Walmart wants in on the metaverse; looks to create own cryptocurrency, NFTs

U.S.-based retail giant, Walmart, looks set to enter the metaverse with trademark filings showing its intention to create a cryptocurrency and a collection of NFTs.

As reported by CNBC, seven separate trademark applications filed late in December indicate Walmart’s intention to sell virtual merchandise, likely through NFTs, create its own cryptocurrency, and a digital asset wallet.

The applications also detail that Walmart is planning on a metaverse shopping experience, and it has applied for trademarks on the phrases “verse to home”, “verse to store”, and “verse to curb”.

Walmart stated it is “continuously exploring how emerging technologies may shape future shopping experiences,” declining to comment on the specific trademark filings.

“We are testing new ideas all the time,” the company said. “Some ideas become products or services that make it to customers. And some we test, iterate, and learn from.”

Other companies have been running a similar “metaverse-to-IRL” model with success, Higher Life CBD operates a virtual CBD dispensary in the Cryptovoxels metaverse, delivering the real products to customers in all states of the U.S.

On the NFT side, other big-name brands have seen major success. Adidas earned over US$23 million in a collaborative NFT drop in December, more recently, the Australian Open announced its NFT collection and collaboration with the Decentraland metaverse, which has traded over US$4.5 million in 4 days, according to data from OpenSea.

Speaking to CNBC, Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney, stated that the filings are “super intense”.

“There’s a lot of language in these, which shows that there’s a lot of planning going on behind the scenes about how they’re going to address cryptocurrency, how they’re going to address the metaverse and the virtual world that appears to be coming or that’s already here.”