The European Union has been vocal about its place in the rapidly expanding ecosystem of emerging technologies.
It has been a leader in establishing clear crypto regulations with its long-awaited Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework signed into law in late May. The EU has also been pushing forward on creating regulations for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Most recently, on July 11, the European Commission released its latest plan to take the lead in metaverse development and prevent Big Tech from becoming too dominant in an economically viable sector.
A European vision of the metaverse
The latest EU proposal estimated that the global market size for metaverse developments will exceed 800 billion euro by 2030, compared with its end-of-year value of 27 billion in 2022. McKinsey’s latest report on the state of the metaverse even has an estimated value of $5 trillion in the same timeframe.
According to the commission’s initiative, it wants to get ahead on metaverse development to reflect EU values and fundamental rights, along with a push for openness and interoperability.
Margrethe Vestager, the vice president of the European Commission, said the EU needs to have “people at the center” in order to shape it according to its principles.
“We want to make sure Web 4.0 becomes an open, secure, trustworthy, fair and inclusive digital environment for all.”
The commission held European Citizens’ Panels in February and April of 2023, which focused on the metaverse. It aimed to formulate suggestions for a “vision, principles, and actions” that ensure EU-based virtual worlds are fair.
According to the commission, 140 EU citizens were randomly selected for participation, which resulted in 23 recommendations that guided the strategy.
Integrating digital and real worlds is no longer science fiction.
Early this year, 140 European citizens put forward 23 recommendations to guide the development of human-centric, secure and trusted virtual worlds.
See how they helped shape our new strategy on virtual worlds ↓
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 11, 2023
The current pillars that the EU has decided on for its metaverse strategy include empowerment and reinforcing skills to create a pool of specialists in the field of virtual worlds, supporting an EU Web4 on a business level, supporting societal progress and virtual public services, and shaping standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds.
But wait, what is Web4?
The European Commission’s tweet about its pillars for virtual worlds and Web4 strategy garnered a mixed response from users, with many asking what Web4 means, and other’s joking about developing Web5 and Web6 already.
According to the strategy, Web4 is distinguished from Web3 by integration with the real world. The commission’s statement recognizes that Web3 is still “currently developing,” with its main features being openness, decentralization and user empowerment.
“The next generation, Web 4.0, will allow an integration between digital and real objects and environments, and enhanced interactions between humans and machines.”
For the EU, Web4 could look like the introduction of smart cities with the right underlying infrastructure in place.
It is already investing in initiatives such as Destination Earth (DestinE) and Local Digital Twins for smart communities, as well as the European Digital Twin of the Ocean, which is said to allow researchers to advance science for the development of precision applications and help public authorities to make informed public-policy decisions on related issues.
Related: Animoca still bullish on blockchain games, awaits license for metaverse fund
The commission also included “advanced artificial and ambient intelligence, the internet of things, trusted blockchain transactions, virtual worlds and XR capabilities, digital and real objects and environments” as full integrations in Web4 that will set it apart from Web3.
It claims this will enable a “truly intuitive, immersive experience, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds.”
On July 5, the European Blockchain Sandbox, which is part of its smart cities initiative, unveiled its first 20 use cases.
EU regulations in place
At the moment, Vestager said there are no current metaverse regulations drafted. However, she expects various other rules already in place to affect it, such as privacy, market power and forthcoming AI regulations.
As previously mentioned, the EU has recently signed its groundbreaking MiCA regulations into law, which became one of the world’s first comprehensive sets of rules to regulate the crypto industry.
On July 12, the European Securities and Markets Authority announced that it plans to release three consultative papers on its MiCA standards for crypto asset service providers while it fulfills its mandate under MiCA regulations.
There are already questions regarding the regulations’ policies on stablecoins and the exclusion of decentralized finance in the published regulations.
In addition to its recently published crypto legislation, the EU has been working on regulations that will affect the AI industry. On June 14, the European Parliament passed the EU AI Act, which would force tools like ChatGPT to disclose all AI-generated content and other measures against illegal content.
The race against big tech
All of these initiatives with virtual worlds and regulations for emerging technologies come as Big Tech companies like Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple and Google work on their own versions of the metaverse and AI tools.
The EU clearly stated in its metaverse strategy that virtual worlds will not be “dominated by a few big players” and should be “driven by open technologies.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was openly committed to developing its own metaverse world accessible through its virtual reality headsets. However, by the end of 2022, the company lost billions due to its metaverse division.
In 2022, Microsoft announced a $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the gaming industry’s key players.
Most recently, Apple dropped its latest version of its virtual reality goggles, the Vision Pro. However, instead of positioning them for use in the metaverse, it chose to use the wording “spatial computing.”
Magazine: Experts want to give AI human ‘souls’ so they don’t kill us all
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency. The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies. While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past. According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975. Source: Web.archive.org Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership. The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January. Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system. Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset “At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert. “Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding: “What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.” However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said. Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan. Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person. Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day. Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up. On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication. Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data. The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020. “US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.” Source: Anthony Scaramucci On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries. Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods. Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected. Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding. Source: Jeff Dorman Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty. Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.” Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data. Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set
The cost of having staff is going up this Sunday as the increase in employers’ national insurance kicks in. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the October budget employers will have to pay a 15% rate of national insurance contributions (NIC) on their employees from 6 April – up from 13.8%. She also lowered the threshold at which employers pay NIC from £9,100 a year to £5,000 a year, meaning they start paying at an earlier point on staff salaries. This is on top of the national minimum wage rising, the business relief rate for hospitality, retail and leisure reducing from 75% to 40% and the rising cost of ingredients and services. Sky News spoke to people working in some of the industries that will be hardest hit by the rise in NIC: Nurseries, hospitality, retail, small businesses and care. NURSERIES Nearly all (96% of 728) nurseries surveyed by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said they will have no choice but to put up fees because of the NIC rise, leaving parents to pick up the shortfall. The NDNA has warned nurseries could close due to the rise, with 14% saying their business is at risk, 69% reducing spending on resources and 39% considering offering fewer places with government-funded hours as 92% said they do not cover their costs. Sarah has two children, with her youngest starting later this month, but they were just informed fees will now be £92 a day – compared with £59 at the same nursery when her eldest started five years ago. “I’m not sure how we will afford this. Our salaries haven’t increased by 50% during this time,” she said. “We’re stuck as there aren’t enough nursery spaces in our area, so we will have to struggle.” Karen Richards, director of the Wolds Childcare group in Nottinghamshire, has started a petition to get the government to exempt private nurseries – the majority of providers – from the NIC changes as she said it is unfair nurseries in schools do not have to pay the NIC. She told Sky News she will have to find about £183,000 next year to cover the increase across her five nurseries and reducing staff numbers is “not off the table” but it is more likely they will reduce the number of children they have. Joeli Brearley, founder of the Pregnant Then Screwed campaign group, told Sky News: “Parents are already drowning in childcare costs, and now, thanks to the national insurance hike, nurseries are passing even more fees on to families who simply can’t afford it. “It’s the same story every time – parents pay the price while the government looks the other way. How exactly are we meant to ‘boost the economy’ when we can’t even afford to go to work?” Purnima Tanuku, executive chair of the NDNA, said staffing costs make up about 75% of nurseries’ costs and they will have to find £2,600 more per employee to pay for the NIC rise – £47,000 for an average nursery. “The government says it wants to offer ‘cheaper childcare’ for parents on the one hand but then with the other expects nurseries to absorb the costs of National Insurance Contributions themselves,” she told Sky News. “High-quality early education and care gives children the best start in life and enables parents to work. The government must invest in this vital infrastructure to make sure nurseries can continue to deliver this social and economic good.” HOSPITALITY The hospitality industry has warned of closures, price rises, lack of growth and shorter opening hours. Dan Brod, co-owner of The Beckford Group, a small southwest England restaurant and country pub/hotel group, said the economic situation now is “much worse” than during COVID. The group has put plans for two more projects on hold and Mr Brod said the only option is to put up prices, but with the rising supplier costs, wages, business rates and NIC hike they will “stay still” financially. Read more: He told Sky News: “What we’re nervous about is we’re still in the cost of living crisis and even though our places are in very wealthy areas of the country, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bath, people are feeling the situation in their pockets, people are going out less.” Mr Brod said they are not getting rid of any staff as their business strongly depends on the quality of their hospitality so they are having to make savings elsewhere. “I’m still optimistic, I still feel that humans need hospitality but we’re not valued as an industry and the social benefit is never taken into account by government.” Aktar Islam, owner/chef at two Michelin-starred Opheem in Birmingham, said the NIC rise will cost him up to £120,000 more in staff costs a year and to maintain the financial position he is in now they would have to make “another million pounds”. He got emails from eight suppliers on Thursday saying they were raising their costs, and said he will have to raise prices but is concerned about the impact on diners. The restaurateur hires four commis chefs to train each year but will not be able to this year, or the next few. “It’s very short-sighted of the government, you’re not going to grow the economy by taxing hospitality out of existence, these sort of businesses are the lifeblood of our economy,” he said. “They think if a hospitality business closes another will open but people know it’s tough, why would they want to do that? It’s not going to happen.” The chef sent hundreds of his “at home” kits to fellow chefs this week for their staff as an acknowledgement of how much of a “s*** show” the situation is – “a little hug from us”. RETAIL Some of the UK’s biggest retailers, including Tesco, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Next, wrote to Rachel Reeves after the budget to say the NIC hike would lead to higher consumer prices, smaller pay rises, job cuts and store closures. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), representing more than 200 major retailers and brands, said the costs are so significant neither small or large retailers will be able to absorb them. Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, told the Treasury committee in November that job losses due to the NIC changes were likely to be higher than the 50,000 forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Nick Stowe, chief executive of Monsoon and Accessorize, said retailers had the choice of protecting staff numbers or cancelling investment plans. He said they were trying to protect staff numbers and would be increasing prices but they would likely have to halt plans to increase store numbers. Helen Dickinson, head of the BRC, told Sky News the national living wage rise and NIC increase will cost businesses £5bn, adding more than 10% to the cost of hiring someone in an entry-level role. A further tax on packaging coming in October means retailers will face £7bn in extra costs this year, she said. “This huge cost burden will undoubtedly reduce investment in stores and jobs and is likely to lead to higher prices,” she added. SMALL BUSINESSES A massive 85% of 1,400 small business owners surveyed by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in March reported rising costs compared with the same time last year, with 47% citing tax as the main barrier to growth – the highest level in more than a decade. Just 8% of those businesses saw an increase in staff numbers over the last quarter, while 21% had to reduce their workforce. Kate Rumsey, whose family has run Rumsey’s Chocolates in Wendover, Buckinghamshire and Thame, Oxfordshire, for 21 years, said the NIC rise, minimum wage increase and business relief rate reduction will push her staff costs up by 15 to 17% – £70,000 to £80,000 annually. To offset those costs, she has had to reduce opening hours, including closing on Sundays and bank holidays in one shop for the first time ever, make one person redundant, not replace short-term staff and introduce a hiring freeze. The soaring price of cocoa has added to her woes and she has had to increase prices by about 10% and will raise them further. She told Sky News: “We’re very much taking more of a short-term view at the moment, it’s so seasonal in this business so I said to the team we’ll just get through Q1 then re-evaluate. “I feel this is a bit about the survival of the fittest and many businesses won’t survive.” Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the FSB, said the NIC rise “holds back growth” and has seen small business confidence drop to its lowest point since the first year of the pandemic. With the “highest tax burden for 70 years”, she called on the chancellor to introduce a “raft of pro-small business measures” in the autumn budget so it can deliver on its pledge for growth. She reminded employers they can claim the Employment Allowance, which has doubled after an FSB campaign to take the first £10,500 off an employer’s annual bill. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player National Insurance rise impacts carers CARE The care sector has been warning the government since the October that budget care homes will be forced to close due to the financial pressures the employers’ national insurance rise will place on them. Care homes receive funding from councils as well as from private fees, but as local authorities feel the squeeze more and more their contributions are not keeping up with rising costs. The industry has argued without it the NHS would be crippled. Raj Sehgal, founding director of ArmsCare, a family-run group of six care homes in Norfolk, said the NIC increase means a £360,000 annual impact on the group’s £3.6m payroll. In an attempt to offset those costs, the group is scrapping staff bonuses and freezing management salaries. It is also considering reducing day hours, where there are more staff on, so the fewer numbers of night staff work longer hours and with no paid break. Mr Sehgal said: “But what that does do unfortunately, is impact the quality you’re going to be able to provide, at a time when we need to be improving quality, but something has to give. “The government just doesn’t seem to understand that the funding needs to be there. You cannot keep enforcing higher costs on businesses and not be able to fund those without actually finding the money from somewhere.” He said the issue is exacerbated by the fact local authority funding, despite increasing to 5%, will not cover the 10% rise. “It’s going to be a really, really tough ride. And we are going to see a number of providers close their doors,” he warned. Nadra Ahmed, executive co-chair of the National Care Association, said those who receive, or are waiting to access, care as well as staff will feel the impact the hardest. “As providers see further shortfalls in the commissioning of care services, they will start to limit what they can do to ensure their viability or, as a last resort exit the market,” she said. “This is very short-sighted, with serious consequences, which alludes to the understanding of this government.” Government decided to ‘wipe the slate clean’ A Treasury spokesperson told Sky News the government is “pro-business” but has “taken the difficult but necessary decisions to wipe the slate clean and properly fund our public services after years of declines”. “Our budget choices have already delivered an NHS with falling waiting lists, a £3.7bn rescue package for social care, and vital protection for Britain’s small businesses,” they said. “We’re making tough choices today to secure a better tomorrow through our Plan for Change. By investing in economic growth and early years education while capping corporation tax, we’re putting more money in working people’s pockets and giving every child the best start in life.” ‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series Story injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game Game 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history MLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea Game-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike Bank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway
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Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, said parents are yet again having to pay the price for the government’s actions. Pic: Pregnant Then Screwed
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Dan Brod, co-owner of The Beckford Group, said the government does not value hospitality as an industry. Pic: The Beckford Group
Chef/owner Aktar Islam, who runs Opheem in Birmingham, said the rise will cost him up to £120,000 more this year. Pic: Opheem
Big retailers have warned the NIC rise will lead to higher prices, job cuts and store closures. File pic: PA
Kate Rumsey, who runs Rumsey’s Chocolates in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, said they are being forced to take a short-term view to survive. Pic: Rumsey’s Chocolates
Raj Sehgal said his family-owned group of care homes will need £360,000 extra this year for the NIC hike
