Walt Disney seeks corporate lawyer for emerging technologies like NFTs, DeFi and metaverse

Entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company on Sunday posted a new job for an "experienced corporate attorney" to work on transactions involving emerging technologies such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, DeFi (decentralised finance), and the Metaverse. This suggests that it may soon enter metaverse.

Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder of Ethereum Scaling Solution, Polygon took to Twitter and expressed that this was a sign of mass adoption of the industry.

As per the listing on its careers website, Disney is hiring for a Principal Counsel - Corporate Transactions, Emerging Technologies and NFTs to work on the transactions of emerging technologies involving DeFi, NFT, and others.

Disney metaverse

The entertainment conglomerate has been hinting at incorporating theme park metaverse into its offerings.

In 2020, Tilak Mandadi Disney’s former executive vice-president of digital, wrote a LinkedIn post about creating a theme park metaverse, where the “physical and digital world converge” through wearable devices and mobile phones. On December 28, the company received a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office which confirms its ownership towards creating a virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue.

On November 2021, Bob Chapek Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Walt Disney stated that the entertainment conglomerate is preparing to make the technological leap into a virtual reality world first imagined by science fiction writers.

Larger conglomerates dipping their toes into metaverse technologies

Disney is not the first entertainment company to adapt such tech. In 2021, studios including Sony, Warner Bros, and Lionsgate minted NFTs— digital collectibles related to their movies.

Former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar earlier this year suggested on the idea for creating interactive worlds where fans can live and breathe the wizarding world of Harry Potter virtually. In April, Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO of Sony said that the firm is looking to deepen their relationship in the metaverse field.

In January, Warner Music Group announced it will soon launch musical virtual concert in The Sandbox metaverse— featuring artists like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, Cardi B and others.

(This story was updated to reflect a new cover image.)