

• ‘Wave of Crypto Muggings’ Hits London’s Financial District

• 100,000+ Cubans Turn To Crypto To Overcome Sanctions

• OpenSea Discord Server just got hacked

That’s all for this week’s episode of What The Block!

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