Metaverse thoughts part 3
What is happening today with the Metaverse?
There has been a lot going on lately in the news regarding Metaverse, as a Buzz word really as most still do not necessarily connect the dots of what this great intersection of efforts could possibly mean. So let me try and give it a go, but mostly I will be outlining some recent moves from known figures in the space as well as some lesser-known ones that have been popping lately.
First, let’s start with some big names. We all saw the Oct. 28/21 news when Facebook changed its name to Meta, officializing the company’s intent to dive deep into Web 3.0 as the main name for the Metaverse. Also entering the space, major corporations; Marvel, Disney, Coca-Cola, LVMH, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Youtube, Boeing, NFL, PWC, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, and many others, each one in their own way either through Non-Fungible Token ( NFTs ) exclusive launches of collectibles, Utility-driven assets or a mixture of both.
Names also notable are those of; Gary Vaynerchuck, Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki, Stephen Curry, Tom Brady, and the list goes on and on.
Most of the investment done in the space dus far has been towards securing assets within specific segments of the Metaverse through acquisition of Non-fungible assets ( NFT ), in some cases there have been In-game Land purchases, Fundraising through in-game asset sales, Tokenization of Art, Sales of Collectables and many other utility based propositions that have been developing over the last 2–3 years.
A part from Investors and brand names joining in the space, new players have also emerged, OpenSea being one of the most recognized per it’s USD$10bn performance for the year of 2021, representing a staggering 60% of all accountable NFT sales for the year. Famous artist Beeple sold over USD$100m worth of NFT art, also during the year of 2021. Community building projects; Crypto Punks ( USD$2.5bn minimal collection value ), BAYC ( USD$2.6bn minimal collection value ), Neo Tokyo ( USD$300m minimal collection value ), MAYC ( USD$1.01bn minimal collection value ), The Sandbox ( 1.41bn minimal collection value ), Doodles ( USD$346m minimal collection value ), Recur ( USD$56m minimal collection value ), and many others..
In NFT gaming specifically we have seen the greatest growth so far, with widespread adoption of over 3million players, most of which are currently daily active players in the P2E ( Play to Earn ) game called Axie Infinity ( USD$30bn fully diluted valuation ). Numbers this significant have rang the alarm on major AAA game studios to incorporate the P2E and Web3.0 perspective into their own games, and given the recognition to the space of digital ownership of assets in-game, in a market that now thrives through in-game purchases of items and goods now making it possible for average players to be rewarded for their time and effort
Elaboration further into the topic of the Metaverse, it could become clear to the reader now that all of these topics are well aligned with the concept of Digital Ownership, and that a junction between them may be imminent. Therefore, the subject of how the Metaverse will be deployed might become a question of how far will these early projects grow into the future, as we see the birth of a unified Metaverse capable of supporting a universal infrastructure for digital ownership and social constructs, while providing a user friendly experience based on the time and effort invested by each peer.
These initial steps of community-driven growth with limited allocation of asset per launch ( most projects remain accessible to a small number of people, usually between 500 and 10.000 people per launch ) to build a leading core in the development of what we will eventually recognize as the unified Metaverse. As most of these assets have been developed through a handful of mainnet chains; Ethereum representing the most part, newer projects also coming from Solana, Polygon, Enjin, Avax, Harmony One, Ronin, and others.. we see the IRL potential for widespread adoption through already ripen segments of profitable markets developed based on consumer behavior and product acquisitions online.
It is valuable to note that most of these early adopters may grow to become leaders on the Blockchain, and the more adept may receive the most value as they were the ones to deploy the greatest effort in the beginning of the Web 3.0 era.
