Walmart has designs on crypto. Literally.
Filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office dated December 30 appear to show the world’s largest retailer is planning a push into Web3.
You can view the filing here, but the screenshot (below) captures the gist of it.
That’s a lot of crypto. If you scan the filing, you’ll find mentions of “downloadable computer software for use in electronically trading, storing, sending, receiving, accepting and transmitting digital currencies and non-fungible tokens,” as well as myriad references to blockchain-based assets.
CNBC, which flagged the filings on Sunday morning, cited a trademark attorney who called the plans “super intense.” The same lawyer suggested Facebook’s rebranding effort sparked a veritable gold rush for virtual real estate in the metaverse.
I’m reminded of Wilbur Ross’s moon gas station. Vying for property in the metaverse is a lot like lunar land-grabbing, except that the moon actually exists, whereas the metaverse doesn’t, not even in the sense that people like Mark Zuckerberg insist it will in the future. Strictly speaking, it won’t ever “exist.”
In that context, the C-suite’s meta mentality, as described by the same attorney, is supremely ironic. “Everyone is like, ‘This is becoming super real,'” he said.
Last year, Walmart began offering Bitcoin at some of its in-store kiosks. “Coinstar, in partnership with Coinme, has launched a pilot that allows its customers to use cash to purchase Bitcoin,” Walmart’s communications director told CoinDesk at the time, explaining the program.
Although dry humor doesn’t typically work well on Twitter, I tried:
*WALMART PLANS TO CREATE CRYPTOCURRENCY AND NFTS: CNBC
"We're aiming to be the Walmart of crypto"
— Heisenberg Report (@heisenbergrpt) January 16, 2022
I’m going to hold off on making my first bricks and mortar move in crypto until Dollar Twenty-Five Tree announces their plains.