What comes to mind when one thinks of Italy? Perhaps its cuisine—which has been exported to all corners of the globe—or the espresso, or ancient landmarks like the Colosseum or Tower of Pisa. Maybe luxury brands like Ferrari, Maserati, or Prada enter one’s thoughts.
Crypto and blockchain are about to join that list.
Despite not yet having the reputation of Paris or Miami when it comes to the blockchain industry, Italy is home to a budding scene of successful blockchain-based businesses, young and old. Following a 100-percent rise in Italian companies investing in blockchain projects in 2019, Italy was placed in the top 10 countries in the world for the number of blockchain projects developed.
Then Italy was infamously hit by COVID-19—one of the hardest-hit countries in the world—over the last two years. Still, crypto interest hasn’t declined in the country. A 2021 survey revealed a growing number of Italians are interested in investing in crypto.
Perhaps most telling is the fact that even during Italy’s most famous fashion event in February, which has been around for over 60 years, the Metaverse and NFTs took center stage. German fashion designer Philipp Plein partnered with Portion, an NFT auction house and Metaverse development studio, to unveil the world’s first fashion line created exclusively for the Metaverse at Milan Fashion Week.
To really hit the tech concept home, a humanoid robot introduced the line to the audience.
What NFT and Metaverse enthusiasts took away from this demonstration, however, was a digital buy-as-you-see event that paired a unique NFT with physical sneakers, with the option to convert it into a digital wearable to be used with a Metaverse avatar in Decentraland.
Of course, Plein’s NFTs are only the latest Italian Metaverse wonder, and anything launched in collaboration with a celebrity steals a chunk of the notoriety. But companies such as Italian-based OVER, a community-owned Metaverse leveraging NFTs to…
