Authors: Michael Isselin, Nick Breen, Mikaela Belcher, Casey Yang and Rachael Mintah

Welcome to Reed Smith’s monthly DigiDigest series on all things metaverse and web3. These short updates cut through the noise and put the most talked-about news and coolest new initiatives in the metaverse and web3 at your fingertips.

Here’s the best of May 2023:

Trends to watch

Sports

NFT tickets used for Professional Fighters League

NFTs have become a popular ticketing solution in recent times, being used for everything from flight tickets to tickets for sporting occasions. Mixed martial arts organisation, the Professional Fighters League, has adopted NFTs as an innovative ticketing method through partnering with web3 firm CrossTower.

Read more at: cointelegraph.com

Entertainment and fashion

Audemars Piguet utilises NFTs for trademark filing

Audemars Piguet is gearing up to enter the sphere of NFTs, using its branding on NFT-based goods. These goods include downloadable image files containing timepieces and downloadable virtual goods such as watches “for use online and in the online virtual worlds”. This follows Audemars Piguet’s trademark application for the configuration of its Royal Oak watch face in February 2022.

Read more at: thefashionlaw.com

Experience Doctor Who and Top Gear in the metaverse

British broadcaster the BBC has teamed up with web3 specialist Reality+ to launch the infamous Doctor Who and Top Gear TV shows into the metaverse. Nicki Sheard, president of brands and licensing at BBC Studios, envisages that the metaverse will shape the way viewers consume and experience entertainment in the future.

Read more at: venturebeat.com

Technology and finance

Binance enters NFT lending space

Binance Marketplace announced a new NFT loan feature whereby digital asset holders can secure ETH loans by using their existing NFTs as security. Binance NFT Loan will initially be limited solely to Ethereum loans and NFTs from Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Azuki and Doodles collections.

Read more at: coindesk.com

Donations, please: Bitcoin accepted

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vivek Ramaswamy have become the first presidential candidates in the history of U.S. elections to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin. Kennedy Jr. heralded the cryptocurrency as a “symbol of democracy and freedom”, whilst Ramaswamy exclaimed, “Let’s make the 2024 election a referendum on fiat currency.”

Read more at: cointelegraph.com

Latest legal developments

OpenSea employee found guilty in first NFT insider trading trial

 In the last web3 round-up, we spoke about the world’s first NFT insider trading trial. Now, the verdict is in. Nathaniel Chastain has been found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in a Manhattan federal court. Chastain was accused of buying NFTs before their listing on OpenSea’s homepage, using confidential information to make a profit.

Read more at: cryptonews.com

European Union legal framework for crypto near completion

The EU Council approved the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) on 16 May, making the bloc the first major jurisdiction with a crypto licensing regime. This allows the EU to begin regulating the crypto market and protect consumers that have invested in the industry.

Read more at: coindesk.com

You have been served (via NFT)

SpartacusDAO, a crypto investment project, was served notice by the State of New York through an NFT. The founder of Spartacus, Wei Wu, had a lawsuit filed against him by disgruntled investors in the SPA token. After various failed attempts at reaching Mr Wu, the court decided to reach out to him using creative means.

Read more at: coindesk.com

British MPs call for crypto investing to be treated as gambling

The trading of cryptocurrencies is more akin to gambling than a financial service, according to MPs in a new report calling for regulation of the industry. The Treasury Committee has claimed that cryptocurrencies have “no intrinsic value and serve no useful social purpose” and asked for effective regulation in order to protect consumers from harm.

Read more at: moneyweek.com