Whereas some manufacturers moved away from web3 in 2023 throughout a protracted crypto winter, Puma stayed the course and its head of rising expertise, Ivan Dashkov, instructed TechCrunch+ it has no intentions of leaving.
After two years working with web3, Puma’s tech revenues stay modest, however the sportswear producer intends to be prepared for a extra crypto-friendly future. “Web3 is a giant shift in how folks use the web,” Dashkov mentioned. Such adjustments to how the web is used can result in landscape-shifts for manufacturers, one thing that Puma is greater than conscious of.
The corporate “missed the boat” on the large e-commerce and social media waves that occurred up to now few a long time, so it desires to be early on this house, Dashkov defined. “We don’t suppose the best way the house exists as we speak will probably be what it seems to be like in 4 or 5 years, however we need to be prepared.”
In February 2022, Puma registered its first Ethereum Title Service (ENS) area — Puma.eth. ENS domains are fashionable amongst Ethereum customers who need to have accessible addresses, often associated to themselves or a model, as a substitute of copying and pasting a string of randomly generated letters and numbers.
In June 2023, Puma launched Black Station and Black Station 2, which its web site refers to as an “experimental 3D spatial playground,” which is a variety of phrases to mainly describe a metaverse. I examined out the entry web page and located it to be a bit sluggish and complicated. (Disclaimer: I’m not an enormous gamer, so possibly I’m lacking the purpose, however I think about not all Puma followers are both.) Regardless, its metaverse goals to offer customers with a unique option to work together with the model, Dashkov mentioned.
