Meta reportedly considers cutting metaverse budget by up to 30%

Meta is considering its largest budget reduction for its metaverse division since the company's 2021 rebranding, The Block reported. An internal proposal includes a plan to cut the budget for Reality Labs (FRL), the company's metaverse-focused unit, by up to 30% by 2026. While CEO Mark Zuckerberg has maintained his commitment to the metaverse, the report notes that Meta has recently shifted focus toward generative AI and more commercially viable hardware, such as its AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses. This comes as the metaverse-related cryptocurrency market has effectively collapsed. The sector's total market capitalization has plummeted from over $500 billion at the start of the year to approximately $3.4 billion. Major tokens like The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA) are trading near all-time lows, while Render (RENDER) has fallen below a $1 billion market cap and out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies.