The Chinese multinational tech giant, Alibaba Group, has partnered with Avalanche, a layer-one blockchain protocol, to deploy metaverse projects on the Avalanche network. Named Cloudverse, the metaverse launcher has been developed to provide an end-to-end platform for businesses to customise and maintain their metaverse spaces in order to find new ways of engaging with customers.
All virtual items and aspects of the virtual world are built on Avalanche and its unique blockchain technology. Alibaba Cloud is providing the infrastructure, including storage, database, and networking, while Avalanche and MUA DAO will provide the solutions needed to develop a full-blown metaverse experience.
The companies claimed that building a metaverse space would take just over a month, and that they would be able to take advantage of Alibaba Cloud’s robust global network, which has been providing reliable and low-latency connectivity to blockchain services, ensuring a smooth user experience in the metaverse. The combined annual active user numbers of Alibaba Group’s consumer-facing businesses in China are said to be over 1 billion, creating a potentially massive opportunity to onboard scores of users and brands into Web3.
As it strengthens its footprint in the Web3 space, Alibaba Cloud recently unveiled plans to accelerate the development of a more inclusive and secure modern Internet powered by blockchain technology. As such, the company last month partnered with Elastos – a leading provider of open source solutions – to build and deploy its next-generation solution. In addition, Alibaba Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding with Sui blockchain developer Misten Labs to develop a sustainable Web3 ecosystem.
Unsurprisingly another retail and tech giant is considering moves in a similar direction – in January this year Amazon Web Services partnered with Ava Labs to try to encourage wider adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises, institutions and governments. And in February, Blockworks reported that Amazon has been making behind-the-scenes efforts to launch its very own digital collectables, or NFTs. We continue to observe.
