London, 27th June 2022: Gamified metaverse platform Virtua celebrates a prestigious accolade for its industry-leading NFT marketplace at Web3 DeCode, the inaugural celebration of all things Web3 in Dubai.
The exhibition came to a close on Sunday the 26th of June, and culminated in an awards ceremony celebrating innovators in the industry. Web3 DeCode provided insights into the future of technology in a Web3 world, trending topics, and the potential of NFTs in virtual and digital environments.
Hosted by Gulf News, the two-day event was dedicated to raising awareness of what “a digitally dependent future could possibly look like.” Exhibitions included NFT masterclasses, VR experiences, and digital art collections.
A total of 15 awards were given to some of the best and brightest in the industry, selected by a jury of industry experts who chose their winners based not only on their credentials, but also insights from visitors who attended the event.
The first set of eight jury-based awards were awarded by Dr Marwan Al Zarouni, CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center, and the People’s Choice Award categories were given out by Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Gulf News CEO and Editor-in-Chief, in the second session.
Among several other categories, awards were given to the most seamless collaboration of an NFT between two or more creators, the most creative and iconic NFT project by a celebrity, and the best NFT marketplace (won by Virtua), which from both a user experience and visual perspective created the top place to buy and sell NFTs.
Artists nominated included Amrita Sethi and Sarah Alagroobi, who both have work available on the Virtua NFT Marketplace.
Paul Wallis, Virtua’s Head of Art, said: “For the jury and members of the public to choose our platform as the Best NFT Marketplace at Web3 DeCode is a huge honour.
We’re taking significant steps into the Web3 world with our soon-to-launch metaverse, and we are incredibly proud that our efforts are being recognised by the industry. We will display our giant purple model gorilla with pride at the Virtua office.
Web3 DeCode was a soft launch of what’s yet to come for our partnership with Gulf News. We cannot divulge too much information, but we can say that we are buzzing! Watch this space!”
GULF NEWS WEB3 AWARDS 2022
JURY-BASED AWARDS
- Best VR/AR Project – Winner: The Theatre of Digital Art (TODA)
- Best NFT Collaboration/Web3.0 Project – Winner: Binance Pay by Binance & Majid Al Futtaim
- Best Celebrity NFT – Winner: Dame Tessy de Nassau, formerly Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, and Thomas Iser for “Universal Humanity”
- Best NFT Marketplace – Winner: Virtua
- Best in Gaming – Winner: Beat My Team
- Women in NFTs/ Web3.0 Award – Winner: Ghizlan Guenez & Hajar Ouhsine for Queen Mode
- Best Traditional NFT Artist – Winner: Abdullah Qandeel
- Most Innovative NFT – Winner: Ethernal Gates by Kristel Bechara from Arts DAO.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
- Best Emerging NFT Artist – Winner: Petra Kaltenbach
- Best Utility NFT – Winner: Race Kingdom
- Best Upcoming Blockchain Innovation – Winner: Bonuz Market
- Best Design-Led NFT – Winner: DIFC Mural by Amrita Sethi
- Best Blockchain Entrepreneur – Winner: Carl Runefelt
- Best Fashion Project – Winner: Celestial Collection by Bored Puma
- Editor’s Choice Award for the Best Fine Art NFT – Winner: Artfi
About Virtua
Founded in 2017, Virtua is a gamified metaverse which provides immersive social, Web3 gaming, digital collectible and interactive experiences, through its curated marketplace, interactive virtual environments and exclusive brand partnerships.
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