Tinder Swipes Left on Metaverse Funding, Digital Token Plans Amid Disappointing Earnings

Tinder parent company Match Group has decided to temporarily draw curtains on its Web3 plans. In the backdrop of disappointing Q2 earnings, Match Group has decided to cut-back on its metaverse funding and Tinder Coin development. Bernard Kim, the CEO of Match Group revealed to his investors that it reported a $10 million (roughly Rs. 80 crore) operating loss due to impairments relating to its Hyperconnect acquisition. Tinder's decision follows the resignation of Renate Nyborg, the company's first female CEO who wanted to introduce the ‘Tinderverse'.

The dating app was looking to bring up this metaverse platform for singles to meet as virtual avatars on digital dates. Unfortunately, this plan by Tinder has currently taken a backseat.

“I believe a metaverse dating experience is important to capture the next generation of users. However, given uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the Metaverse and what will or won't work. I've instructed the Hyperconnect team to iterate but not invest heavily in [the] Metaverse at this time,” said Kim.

Citing ‘mixed results' from Tinder Coin testing as a reason for scrapping it, Kim has said that the company will re-examine the initiative.

Tinder intends to garner more revenue with its Tinder Coin initiative.

“We also intend to do more thinking about virtual goods to ensure that they can be a real driver for Tinder's next leg of growth and help us unlock the untapped power users on the platform,” the report states.

Meanwhile, Tinder has recently emerged as a hotspot for crypto scammers, looking out for potential victims.

In October last year, Sophos cybersecurity researchers identified a Bitcoin wallet filled with tokens worth $1.4 million (roughly Rs. 10 crores) that were collected through scams. The crypto scammers were targeting iPhone users on popular dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble.