Tinder stops metaverse and cryptocurrency

There was interest for a while, but Tinder has now swung to the left. Parent company Match has decided to stop the development of its own metaverse and cryptocurrency.

No Tinderverse

On the one hand, it does sound interesting to find the love of your life/night in a completely digital 3D world, but on the other hand, you are just sitting on the john, killing time. And a flick of the wrist is hard enough.

Plenty of relationships have come to life on Tinder, and there are also plenty of couples who have met through 3D worlds. For example, think of couples from the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Combining these two and a Tinderverse sounds so crazy, but it was not to be.

Tinder invested billions

Tinder’s parent company Match Group finally pulled the plug on the idea of Metaverse dating. Purely looking at the costs, effort, and time, this is a shame. Match Group was already on date 10, and had hope for a happy ending. They bought Hyperconnect for a considerable sum.

Match paid over 1.5 billion euros for the Seoul-based company. The idea was that Hyperconnect could build a bridge between Tinder and the Metaverse. The South Korean company made its name with VR, AI, and AR. They continue to adapt their technology for Match’s various businesses, but you won’t have to expect a Tinderverse anytime soon.

Dating in metaverse postponed

Top executives of Match and Tinder Gary Swidler (really) and Bernard Kim write in the quarterly report:

“I believe a metaverse dating experience is important to capture the next generation. Users and Hyperconnect are innovating in this area. However, given the uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or will not work, as well as the more challenging work environment, we will not invest heavily in metaverse at this time. We will continue to carefully evaluate this space, and we will consider moving forward at the right time when we have more clarity on the overall opportunity and feel we have a service that is well-positioned to succeed.”

No Tinder Coins either

In the background, Tinder was also working on its own cryptocurrency called Tinder Coins. Bernard Kim writes that crypto is not going to help the company any further. At least, at the moment. Chances are that the next bull run will see the crypto-balloon being pulled out again.

“After seeing mixed results from testing Tinder Coins, we have decided to take a step back and re-examine that initiative so that it can more effectively contribute to Tinder’s revenue. We also plan to think more about virtual goods to ensure they can be a real driver of Tinder’s next growth phase and help us unlock the untapped power of users on the platform.”

Ambitious purchase

Match bought Hyperconnect in July 2021, in the middle of the bull run. Everything revolved around web3, metaverse, and NFTs. Shar Dubey, former CEO of Match Group said at the time:

“Hyperconnect’s forward-looking technology has already developed new ways for the next generation to make friends and engage with new people, regardless of borders and language barriers. Our immediate goal is to accelerate Hyperconnect’s growth while implementing their technology into our portfolio and ensuring that people around the world have access to the best products to meet new people and create enjoyable connections.”

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  • Steven Gray

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