Asus, World\u2019s 6th Largest PC Vendor, Enters Metaverse with NFT Platform

With a market cap of roughly $5.7 billion, Asus is the world’s sixth largest producer of personal computers. As of October 5th, 2022, Asus becomes the latest major company to join the Web3 space after launching an NFT platform. However, Asus’ new NFT marketplace allows only a group of invited artists to list their NFTs at the moment, with plans to launch a secondary market soon.

Asus Unveils ‘Art Black hole’ as it Enters the Metaverse

Asus, a Taiwan-based electronics and hardware maker, announced the launch of its non-fungible token (NFT) platform Tuesday. The move marks the company’s first push into the growing Web3 space, following the footsteps of other Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn and Ennoconn Corp.

The platform, named ‘Art Black hole‘, was launched under Asus’ new Web3 business Asus Metaverse. The Ethereum-powered NFT platform is currently open only to a select group of artists, the company’s spokesperson said in a statement.

Also, Art Black hole does not support secondary trading at the moment, but the laptop maker plans to launch it soon, according to the official website. Buyers can purchase NFTs in New Taiwan dollars, the spokesperson added.

“Asus pays close attention to the latest developments of emerging industries, and we’re particularly drawn by the potential of the Web3 industry.”

– Joe Hsieh, chief operating officer of Asus

Metaverse Welcomes More Major Players

The launch of the Art Black hole comes with Asus’ new Web3 arm, Asus Metaverse. Asus’ new subsidiary seeks to integrate the company’s cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain capabilities to dive deeper into the metaverse.

Earlier this year, Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, which produces Apple’s iPhones, also forayed into the metaverse by partnering with and investing $100 million in XRSPACE, the maker of virtual reality (VR) devices.

More recently, Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also been focused on bringing NFTs to its two biggest platforms – Facebook and Instagram. As of Sept. 29, Facebook and Instagram users are able to link their wallets and cross-post NFTs to both platforms.

“In order to post a digital collectible, all you need to do is connect your digital wallet to Instagram. As of today, we support connections with third-party wallets including Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet coming soon. Supported blockchains at this time include Ethereum, Polygon and Flow.”

Introducing Digital Collectibles to Showcase NFTs on Instagram

The tech giant has rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021 to focus on building the metaverse and “the next chapter of social connection.” The company also unveiled a $50 million fund in September 2021 to research and develop the metaverse.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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