Good morning, and happy new week! 

I saw my first in-store Christmas tree over the weekend. It may still be August, but did you know that there are only 17 Mondays left until Christmas Day?

Well, with that in mind, let’s leave the physical world and head into the metaverse.

Here’s the weekly metaverse round-up.

📈📉Weekly Metaverse Moves

Metaverse Markets: What in the WORLD is happening with NFT Worlds!? Well, HYTOPIA (previously NFT Worlds) has made its HYTOPIA Chain Testnet Faucet live - and clearly, fans are excited!

🌑Full Moons - Tales of Punishment, Espionage, and…Jewelry

China Wants To Social Credit You In The Metaverse

China is considering extending its social credit system into the metaverse and online virtual spaces, sparking concerns over privacy and control. Kind of ironic when you think about it…

• Recent reports from POLITICO reveal China Mobile's proposal for a digital identification system spanning these digital realms.

• This development prompts discussions about its compatibility with the existing social credit infrastructure and its potential consequences.

• The proposal suggests digital IDs covering personal and social attributes, with the goal of maintaining order and safety in the virtual environment.

This could expedite the identification and punishment of disruptive actions, such as spreading rumors. (Metaverse jail? Zuck is that you??)

Notably, parallels can be drawn between this proposal and China's social credit system, which assesses citizens based on behavioral factors, leading to travel restrictions and more.

The surge in metaverse-related proposals by Chinese companies raises concerns about shaping identity norms and governance. These discussions also encourage reflection on merging identity protocols with governmental authority in exchange for virtual security and order.

Julian Assange Extradition News Sparks Metaverse Rally

The "Don't Extradite Assange" campaigners threw a virtual political rally in the metaverse on August 26th to get support against sending Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S.

Assange is facing 175 years behind bars for espionage charges for leaking classified intel that exposed misconduct by U.S. agencies.

• The rally in Wistaverse saw speeches by Assange's wife Stella, Wikileaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson, and even former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

• This mashup of technology and activism makes an immersive way to oppose Assange's extradition. It also takes strides in the new wave of metaverse activism.

As this virtual rally went down, people anticipated its impact on the bigger conversation about press freedom and Assange being confined in London's Belmarsh Prison as he fights extradition.

Claire’s ShimmerVille Spices Up Roblox!

From social credit systems and espionage to….teen jewellery. Claire's is now letting creators make limited avatar swag across Roblox after their metaverse game ShimmerVille blew up there last year. They're teaming up with metaverse publisher Super League to drop exclusive backpacks and heads inspired by the cute ShimmerVille pets. (Can we hand the No.1 Metaverse Award to Roblox already?)

• These digital drip pieces have been rolling out over the past 10 days, showing how creative and innovative Claire's is.

Claire's and Super League wanna blur the line between the physical and digital with this collab. The digital swag could become real merch at Claire's stores worldwide.

It makes sense for Claire's, with their Gen Z vibe, to dive deeper into Roblox where their fans are at. And with Roblox now letting brands design avatar stuff beyond just clothes, it's perfect timing!

Claire's is proving they understand what connects with their audience in this wild mashup of digital and real worlds. This pioneering spirit is revolutionizing brand engagement!

🔭The Scope

It’s a mixed bag this week, clearly. We turn to the metaverse to engage in online spaces in ways that we cannot exist IRL. In the metaverse we explore new places, make new friends, and express ourselves with digital wearables - but do we now need to worry about our URL existence as much as our IRL actions? If we start to punish people for their social actions within a metaverse, then will we still participate?

🌓Half Moons

Pioneer AI artist and DJ Agoria introduces Agorian avatars in The Sandbox, offering evolving digital personas that embrace time, diversity, and LGBTQ+ representation.

Apecoin's value dropped 15% in a week amid wider crypto decline, fueled by Bitcoin futures outflows; a major holder's sale at $1.51 from a $21 purchase raised instability worries, worsened by declining user engagement metrics, casting doubt on the project's future and necessitating transparent communication and innovation for recovery in the Metaverse domain.

🔭The Scope

You win some, you lose some. We have been in this bear market (can we still even call it that?) for so long now that we are used to hearing about the decline in crypto prices, NFT prices, and metaverse coins. Still, it doesn’t stop creators from building and pushing forward.

⚪Total Eclipse

Facts About Roblox In 2023:

• Roblox's valuation surpassed $38 billion by March 2023.

• Over 214 million users engage with Roblox monthly.

• Nearly 80% of Roblox users are under 16 years old as of March 2023.

• The platform boasts a developer count exceeding 9.5 million.

• YouTube and Twitch subscribers for Roblox reached 4.04 million and 8.3 million, respectively.

• Roblox achieved 500 million downloads by January 2023.

• The platform offers a staggering array of over 40 million games.

• Roblox ranks first in Google Store's adventure category and Apple Store's action games category.

💫Shooting Star

This week’s shooting star is Max Osiris.

This is ‘A Night At The Art Gallery’. It comes with no description, with only the note ‘open to interpretation’.

This piece comes from Max Osiris. Max describes themselves as an ‘OG cryptoartist from 2018, banned from every major gallery at least once, shows in too many major cities to name.’

🌚Dark Side of the Meme