• The company wants to expand its blockchain team to 100 and is currently hiring personnel in senior positions.

• The NFT-gaming space is seeing increased interest across the globe, with the explosion within the broader NFT ecosystem over 2021 likely to continue this year. 

Mobile gaming giant Zynga is reportedly eyeing a huge entry into the blockchain space and the non-fungible token (NFT) space, according to a new report published on Wednesday.

The online gaming platform is expected to launch an NFT-based game as well as seal some exciting partnerships among other expansion plans, Axios reported.

Zynga is also said to be looking at expanding its blockchain staff, currently at 15, to about 100 by the end of the year.  By this time, the gaming company is expected to launch an NFT-based game targeting whales- most likely a yield-focused offering.

The gaming project will not feature known Zynga brands such as Farmville, sources said.

Zynga’s NFT plans…
– Growing team to 100, mulling acquisitions
– First game this year
– Won’t use big Zynga brands
– Targeting existing NFT gamers who have “investor or whale” POV
– “don’t want to assume that they want a super deep gameplay experience”https://t.co/qwg2ByBW8p

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 9, 2022

On the expansion move, Matt Wolf, Zynga’s head of blockchain, said the firm is looking to recruit senior staff to fill positions related to the upcoming project.

While the outlook wasn’t very clear at the moment, the company is exploring the space and is confident of jumping into the space, Wolf added in comments quoted by Axios.

The NFT market saw more than $20 billion in sales in the past year and the entry of major gaming providers like Zynga could catalyse more investment in the sector.

Benzinga debuted a new show on its YouTube channel one week ago. The show features the top ten events of the previous trading week.

Here are the top ten stock market moving headlines of the past week.

10. Retail Sales Dip: The markets traded lower on the week on the heels of retail sales dropping 1.9% in December. Sales excluding automobiles and gas fell 2.5% in the final month of last year, which is the largest decrease since February 2021.

9. Big Banks Report: Friday marked an important day for quarterly earnings in the world of banking with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) all reporting. The three large banks turned in revenue figures that beat analysts’ estimates. Banking giant Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reports quarterly earnings next week, which could continue to draw attention to bank stocks.

8. Virgin Galactic Shares Fall: Space tourist company Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) saw its shares fall on news of a proposed convertible senior notes offering. The company announced it intends to offer $425 million in convertible senior notes due in 2027. The private offering will raise funds to help with the company’s working capital as it accelerates its spacecraft fleet.

7. AMC CEO Sells Shares: A widely covered news item of the week was the sale of AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) shares by CEO Adam Aron. The sale comes with an asterisk as it was part of a 10b5-1 pre-approved trading plan.

6. Risks are Rising: CPI (consumer price index) Inflation was announced at 7% this week. This marked the highest CPI inflation since 1982 and continued a discussion of what could be done to combat the high inflation the U.S. is experiencing.

5. Nancy Pelosi ETF: While it’s not an official ETF that investors can buy and sell on the market, there is now a Nancy Pelosi ETF. Created by popular fintwit account Unusual Whales, the Nancy Pelosi ETF tracks the transactions of one of the most prominent members of U.S. Congress. Find out more about why Unusual Whales created the ETF and how Pelosi’s picks have performed in an exclusive interview with Benzinga.

4. Tesla Accepts Dogecoin: In a move that has been widely anticipated and begged for by the community, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) began accepting Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) as a form of payment for merchandise on its website. Items listed include a Giga Texas Belt Buckle, Cyberquad for Kids and a Cyberwhistle. The items quickly sold out and DOGE shot higher Friday.

Related Link: How To Buy Dogecoin

3. Tilray Earnings: Cannabis company Tilray Brands Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) reported second quarter earnings during the week. The company saw revenue of $155 million for the quarter, up 20% year-over-year. Tilray reported it would change its name to Tilray Brands to reflect a transition into a portfolio of cannabis and lifestyle brands. For more on Tilray’s earnings, check out Benzinga’s exclusive interview with Tilray CEO Irwin Simon.

2. Bitcoin Drops: One of the big stories to kick off the week was the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) falling below the $40,000 level on Monday. Bitcoin charged higher later in the week and trades at $42,930.88 at the time of writing.

1. Zynga Acquired by Take-Two: The largest video game deal of all-time was announced Monday, with Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) announcing it was acquiring mobile gaming company Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). Take-Two will pay $12.7 billion for Zynga, with the transaction made up of $6.36 in TTWO shares and $3.50 in cash. The deal will make Take-Two one of the largest video game companies in the world, with net bookings expected to grow 14% annually over the next three years.

Disclosure: Author is long shares SPCE.