Online dating app Tinder has gone cold on its plans to hook up with the metaverse – at least temporarily – after parent company Match Group recorded “disappointing” second quarter earnings.
In-App Currency Also Shelved
Match Group is also shelving its plans to offer in-app Tinder Coins currency, while in another corporate blow, Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg has announced she will be leaving the company after less than 12 months in the job.
With Tinder’s Q2 share price down 22 percent, Match Group’s 2021 acquisition of artificial intelligence and augmented reality firm Hyperconnect has resulted in an operating loss of US$10 million.
Although year-on-year growth in total revenue increased by 12 percent, earnings failed to meet analysts’ expectations. Nyborg had unveiled the firm’s ambitious ‘Tinderverse’ project after acquiring Hyperconnect, but Match Group CEO Bernard Kim said the dating app would be treading carefully in light of uncertainty in the space.
“I believe a metaverse dating experience is important to capture the next generation of users and Hyperconnect has been innovating in this area,” Kim said.
However, given a more challenging operating environment, I’ve instructed the Hyperconnect team to iterate but not invest heavily in [the] metaverse at this time.
Bernard Kim, CEO, Match Group
As for the Tinder Coins initiative, first floated in October last year, the idea was to encourage users to spend more time swiping, scrolling and subsequently spending real money on Tinder, at least initially in the US.
The in-app currency was part of Tinder’s efforts to create an experience beyond its traditional “swipe left or right” signature interactive method. The feature was soft-launched in February this year but its future is now uncertain.
We’ll continue to evaluate this space carefully, and we will consider moving forward at the appropriate time when we have more clarity on the overall opportunity and feel we have a service that is well-positioned to succeed.
Bernard Kim, CEO, Match Group
Another Romantic Entanglement
Last year, Tinder and other dating apps Bumble and Grindr were targeted by a crypto-related trading scam known as CryptoRom. A Bitcoin wallet belonging to the attackers, as detected by cybersecurity firm Sophos with the aid of one victim, revealed that nearly US$1.4 million in cryptos had been harvested by the scam as at October 2021.
Disclaimer:
The content and views expressed in the articles are those of the original authors own and are not necessarily the views of Crypto News. We do actively check all our content for accuracy to help protect our readers. This article content and links to external third-parties is included for information and entertainment purposes. It is not financial advice. Please do your own research before participating.
Credit: Source link
