Ben Strack

The net losses endured by Meta’s division responsible for producing metaverse-related technology continue to grow quarter over quarter — as the damage amounted to nearly $4.3 billion in the final three months of 2022.



Despite the hit to the unit known as Reality Labs, the tech giant’s net income for the quarter stood at $4.65 billion, as its family of apps unit posted a gain of $10.7 billion. The segment includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.



Meta’s stock price was $153.12 at the end of the trading day, down more than 50% over the past year but up about 23% in the last month. The price was up about 19% in after-hours trading, as of 6 p.m. ET.



The results came after Meta revealed on its November earnings call that Reality Labs <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/metas-metaverse-division-loses-nearly-3-7b-in-q3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lost nearly $3.7 billion</a> during the third quarter — up from the division’s <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_news/Meta-Reports-Second-Quarter-2022-Results-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">second-quarter loss</a> of $2.8 billion and a $2.9 billion loss in the first quarter. &nbsp;



Reality Labs’ net loss totaled $13.7 billion last year, the company revealed Wednesday.



The division includes augmented reality, virtual reality and the company’s metaverse software platform.



Then-Meta Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said in a November statement that the company was expecting Reality Labs’ operating losses to grow year over year in 2023.



Susan Li, who has since taken over as Meta’s chief financial officer, reiterated that projection during Meta’s earnings call Wednesday.&nbsp;



“We’re going to continue to invest meaningfully in this area given the significant long-term opportunities that we see,” she said.



Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg added the company is “constantly tuning the roadmap” for Reality Labs. 



“Even though none of the signals I’ve seen so far suggest that we should shift the Reality Labs strategy long-term, we are constantly adjusting the specifics of how we execute this,” Zuckerberg said.&nbsp;



The continued losses in this business segment come after Facebook <a href="https://blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed</a> its name to Meta in October 2021 to capitalize on the anticipated metaverse trend.&nbsp;



Zuckerberg said on the company’s November call its future initiatives include a social metaverse platform with avatars, augmented reality and neural interfaces.



“I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment,” the CEO added at the time. “But from what I can tell, I think this is going to be a very important thing, and I think it would be a mistake to not focus on any of these areas, which I think will be fundamentally important to the future.”



About a week later, Zuckerberg said in <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/11/mark-zuckerberg-layoff-message-to-employees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a letter</a> the company decided to layoff about 11,000 employees — roughly 13% of Meta’s workforce.



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Meta Metaverse Division Posts $4.3B Net Loss in Q4 2022

<div id="highlights-block_63599bc156946" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Reality Labs&#8217; Q3 numbers follow the business’s losses of $2.9 billion and $2.8 billion in the year’s first and second quarter, respectively</li>
 <li>Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner urged Meta to cut back on metaverse-related investments in an open letter published Monday</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Meta’s <a href="https://about.meta.com/realitylabs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reality Labs</a> business — the division in charge of producing metaverse-related technology — once again saw heavy losses, hemorrhaging nearly $3.7 billion during the third quarter.



The company’s family of apps division, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, posted a net income of roughly $9.3 billion during the quarter, down about 28% year over year.&nbsp;



Overall, Meta’s earnings per share of $1.64 fell short of the $1.89 expected. Its net income of nearly $5.7 billion in the third quarter is down 46% from the third quarter of 2021.



“We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year,” Meta Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said in a statement. “Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run.”



Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during an earnings call Wednesday that while people are perhaps most aware of the company’s <a href="https://www.meta.com/quest/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">virtual reality headsets</a>, the company is working on several metaverse-related efforts. Such initiatives include a social metaverse platform with avatars, augmented reality and neural interfaces.



“I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment,” Zuckerberg said. “But from what I can tell, I think this is going to be a very important thing, and I think it would be a mistake to not focus on any of these areas, which I think will be fundamentally important to the future.”



Meta in July reported a <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_news/Meta-Reports-Second-Quarter-2022-Results-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">second-quarter loss</a> of $2.8 billion for its Reality Labs division, adding to a $2.9 billion loss in this year’s first quarter. Last year the unit posted an <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/meta-reality-labs-reports-10-billion-loss.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">annual loss of $10.2 billion</a>, bringing combined losses to nearly $20 billion, as of Sept. 30.



The continued losses in this business segment come after Facebook <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed</a> its name to Meta in October last year to capitalize on the anticipated metaverse trend.&nbsp;



Meta’s stock price is down roughly 62% year to date. The price was down about 15% in after-hours trading, as of 5:15 pm ET.&nbsp;



In <a href="https://medium.com/@alt.cap/time-to-get-fit-an-open-letter-from-altimeter-to-mark-zuckerberg-and-the-meta-board-of-392d94e80a18" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an open letter</a> to Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s board of directors published Monday, Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner said that Meta has “lost the confidence of investors,” recommending that it should streamline its focus. Altimeter is a long-term shareholder in Meta, he said.



As part of this suggested refocus, Gerstner said Meta should limit its investment in the metaverse and Reality Labs to no more than $5 billion per year — less than its planned investments of between $10 billion and $15 billion per year, which Gerstner said could take 10 years to yield results.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“An estimated $100 [billion] investment in an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards,” Gerstner said. “We have little doubt investors and others would happily support scaling up these investments as the [return on investment] becomes more tangible — even if still long-term.”





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Meta’s Metaverse Division Loses Nearly $3.7B in Q3

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_631effca203df" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders call Meta “breeding ground” for crypto fraud</li>
 <li>Social media users can accidentally end up downloading harmful bots via malicious links</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Facebook parent Meta isn’t doing enough to get rid of crypto-related scammers on its platforms, according to several US Democrats.



They questioned CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week over its efforts to fight related scams on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.&nbsp;



Sens. Robert Menendez, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, among others, wrote in a <a href="https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_meta_on_cryptocurrency_scams.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter</a> on Sept. 8 that they were concerned the Facebook parent is a “breeding ground” for crypto fraud that results in significant harm to consumers.



Data from the Federal Trade Commission shows over 46,000 people collectively <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/frauds-and-scams-top-1b-since-2021-ftc-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lost more than $1 billion</a> in crypto-related scams between 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. That figure includes scams where the crypto connection consists of its use as a payment method.



Non-crypto-related scams accounted for about $4.16 billion, or <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/06/reports-show-scammers-cashing-crypto-craze#crypto2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">76% of losses</a>, the FTC said.



The report states that, among customers who were scammed, roughly half were perpetrated via social media, leading to consumer losses worth $417 million: 32% reported being conned on Instagram, 26% on Facebook, 9% on WhatsApp and 7% on Telegram.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="491" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png" alt="" class="wp-image-30807" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-09-12-FTC-1024x491.png?w=1980 1980w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Figures based on fraud reports to the FTC&#8217;s Consumer Sentinel network indicating cryptocurrency as the payment method. The investment related fraud category includes the following fraud subcategories: art, gems and rare coin investments, investment seminars and advice, stocks and commodity futures trading, and miscellaneous investments. Reports provided by Sentinel data contributors are excluded; Source: FTC</figcaption></figure></div>


The senators have now asked Meta to respond to questions including detailed current policies and practices to remove crypto scammers and steps to assist victims. A deadline for responses has been set for Oct. 24.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Social networking service (SNS) hacks or scams can occur via fake administrator accounts or administrator accounts that are infected with malicious bots, explained Jasper Lee, audit head at smart contract auditing firm <a href="http://sooho.io" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sooho.io</a>.



Harmful bots can be installed if users click on a specific link attached via a direct message. This way, attackers then install malicious bots with administrative authority on the account and lure investors to a fraudulent minting site.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“There are an increasing number of fake sites disguised as official NFT minting sites and impersonating SNS accounts, even with the same photos and descriptions of official accounts used for real announcements,” Lee told Blockworks.</blockquote>



Meta didn’t respond to Blockworks’ request for comment by press time. According to its website, the company’s current <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/438252513416690?id=595195347635322" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto ads policy</a> states that most products require to be licensed or registered with a recognized regulator.



<h3>What Meta could do to tackle scammers</h3>



In April 2022, Meta launched a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/04/helping-to-stop-online-scams/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">campaign</a> on Facebook and Instagram featuring educational videos to help people spot and avoid scams online. It included prevalent methods, including romance, investment, cash flipping, money mule, and friend-in-need scams. 



It also partnered with a banking and online industry network called Stop Scams UK in 2022 to proactively help stop scams.



But Aarti Dhapte, senior research analyst at Market Research Future, said Meta must indulge in an increasing number of campaigns in every country.&nbsp;



“These campaigns should be customized per the prevalent crypto scams/frauds in that country/area,” she told Blockworks.



Meta should also use its recently launched Next-Gen AI supercomputers to prevent fraudsters from registering under fake, offline identities, she added.



<h3>Sued by Australian watchdog for fake endorsements</h3>



Earlier this year, Meta was sued by Australia’s competition watchdog for allegedly promoting fake ads that endorsed crypto investments. The lawsuit claimed Meta “aided and abetted or was knowingly concerned in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers.”



One individual lost more than A$650,000 ($443,992) through such a scam, the <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-action-over-alleged-misleading-conduct-by-meta-for-publishing-scam-celebrity-crypto-ads-on-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complaint</a> said.



The watchdog said Facebook’s ads would likely mislead customers into believing they were associated with prominent personalities, when in fact they weren’t. The people featured had never approved them.



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Scammers Use of Meta Platforms Draws US Political Ire

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_62fe0131dec0c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A mocked Facebook post features Zuckerberg’s avatar standing in front of miniature models of the Eiffel Tower and the Tibidabo Cathedra</li>
 <li>Meta’s metaverse division, Reality Labs, is losing billions of dollars a year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Meta appears lost in its vision of what 3D virtual worlds should look like in 2022, according to some. The company&#8217;s release of its &#8220;Horizon Worlds&#8221; in Spain and France this week has been mocked by hundreds online, following CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement post on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10114625396809351&amp;set=a.612287952871" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook</a>.



The post features Zuckerberg’s avatar standing in front of miniature models of the Eiffel Tower and the Tibidabo Cathedral on a bed of grass. The problem? The quality of the graphics appears to be rendered in the previous century.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse looks worse than Quake did in 1996. <a href="https://t.co/kjs80Yn6Px">pic.twitter.com/kjs80Yn6Px</a>&mdash; Secretary of State for Socially Uncaring Health (@HUncaring) <a href="https://twitter.com/HUncaring/status/1559836674171043840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Formerly known as Facebook Horizon, Horizon Worlds is a virtual reality online metaverse game designed for “everybody,” despite being limited to US and Canadian persons over the age of 18.&nbsp;



Its release in two European countries on Monday follows years of development and over $10 billion dollars already spent to get the metaverse title to its current state. Meta announced its game towards the end of September 2019, two years before the company changed its name from Facebook.



Zuckerberg has been mocked online before for his company’s pursuits of virtual worlds. Late last year, 3-D animation studio Surreal Entertainment spun up a viral <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibm3WhfLk08&amp;t=60s&amp;ab_channel=surrealentertainment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parody video</a>, based loosely on a demo announcement from Meta.



<h3>Reality hitting Reality Labs</h3>



Meta is determined to see its metaverse bet through, despite burning substantial cash reserves in the process. Late last month, the company reported quarterly losses in the billions over slumping sales stemming from its metaverse unit, Reality Labs.



Reality cost Meta more than <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/meta-metaverse-unit-has-lost-5-7b-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$5 billion in missed sales</a> for the second quarter of this year, adding more than $10 billion in losses to its previous yearly earnings. Its metaverse arm has now racked up more than $16 billion in losses over the past 18 months.



Meta’s metaverse play could prove to be a risky bet in an already crowded games market dominated by the likes of Activision Blizzard and Riot Games.&nbsp;



While those studios have yet to formally announce a title related to the metaverse, questions remain over how Meta intends to steal market share or attract gamers away from the titles designed by the incumbent leaders.



Gamers, already exhausted by the concept of <a href="https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ubisoft-nft-quartz-youtube-dislikes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">non-fungible tokens</a> and metaverse concepts, <a href="https://www.thegamer.com/facebooks-horizon-worlds-broken-metaverse-unimaginative-games/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">could hardly be expected</a> to engage in a virtual world that sit on par with Runescape-level graphics, critics say.



And while blocky world-building game Minecraft is much beloved, Horizon Worlds is yet to offer up a substantial level of user engagement and functionality to compete.



Still, Meta is defiantly plowing ahead.&nbsp;



According to research conducted by crypto asset manager <a href="https://grayscale.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Grayscale_Metaverse_Report_Nov2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Grayscale</a>, the metaverse is tipped to be a trillion-dollar yearly revenue opportunity across advertising, social commerce, digital events, hardware and creator monetization.



Epic Games, the company behind one of the world’s most popular games Fortnite, raised an eye-watering $2 billion dollars in April in a bid to accelerate its metaverse ambitions.&nbsp;



Despite substantial funding, questions center on how developers will best attempt to monetize efforts in a world seemingly designed for decentralization and individual ownership of digital assets.



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Meta’s Metaverse Play Ridiculed Online

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_62ebee17bf6b7" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Select creators only need to connect a digital wallet to Instagram in order to post an NFT</li>
 <li>There are no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on Instagram</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Meta is introducing NFTs to a fresh cohort of Instagram users worldwide.&nbsp;



The tech giant and Instagram parent company said Thursday its digital collectibles push — <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/meta-trials-nft-display-feature-for-instagram-creators-and-collectors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rolled out</a> to US users in May — is going global.



Creators and businesses in some 100 countries across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and the Americas will now be able to share their NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Instagram. A spokesperson declined to comment on whether Europe is included. 



This feature allows users to connect a digital wallet, share NFTs and automatically tag both a creator and collector for attribution.&nbsp;



Zuckerberg posted a “soon-to-be NFT” of his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg1wA01l3NX/?igshid=NDBlY2NjN2I%3D" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Little League baseball card</a> to Instagram “in honor” of the expansion.



Instagram is also set to support Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet connections in addition to the standing integrations of Rainbow, MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Creators may also post digital collectibles minted on the Flow blockchain, as well as Ethereum and Polygon.



“This milestone reflects Meta’s continued work to expand access to web3 technology through NFTs, and support creators who want to monetize their work and build community with their fans and collectors,” the company said in a statement.&nbsp;



Meta recently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/creators/expanding-ways-creators-earn-money-on-facebook-and-instagram" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outlined</a> how the company is focusing on “rolling out more ways for creators to make money on Facebook and Instagram,” Zuckerberg wrote in a June Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/pfbid0NduDRNvNDU3UZwq6m2tCg6dsiFQ8Ch44FNngdhabK34FFwh8aRg9RoyHSyjiZnmpl" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>.



On Instagram, the aim is to facilitate branded content partnerships between creators and brands, according to the company. The platform plans to begin testing in-app payments, so brands could pay creators for branded content via the social media platform.



Users can also display and share digital collectibles as augmented reality stickers in Instagram stories. Snapchat has let its users create and share similar in-app effects for a couple of years.&nbsp;



On Facebook, creators can give paying subscribers on other platforms access to subscriber-only Facebook groups. And those fans can show love to their favorite creators by sending stars — a digital good fans can buy.



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Instagram Expands NFT Feature to Creators Worldwide

<div id="highlights-block_62e269416caac" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Meta’s overall quarterly revenue fell for the first time to $28.8 billion, missing estimates of $28.9 billion</li>
 <li>Reality Labs, the social media giant&#8217;s metaverse division, saw second-quarter sales sink 35% to $452 million</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg might be bullish on the metaverse, but their pivot into virtual reality has so far weighed heavily on its balance sheet.



Meta reported a <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_news/Meta-Reports-Second-Quarter-2022-Results-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">second-quarter loss</a> of $2.8 billion in its Reality Labs division on Wednesday, adding to a $2.9 billion loss in this year&#8217;s first quarter.



Indeed, Reality Labs has lost $5.7 billion for Meta this year. And last year, it posted an <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/meta-reality-labs-reports-10-billion-loss.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">annual loss of $10.2 billion</a>, bringing combined losses to almost $16 billion.



The division, which is in charge of producing metaverse-related technology such as virtual reality (VR) hardware and software, posted quarterly sales of $452 million. That’s a nearly 35% drop from the second quarter.



Facebook <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed</a> its name to Meta in October last year to capitalize on the anticipated metaverse trend. Zuckerberg remains positive about the long-term outlook.



In the company&#8217;s <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/07/27/meta-platforms-inc-meta-q2-2022-earnings-call-tran/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings call</a> Wednesday, he said artificial intelligence is the key driver of Meta’s business moving forward, followed by the emergence of the metaverse. According to him, the segment is still a solid opportunity as it enables “deeper” social experiences irrespective of where people are and expects the sector to unlock “trillions of dollars” over time.&nbsp;



“This is obviously a very expensive undertaking over the next several years,” Zuckerberg said. “But as the metaverse becomes more important in every part of how we live from our social platforms and entertainment to work and education and commerce, I&#8217;m confident that we&#8217;re going to be glad that we played an important role in building this.”



<h3>Meta revenues disappoint but daily active users beat expectations</h3>



Meta’s total revenue for the quarter dropped 1% to $28.8 billion, missing expectations of $28.9 billion.&nbsp;



This was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-parent-meta-forecasts-revenue-below-estimates-2022-07-27/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a> its first-ever quarterly revenue decline in the 18 years since the tech titan&#8217;s inception. The company cited recessionary fears and competition weighing on its digital ad sales as reasons why.



After disclosing second quarter results, Meta’s stock fell 4.6% in after-hours trading to $161.70 a share on Wednesday, and shed another 1% in pre-market trading Thursday. Its stock is down 52% in the year-to-date, per <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/NASDAQ-META/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TradingView</a> data.



Meta expects third-quarter revenue from its Reality Labs segment to be even lower than the second quarter.



The Menlo Park firm projected overall revenue for the third quarter to be between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, lower than expectations of $30.32 billion. Meta’s daily active users, however, came in at 1.97 billion, beating estimates of 1.95 billion.



Slumping revenue isn’t the only problem Meta is dealing with. On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/07/ftc-seeks-block-virtual-reality-giant-metas-acquisition-popular-app-creator-within?utm_source=govdelivery" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sued to block</a> the Facebook parent from acquiring VR company Within, accusing it of illegally attempting to “conquer” the virtual reality and metaverse industries.&nbsp;



Learn more: <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/can-gamefi-still-unlock-the-metaverse/">Can GameFi Still Unlock the Metaverse?</a>



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Meta Metaverse Unit Has Lost $5.7B This Year

<div id="highlights-block_627a80a0602db" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Select Instagram users and influencers in the US will test the NFT sharing feature</li>
 <li>Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg first revealed at South by Southwest in March that the company was working on bringing NFTs to Instagram</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A limited number of users in the US can now share digital collectibles and NFTs via Instagram, Adam Mosseri, head of the social media platform, revealed in a video posted to Twitter on Monday. Initially only NFTs (non-fungible tokens) minted on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains will be shareable on Instagram feeds, stories and via direct messages.



Mosseri said that this new functionality is an opportunity to “support creators to make a living doing what they love” while also “making Web3 technologies accessible to a much broader range of people.” He added that the company intends to learn from the community in order “to embrace those tenets of distributed trust and power” central to Web3.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">NFTs on Instagram 🎉 This week we’re beginning to test digital collectibles with a handful of US creators and collectors who will be able to share NFTs on Instagram. There will be no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on IG. See you next week! ✌🏼 <a href="https://t.co/VuJbMVSBDr">pic.twitter.com/VuJbMVSBDr</a>&mdash; Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) <a href="https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1523655590672695296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



He also specified that there will be no fees associated with posting or sharing an NFT, in comparison to Twitter, which only allows Twitter Blue subscribers in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to set their NFTs as their profile pictures (PFP), for a fee of $2.99 a month.&nbsp;



As seen in the video, NFTs displayed on Instagram contain a “digital collectible” tag, which includes a description of the digital asset and details about the artist and the owner.



Among the first batch of NFT collections included in the trial are those from Boss Beauties, actor Jayden Smith, and chair of VaynerX Gary Vaynerchuck, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/09/instagram-testing-nfts-select-creators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to TechCrunch</a>.



Similar functionality will soon be enabled on Facebook and other Meta apps, CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/videos/734113884613230" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">confirmed</a> in a Facebook post. Meta <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/04/testing-creator-monetization-horizon-worlds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently announced</a> plans to charge 47.5% on each item sold on its new Meta Quest app store, and include NFTs as part of its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds.



While Zuckerberg previewed the news that Instagram would support NFTs “in the near term,” during a virtual appearance at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas in March, he hinted that users could also soon mint their own NFTs. But for now, NFT support on Instagram is limited to sharing.



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Meta Trials NFT Display Feature for Instagram Creators and Collectors

Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_6269b666a842a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Meta reported its slowest quarterly growth since the company went public ten years ago</li>
 <li>The platform’s web version of its metaverse will launch this year, Zuckerberg said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Six months after rebranding from Facebook, Meta Platforms reported its slowest quarterly growth since the company went public in 2012. 



Meta gained an anemic 7% in terms of revenue for the first quarter of 2022.



The company’s Reality Labs division, which produces virtual and augmented reality infrastructure and software, exceeded expectations for the first quarter. The unit brought in $695 million in revenue, exceeding the $683 million analysts were expecting, according to the <a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2022/Meta-Reports-First-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings report</a>.



The company is going to continue to invest heavily in its metaverse ventures, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Meta’s earnings call Wednesday. Horizon Worlds, Meta’s digital ecosystem that will allow users to sell virtual assets and experiences, is expected to launch on the web this year.



“Our other focus for Horizon is building up the metaverse economy and helping creators make a living working in the metaverse,” Zuckerberg said. “We expect to be meaningfully better at monetization than others in the space.”



Meta reported 3.64 billion monthly users for its family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, over the course of the first quarter — a 6% year-over-year increase.



In addition to expanding into the metaverse and creator economy, as competition from other video-based social media apps increases, Meta hopes to improve its Reels advertising options, Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, said.



Meta is continuing to consider regulatory risks associated with privacy and data protection, Sandberg added, in response to a question during the earnings call.&nbsp;



“Overall, the regulatory environment is a real challenge for our industry,” Sandberg said. “We think we are well set up to meet [requirements by] working closely with regulators and doing things in our technology like privacy enhancing technologies, to do more with less data, but we expect this to continue to be a significantly challenging time not just for us but across our whole industry.&#8221;



Meta stock, which is down 48% year-to-date, was trading about 19% higher during after-hours trading following the release of the earnings report.



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Meta Stock Soars After Hours on Metaverse Expansion, Defying Slowing Growth

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_61fd794131dce" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>One woman said that “within 60 seconds of joining” Meta’s Horizon Worlds, she was “verbally and sexually harassed”</li>
 <li>Meta stock is up 0.65% to $239.31 per share</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>





Following reports of sexual assaults in Meta’s metaverse, the company Friday rolled out what it is calling a “personal boundary” tool.



The function prevents avatars from coming within a 4-foot distance from one another in the company&#8217;s Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues to “create more personal space” for users and to “make it easier to avoid unwanted interaction,” Horizon Worlds Vice President Vivek Sharma <a href="https://www.oculus.com/blog/introducing-a-personal-boundary-for-horizon-worlds-and-venues/?utm_source=rakuten&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=TnL5HPStwNw-V5xfw9vm0iG6pjY9Gdorjg&amp;MID=43993&amp;LSNSUBSITE=Omitted_TnL5HPStwNw&amp;utm_term=exclusive&amp;utm_content=ad" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>.



“We are intentionally rolling out Personal Boundary as always on, by default, because we think this will help to set behavioral norms—and that’s important for a relatively new medium like VR,” Sharma said.



The rollout comes following <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10455417/Mother-43-avatar-groped-three-male-characters-online-Metaverse.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a> of misconduct in the social media giant’s metaverse from a beta tester of Horizon Worlds last year.



Nina Jane Patel, vice president of Metaverse Research at Kabuni Ventures, said that as she tested the game, she was sexually abused by four male avatars, according to a December <a href="https://medium.com/kabuni/fiction-vs-non-fiction-98aa0098f3b0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Medium post</a>.



“Within 60 seconds of joining” Horizon Worlds, Patel said she was “verbally and sexually harassed” by avatars “with male voices [that], essentially, but virtually gang raped” her avatar.



“[It was] a horrible experience that happened so fast and before I could even think about putting the safety barrier in place,” she wrote, referring to the company&#8217;s “<a href="https://meaww.com/facebook-rebranding-the-verge-announcement-internet-suggestions-memes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Safe Zone” feature</a>, which allows users to block other users.



“Virtual reality has essentially been designed so the mind and body can’t differentiate virtual/digital experiences from real [ones],” Patel said. “In some capacity, my physiological and psychological response was as though it happened in reality.”


[stock_market_widget type=&#8221;inline&#8221; template=&#8221;generic&#8221; assets=&#8221;META&#8221; markup=&#8221;{name} ({symbol}) is trading at {price} ({change_pct}).&#8221; display_currency_symbol=&#8221;true&#8221; api=&#8221;yf&#8221;]



The company’s stock plunged more than 20% after hours following its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-still-confident-in-metaverse-plans-despite-stocks-20-slide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fourth quarter earnings</a> report Wednesday.



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Meta Adds ‘Personal Boundary’ Tool After Virtual Sexual Assault Allegation

<div id="highlights-block_61fb0ff4a56f1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Meta said it faces “headwinds from both increased competition for people’s time and a shift of engagement”</li>
 <li>Zuckerberg said the company would release a “high-end” virtual reality headset by the end of the year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>





In an earnings call that underwhelmed Wall Street expectations, Facebook parent Meta disclosed a loss of more than $10 billion from the company’s first forays into the metaverse.



The spending, via Meta’s recently formed Reality Labs Division, contributed to a quarterly profit dip of 8%, according to the <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2021/q4/FB-12.31.2021-Exhibit-99.1-Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">company’s accounting</a>. The social media giant warned investors of future “headwinds from both increased competition for people’s time and a shift of engagement.”



Of Meta’s Web3 endeavors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s “path ahead is not perfectly defined,” adding that he’s “confident” in the unprecedented investment in the nascent space.



The mounting costs, however, may just be getting started, considering analysts project the social media giant to spend at least <a href="https://videoweek.com/2021/11/17/the-knock-on-effects-of-facebooks-huge-metaverse-spending/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$60 billion</a> to carry out its full metaverse vision.&nbsp;



In the company’s first earnings report since rebranding from Facebook to Meta, Zuckerberg also said the company is planning to release a “high-end” virtual reality headset by year-end.



Meta reported revenue of $2.3 billion from Reality Labs in 2021. Daily active users — a key growth metric for social media companies — fell in line with analyst expectations of 1.95 billion, blocking in at 1.93 billion.



Zuckerberg previously said the company’s spend in the space would focus on virtual and augmented reality efforts.



Facebook and Instagram have additionally both recently been <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/report-meta-will-incorporate-nfts-into-ambitious-metaverse-plans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">linked</a> to integrations of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).



Two sources familiar with the matter told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2745d50b-36e4-4c0a-abe0-e93f035b0628" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financial Times</a> that Meta has considered launching an NFT marketplace, as well as allowing users to showcase NFTs on their profiles.



The company’s stock plunged more than 20% after hours to about $249 per share. It is down roughly 4% year-to-date.



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Zuckerberg Still ‘Confident’ In Metaverse Plans Despite Stock’s 20% Slide

<div id="highlights-block_61def8a0cb1d8" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The mixed reality headset is set to launch later this year</li>
 <li>The rumored Apple approach contrasts with the more metaverse-friendly strategy of Facebook after its Meta rebrand</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Apple Inc. is not venturing into the metaverse with their mixed reality headset just yet, according to a <a href="https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1480287090441011200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1480287090441011200%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdesigntaxi.com%2Fnews%2F417333%2FApple-Is-Apparently-Skipping-The-Metaverse-With-Its-New-Mixed-Reality-Headset%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent report</a> from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The tech giant is steering clear of the metaverse with its yet-to-be released product, calling it completely “off limits.”&nbsp;



“Here’s one word I’d be shocked to hear on stage when Apple announces its headset: metaverse,” Gurman said. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I’ve been told pretty directly that the idea of a completely virtual world where users can escape to — like they can in Meta Platforms/Facebook’s vision of the future — is off limits from Apple.”</blockquote>



The headset will reportedly be a mixed augmented and virtual reality headset, designed for “bursts of gaming, communication, and content consumption.” The headset will include two displays, more than a dozen cameras for hand-tracking and will cost a whopping $3,000, The Information previously <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apples-ar-vr-headset-will-need-connection-to-other-device-such-as-iphone" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported.</a>



The mixed reality headset is set to launch later this year, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-21/apple-s-first-vr-headset-to-be-niche-precursor-to-eventual-ar-glasses?sref=HrWXCALa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a> sources. However, the details have not been publicly announced by the trillion-dollar company.



Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/07/kuo-apple-mixed-reality-headset-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predicts</a> that Apple will follow up a headset launch, with a more glasses-like product, in 2025.



By that time, it will be much clearer whether Facebook’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new strategy, as Meta</a>, is paying off. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-ceo-metaverse-will-be-holy-grail-of-social-experiences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has called</a> the metaverse the “holy grail of social experiences,” and the company’s Global Business Group Vice President, Nicola Mendelsohn, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-touts-jobs-in-eu-to-build-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said in October</a> that “openness and interoperability” would be a “key feature.”



Apple shares were slightly higher at 11:55 am ET, and up about 40% over the past 12 months.




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Report Says Apple Won’t Join the Metaverse With its MR Headset

<div id="highlights-block_617af088adede" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company’s shares are trading roughly 3% up, as of press time</li>
 <li>On Monday, Zuckerberg said the company will be spending more than $10 billion on its metaverse division</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Facebook will officially change its corporate name to <a href="https://about.facebook.com/meta" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meta</a>, CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> on Thursday.&nbsp;



According to Zuckerberg, the company decided to rebrand because the name Facebook doesn’t fully align with its future vision, adding that moving forward the tech giant will be “metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.”&nbsp;



“Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA, we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started,” Zuckerberg added at the Facebook Connect virtual reality conference.



During a quarterly earnings call on Monday, Zuckerberg <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-ceo-metaverse-will-be-holy-grail-of-social-experiences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> that the company will be pouring over $10 billion into its metaverse division. They will report a separate set of financials for Facebook Reality Labs, which will oversee the company’s virtual and augmented reality efforts.&nbsp;



“This is not an investment that is going to be profitable for us anytime in the near future,” he said, adding that the company expects to see the $10 billion investment grow even larger in the years to come. “[However, the metaverse will be] the holy grail of social experiences.”



The rebranding announcement comes amid a barrage of ongoing criticism against the multi-billion dollar company. 



Its most recent controversy surrounds thousands of leaked internal documents from whistleblower Frances Haugen&nbsp;which indicate that Facebook deceived its investors and the public about its handling of misinformation and hate speech on its platforms, the Wall Street Journal first <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



However, Zuckerberg told <a href="https://www.theverge.com/22749919/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-meta-company-rebrand" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Verge</a> that the current controversy has &#8220;nothing to bear on this. Even though I think some people might want to make that connection, I think that’s sort of a ridiculous thing. If anything, I think that this is not the environment that you would want to introduce a new brand in.”



According to a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a> from Zuckerberg, the company also said it will trade under a new stock ticker, &#8220;MVRS&#8221;, beginning in early December.&nbsp;



The company’s shares are now trading at $321.23, up 2.88%, as of press time.

Zuckerberg: Facebook’s New Name Will Be Meta

<div id="highlights-block_61771c16784ba" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>CEO Zuckerberg predicted that the company could bring 1 billion people into the metaverse within the next decade</li>
 <li>Facebook expects a total revenue ranging from $31.5 billion to $34 billion in Q4</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Facebook will spend more than $10 billion on its metaverse division, called Facebook Reality Labs, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Monday. The money will go toward augmented and virtual reality products, services and other efforts to “develop the next generation of online social experiences,” he said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“This is a major area of investment for us and an important part of our strategy going forward,” Zuckerberg told investors. “Our goal is to help the metaverse reach a billion people.”</blockquote>



He added that a Facebook metaverse could enable “hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce.”



<h3>Long-term investment</h3>



However, the social media giant does not expect to see profits from the multi-billion dollar investment anytime soon. Zuckerberg said the investment is “long-term” but will eventually “help bring the metaverse to life.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“This is not an investment that is going to be profitable for us anytime in the near future,” he said, adding that the company expects to see the investment grow even further in the next several years. “[However, the metaverse will be] the holy grail of social experiences.”</blockquote>



Additionally, Zuckerberg announced that the company will report a separate set of financials for Facebook Reality Labs, which will oversee the company’s virtual and augmented reality efforts moving forward.&nbsp;



The company&#8217;s revenue increased to $29 billion in Q3 from roughly $21.5 billion on year, missing analysts&#8217; expectations of $29.6 billion. Facebook expects a total revenue ranging from $31.5 billion to $34 billion in Q4, according to its financial <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_news/Facebook-Reports-Third-Quarter-2021-Results-2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>.



“We made good progress this quarter and our community continues to grow,” Zuckerberg said. &#8220;I’m excited about our roadmap, especially around creators, commerce, and helping to build the metaverse.”



Facebook Inc. (FB) shares are up 1.12% at $332.30 during extended trading hours.