South Korea’s Ifland metaverse marked its first anniversary by announcing Ifland 2.0, which will feature an economy that allows users to earn profits in the metaverse, its operator telecommunications giant SK Telecom said Tuesday.

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Fast facts

• The Ifland 2.0 economy will reward users who complete attendance thresholds and in-metaverse missions with points that can later have “cash-like utility.” Users will also be able to donate to others for hosting meetings on the metaverse.

• The upgrade also plans to allow users to design and sell costumes and items for profit. The new features will be launched in the third quarter of this year, according to SK Telecom.

• South Korea continues to ban play-to-earn features in video games on concerns over promoting speculation, which is currently not applicable to metaverses.

• SK Telecom plans to launch the Ifland metaverse, with more than 8.7 million mobile downloads, globally within the second half of this year. The telecommunications giant is also developing an e-wallet for managing cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

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