The Philippines has topped the list when it comes to interest in the metaverse. It is also home to the largest number of players on the internet according to a Coin Kickoff report.

The Philippines has topped the list when it comes to interest in the metaverse, and it is home to the largest number of Web 3.0 players. According to new research from Coin Kickoff, the Philippines has the most interest in the metaverse. The study analyzed Google searches from 193 different countries. The country registered 2,421 relevant Google searches per 1,000 people.

The Philippines Most Interested in the Metaverse

The business survey highlights that 89% of professionals are open to using the metaverse to improve their productivity, and nearly half believe it will foster a happier work environment.

Additionally, the Global Digital Report 2023 found that 95.8% of Filipino internet users aged 16-64 played video games. According to these figures, the Philippines has the largest population of gamers in the world.

Twitter user @timweb3_ commented that “Phillipines is the country showing the most interest in the Metaverse worldwide!! with 2,421 google search per 1000 people. Support for the metaverse is seen highest within SEA countries, with 5/10 countries expressing positive opinions.”

The survey results are a bit unexpected, given the large number of players who suffered losses during the P2E gaming craze in 2021-2022. Axie Infinity, a product of Sky Mavis Inc., generated 35% of its traffic from within the country.

The reports also noted that most of its 2.5 million daily active users also came from the Philippines. Instead of providing a secondary source of income, though, the game became a source of debt for many Filipino users.

In March last year, Axie Infinity was one of many cryptocurrency projects exploited by hackers. In this particular case, a hacker stole $620 million in cryptocurrency from the bridge that the platform used to exchange assets across different Blockchains. This was a huge loss for the many stakeholders in the project on many levels.

Vietnam and Indonesia also Top the List

Indonesia had the second highest number of gamers, with 94.8% of internet users in the category.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the metaverse, the people of Florida in America are also interested in exploring the metaverse. The state recorded 670 searches per 1,000 people.

This comes with no surprise, considering that more than 75% of Americans, according to McKinsey research, are aware of the metaverse. Meanwhile, 55% use at least one platform that employs their technologies.

Vietnam is also one of the most favorable destinations for the metaverse. In 56.8% of their Twitter tweets about the virtual world, the Vietnamese express the most favorable views of the metaverse. By contrast, Irish citizens are the most doubtful about the metaverse, with 14.4% of tweets criticizing it.

By Audy Castaneda

ETH sank to a two-week low recently. However, ETH staking activity was not massively affected.

The crypto space felt the pinch of another US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling. According to a February 10 tweet from Wu Blockchain, Kraken, the second-largest exchange in the US, “immediately” ceased its cryptocurrency staking platform-as-a-service for US clients:

“The US SEC accused Kraken of failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program and announcing annual investment returns of up to 21 percent. Kraken agreed to stop staking products immediately and pay $30 million in penalties,” read the tweet from Wu Blockchain.

This was done after Kraken was fined $30 million by the SEC, after the former failed to register the offer and sale of its cryptocurrency staking program. Furthermore, Kraken confirmed that it would delist all non-Ethereum [ETH] assets, as delisting ETH would only be possible after the Shanghai Update.

Is the End of Staking Near?

This development came less than 24 hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s speculative tweet, about the future of crypto gambling in the US, sparked FUD in the crypto space. Now that the ruling has been made public, Coinbase has also felt the heat. Its shares plunged about 14% during trading hours on Thursday, its biggest drop since July 2022.

Brian Armstrong took to Twitter again to calm the crypto community, stating that Coinbase would protect its customers from “government reach”:

“We will continue to fight for economic freedom (our mission at Coinbase). Some days, being the most trusted brand in crypto means protecting our customers from government overreach.”

There have been fears about the SEC’s viewing of ETH as a security post in its staking role. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that “whether through staking as a service, lending, or other means, cryptocurrency brokers, when offering investment contracts in exchange for investor tokens, must provide the proper disclosures and safeguards required by our securities laws.”

Should ETH Investors Hit the Panic Button?

The news raised doubts in the minds of ETH investors, which was evident in falling ETH balances on exchanges, according to data from Glassnode. At the same time, the number of daily active addresses also dropped by 5%.

Interestingly, staking activity remained immune to a greater extent, as revealed by the increase in ETH staked. Furthermore, the growth of validators on ETH 2.0 has also increased steadily. However, with more regulatory tightening on the anvil, these key engagement metrics could be in the red in the days ahead.

ETH-weighted sentiment has deepened into the negative territory, which signifies investor unease at this point.

Currently, ETH is down more than 5% to trade at $1547.13. It had been trading in a range since February 20, but was in real danger of breaking down.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell below 50 neutral, which was a negative sign. The moving average convergence/divergence line (MACD) passed below the signal line, paving the way for the bears to retake control. In addition, On Balance Volume (OBV) posted lower lows of late, adding evidence to the bearish idea.

By Audy Castaneda