Legitimising crypto via metaverse
All the buzz is around the metaverse. Maybe you’ve read it is going to replace the internet. Maybe we’re all supposed to live there. Maybe Facebook is trying to take it over. And maybe it’s got something to do with NFTs? And maybe we can use cryptos in the metaverse. Several possibilities but not many answers.
Metaverse is tough to explain as it doesn’t necessarily exist. It’s partly a dream for the future of the internet and partly a way to encapsulate some current trends in online infrastructure, including the growth of real-time 3D worlds. But here is the fun part. Will you start checking your Facebook feed in Fortnite (Free-to-Play Cross-Platform Game) with a pair of augmented reality glasses? Will your friends invite you to cyber-lunch instead of normal lunch? Let me simplify it – there are definitions aplenty but basically, the metaverse is a set of virtual spaces that allows one to create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as one. Something even more interesting is cryptocurrency investors of today are likely to dominate the metaverse, also dubbed the web 3.0, which has the potential to change how we live, interact and do business.
My hunch comes as the race among tech firms to build the ‘metaverse’ has officially got underway. Last month, Facebook announced that it was restructuring and assuming the corporate name, Meta, saying “from now on, we’re going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.” It has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social and economic opportunities. The term gives a virtual parallel to physical reality, where a community of people can interact in the form of avatars. It refers to the merging of physical, augmented, and virtual reality in a shared online environment.
Facebook’s announcement once again underscores that the metaverse is not being seen by those-in-the-know as an ‘extension’ of the internet, but as its successor. It will become the gateway to almost all digital experiences and an integral part of most physical ones, fundamentally altering the way we live, interact with each other and do business. It will revolutionise economies, it will be the key to the creation of whole new generations of companies. Reason why the big tech firms are jumping in – no one wants to be left behind something so monumental.
The metaverse is being built and run on blockchains and decentralised applications, which is the same cutting-edge technology used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Even more important is just how it is reshaping time and money. These virtual worlds will reshape how we spend our time and our money, financial transactions will, of course, have to be digital. This means cryptocurrencies may become the sole legal tender accepted in the metaverse, a huge advantage to anyone investing in crypto today. Prices of major cryptocurrencies may soar in the next few years. As such, those buying now will be taking advantage of the lower entry points. Now, the purchasing power within the digital space can be expected to be huge as a result: crypto investors will be the ones who are the Masters of the Metaverse.
It is still early stages to harness the potential of the metaverse which may take more than a decade. But the journey has begun... You may decide to join in or miss the bus!