A new-age Web 3.0 lifestyle space in Hong Kong, dubbed The Metacade, is the latest brainchild from the Pong Group, combining NT art with arcade gaming and entertainment. “Pong Group has a strong track record of integrating new technologies into more traditional spaces. After extensive research into Web3.0, we’ve found blockchain technology to be a keystone development and want to establish our group as a front-runner in this newly opened space,” Ronald Chiu, chairman and president of Pong
ng Group, told Inside Retail.
The company aims to become the first physical Web3.0 hub to effectively integrate traditional art, NFT art, NFT communities, cryptocurrencies and premium food and beverage operations in a nightlife scenario all under one roof.
Education matters
Pong’s foray into the metaverse sets itself apart from the rest of the nightlife scene in Hong Kong. However, the complexity and hurdles for companies to grow in this space are still there.
“This space is developing at a rapid pace but there are still way too many barriers to entry. From opening a wallet to purchasing crypto to owning your first NFT – this whole process is strenuous and littered with an abundance of fees (gas, exchange, royalties, etc),” Chiu said.
While Web3.0 technologies have been dominated by the North American and European markets, Chiu expects Asian markets like Hong Kong to catch up very soon.
The Metacade will introduce Web3.0 “takeovers” from carefully curated NFT communities and internationally decorated artists, directing global attention towards this initiative.
The overall vision
12VE is a movement created by Metacade, a collection of 6,000 Genesis NFTs living on the Ethereum blockchain. Each piece is unique, giving buyers access to whitelists, peer to peer games, NFT partnerships, offline collaborations and more as the ecosystem develops.
To put in layman terms, 12VE is the web3.0 vision for the Metacade concept, with unique artworks that are part of the Genesis NFT collection. It’s all about creating exclusivity in a saturated marketplace.
“NFT projects are essentially built upon two core principles: utility and community. 12VE’s utility speaks for itself as it will be the driving force behind the Metacade’s development. However, for the 12VE project to truly grow into our vision, we need to develop a supportive, hungry and ambitious community,” Chiu added.
NFT safety
For anyone who has been following this Web 3.0 space, cryptocurrencies and NFTs, there has been a lot of bad press regarding theft of assets, botched transactions and intellectual property theft as well.
Thus, safety of transactions via NFTs is quite a big topic in the space as there is always fear, uncertainty and doubts in the marketplace. Web3.0 has seen Discord hacks, phishing attacks and electronic wallet intrusions.
“We’re entering a new era where Web3.0 technology is constantly experiencing updates, revisions, and sadly – exploitations,” Chiu noted.
“With every new development, there’s a shrewd new outlaw who can and will take advantage of the system for their own personal benefit.”