TechFlow reported on January 8 that, according to CoinDesk, Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum has awarded its largest-ever developer grant to South Korea's Lotte Group, although a company representative declined to disclose the specific amount "at this stage." Technically, the grant was issued by the nonprofit Arbitrum Foundation, which regularly distributes funding in ARB tokens to support Lotte's metaverse gaming platform Caliverse and solidify Arbitrum's position as its primary blockchain infrastructure provider.
Lotte Group is a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that first showed interest in the metaverse back in 2022 and formed a strategic partnership with Arbitrum last year. Caliverse serves as Lotte’s experimental platform for exploring artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain technology, where users can experience virtual shopping, concerts, and various other media content. Currently, Caliverse has partnered with brands including 7-Eleven, Tomorrowland music festival, Givenchy, and MCM.
