Since Facebook announced its rebranding to Meta and revealed the project to build an innovative social metaverse, the interest in the metaverse continues to grow rapidly. So, what a metaverse is? Which business opportunities does it offer? And what is the blockchain’s role?
In 1992, the term “Metaverse” was introduced in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, a science fiction novel that described a virtual space where individuals could interact and explore through digital avatars. According to the author’s concept, the metaverse is a digital layer that integrates virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and serves as a bridge between the physical world and cyberspace.
Since then, Tech companies are now developing the necessary technologies to bring it to life. Although all necessary features for a metaverse already exist, widespread adoption may take 5-10 years due to accessibility, security, and talent challenges.
In addition, the lack of clear definitions can cause confusion between a metaverse and virtual reality (VR), which are not the same thing. VR provides users with a simulated experience that is typically facilitated through specialized devices, while a metaverse is a shared virtual world where users can interact with each other, with or without VR technology.
Many online games allow users to interact and share a virtual space, but they do not meet the criteria of a metaverse and are better classified as online worlds.
So, what exactly is a metaverse?
A metaverse is a 3D virtual space that is finite and shared among users, allowing them to interact with one another through personalized avatars. Within the metaverse, users can own and trade digital and physical assets, engage in real-time socialization, and conduct business using a shared economy that connects to the real world. This interconnected digital environment creates a new frontier for immersive experiences and opportunities for entrepreneurship.
A Metaverse must be viable and provide uninterrupted service and be free to access and disconnect from. Ideally, users can interact through the desktop and mobile. However, they can support VR/AR to provide a sensory experience. In addition, a metaverse must have a robust metaeconomy to support its payment and settlement systems. This economy provides the foundation for users to buy, sell, and trade digital and physical assets, creating an interconnected financial system that links the metaverse to the real world. By supporting a metaeconomy, the metaverse can offer a level of economic viability that can attract entrepreneurs and users alike.
The role of blockchain in Metaverse
The use of blockchain technology in a metaverse can address security, privacy, and data control concerns. By implementing blockchain technology, the metaverse can offer a secure and decentralized environment for users to engage with. Blockchain technology enables thousands of nodes to interact in a real-time synchronized network, ensuring security and immutability.
Blockchain can also be used to integrate an ecosystem for the metaverse economy, allowing ownership of digital and physical assets through non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency. Smart contracts can regulate economic, legal, and social relationships among metaverse participants, providing a secure, traceable, and transparent payment method for individuals and institutions alike. This creates a unique opportunity for crypto payments in the metaverse.
Blockchain can also play a crucial role in the development of decentralized governance structures within the metaverse. Users can participate in the governance of the metaverse through blockchain-based voting systems and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), without relying on a centralized authority. Additionally, blockchain can provide a secure and transparent way for creators and users to monetize their content and creations within the metaverse, creating a new economy within the metaverse and allowing for more equitable distribution of wealth and ownership.
Metaverse Business Opportunities
Following the advent of the internet, businesses began to undergo a process of digital transformation, expanding their operations online through the creation of websites and leveraging social media platforms to increase their visibility and drive sales. Metaverses bring to the next step: business virtualization, offering unprecedented opportunities for companies to interact with customers and stakeholders in a virtual environment.
Business virtualization can increase engagement, create new markets and a new branch of the economy, and a new level of communication and socialization, enhancing the customer experience. Furthermore, the metaverse can completely disrupt the marketing sector, impacting how we promote and advertise our products and services.
The metaverse offers numerous business opportunities across various industries. Here are a few examples:
- Gaming and entertainment: The metaverse provide a new way to create and consume gaming and entertainment content. Game developers can create immersive experiences and monetize them through in-game purchases or metaverse assets. Entertainment companies can create virtual events and experiences that reach a global audience.
- Real estate: In the metaverse, virtual lands can be owned and developed, creating opportunities for virtual real estate businesses. Investors can buy and sell virtual lands or properties, and developers can build and sell virtual structures.
- Retail: The metaverse offers a new platform for retail businesses to sell their products. Virtual storefronts can be created, and virtual items can be sold as NFTs. Retailers can also use the metaverse to create immersive shopping experiences.
- Education and training: The metaverse can be used as a platform for immersive education and training experiences. Educational institutions can create virtual classrooms, and companies can use the metaverse to train employees in a virtual environment.
- Advertising and marketing: The metaverse provide a new way to reach consumers through immersive advertising and marketing experiences. Brands can create virtual experiences that allow consumers to interact with their products or services.
The metaverse offers many untapped business opportunities that will continue to emerge as it develops and becomes more accessible. One such opportunity is the emerging business model of play-to-earn, which combines gaming with the ability to make money. Players are compensated for spending time and effort in the game, creating a new concept of earning money through play. An example of a blockchain-based metaverse utilizing this model is The Sandbox, which allows users to own digital assets through NFTs and monetize their land by building games and events, renting their land, and creating NFTs. The Sandbox’s native token, $SAND, is used for purchasing and governance within the metaverse.
The Value of the Metaverse Market
According to the Metaverse Insider report, the global metaverse market was estimated to be worth around $148 billion in 2022. The report states that the market experienced a significant surge in growth due to increased investment and interest from both individual and institutional investors. This growth was mainly driven by the rise of blockchain-based metaverse platforms and applications, which are providing users with new opportunities for social interaction, gaming, and commerce.
The report suggests that the metaverse market is expected to continue its rapid growth in the coming years, with a projected value of $280 billion by 2024. This growth is expected to be driven by the increasing adoption of virtual and augmented reality technologies, the growing popularity of blockchain-based metaverse platforms, and the emergence of new business models such as play-to-earn gaming.
Overall, the metaverse market is expected to play a significant role in the future of the global economy, with many industries and businesses looking to leverage the opportunities presented by this new frontier in digital technology.
As more companies enter the metaverse space, offering a range of products and services, the market is expected to become increasingly competitive. Companies will need to innovate and differentiate their offerings to stand out in the crowded market. However, the potential benefits of the metaverse, including increased engagement, new revenue streams, and immersive experiences, are expected to continue driving growth and interest in the space.
The future of the blockchain economy
Blockchain technology debuted in the financial industry, creating new economies and business models in various sectors. The capability to tokenise and monetise a project is impacting even other sectors such as the supply chain, real estate, and gaming with the new paradigm of play-to-earn. However, the blockchain economy is still in its early stages and faces several challenges, including technical, social, legal, and ethical concerns, which hinder its mass adoption.
A metaverse can be a place where all these projects can converge and obtain visibility and a more concrete shape. It can be seen as an interface that links the real and virtual worlds, sharing the same cryptoeconomy. A metaverse can promote synergy and collaboration among crypto corporates, thriving mass adoption.
I believe that the app killer will be a hardware device that can be worn in every social contest. A sort of wearable light computer with high performance that will replace our smartphones, connecting us to the metaconomics, the economy of the metaverse.
Blockchain combined with other emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, quantum computers, VR and AR devices and sensors is leading us towards virtualisation and the Metaverse Era. Furthermore, it is leading the economy toward cryptoeconomics and metaconomics.
Author Salvatore Cambule is publishing under alias “Meta Salvo” Metaverse Contest Strategist.
https://www.youtube.com/@meta_salvo