Zurich-based Space is building a virtual-reality platform for arts and commerce. Other investors in the US$7-million round include CoinFund and Digital Currency Group. (CoinDesk)

Talking point: The metaverse—broadly, a virtual world with a real-time interface and its own culture and economy—has been an increasingly hot area for investors in recent months. That has benefited crypto companies like Vancouver-based Dapper Labs, whose Flow blockchain is designed with applications such as gaming in mind. Some investors have paid enormous amounts for property in digital worlds that use cryptocurrencies to verify ownership of digital items. The cheapest plots of land in metaverse platform Decentraland, for example, are now selling for nearly $18,000, while a digital mega-yacht in The Sandbox sold in November for US$650,000.