As companies like Facebook, Microsoft & Nike announce plans to build “Metaverse infrastructure” it begs the question: Who’s done what and where?

Here we take a look at some of the non-crypto native players building in the space. This is important to note as despite the headlines, there is so much more to crypto & blockchain than what the headlines tell you about NFTs.

NFT collections are the low-hanging fruit for brands to engage in crypto in the fastest way possible (remember Visa's Cryptopunk announcement that nearly broke the internet). Think of a company like Viacom CBS, which has treasure troves of IP from classics across the Paramount, MTV & Comedy Central brands. Although details of their NFT drop aren’t released, you could imagine a drop of SpongeBob’s jellyfish net, or an NFT video of MTV’s greatest hits from ’98 being released, I could go on..

But what’s the end game for a Viacom CBS NFT collection? Surely not just to dump these digital assets onto consumers just to be marveled at in a wallet - I think it’s much much more than that. It’s the idea that eventually you can have a skit from Tim Dillon on Comedy Central playing on loop in your virtual display in your Decentraland parcel, or to wear the Coke NFT Friendship jacket in the Metaverse on your avi.

Automotive OEMs have formed alliances to track parts at various portions of their journey via the blockchain. Traditional Finance players are building networks to better facilitate exchange through loans, derivatives & trade financing. Sotheby’s of all companies has impressed me the most here. They’ve gone towards massive lengths to stay relevant within the digital art realm, auctioning off some of the most expensive NFT art & have built a Decentraland HQ which also doubles as a virtual art studio:

Instead of focusing on the physical, Sotheby's is embracing the digital..now imagine if banks & financial institutions would have followed suit instead of combatting DeFi & spreading anti-crypto propaganda.

All of these moves by non-crypto native players help give "validity" to the now $3 Trillion space and brings us closer to a world connected through blockchain technology. Maybe first through centralized alliances within respective verticals but eventually in a decentralized, cross-chain & open manner.

Two notable mentions are Tesla & MicroStrategy which are non-crypto natives that both hold Bitcoin on their balance sheet for a collective sum of around ~ 150,000 coins.