What began as an outlandish concept in a science fiction novel is fast materializing as an immersive 3D world that anyone can enter.
Welcome to the metaverse, which doesn’t actually exist but can be seen and experienced by anyone because it is a virtual reality. It’s a vision shaped by movies like The Matrix and Ready Player One that was first outlined by the author Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash way back in 1992. Fast forward a few decades and those virtual worlds are now widely accessible to anyone who wants to enter.
The metaverse is designed to cater to the wants and needs of its occupants, and humans are constantly craving for new experiences. It’s this desire that has given birth to the idea of an immersive, virtual world that serves as the basis of the metaverse. With the click of a button, anyone can enter and experience an alternative reality that’s only limited by our imagination.
It might not be immediately obvious to those who enter for the first time, but the metaverse is build on a number of key technologies besides virtual reality. While VR is responsible for the immersive nature of the metaverse, it’s another, somewhat more controversial technology that acts as the glue that holds it together.
We’re talking about blockchain – the distributed ledger that powers Bitcoin – and numerous new cryptocurrencies. Together, these technologies serve the role of decentralizing the metaverse, giving control to its users, and facilitating transactions among its users.
It may not be what Mark Zuckerberg envisioned, but blockchain and crypto are going to become inextricably linked with the metaverse going forward. One of the key concepts of these virtual environments is that they’re decentralized worlds where decisions are taken by the community of users. If this vision is to be fulfilled, blockchain is a necessary cog in the wheel.
Why Blockchain?
The simple truth is that without blockchain, the metaverse wouldn’t be able to function as advertised.
The reason this is so is that the blockchain is an immutable ledger or database. The technology, which famously powers Bitcoin, has proven throughout its lifetime that it is completely unhackable and vastly more secure than any other kind of network. This is critically important for any decentralized platform that doesn’t rely on a gatekeeper. If people are going to engage and transact within a virtual world, they need to know that their funds, assets and data is completely secure.
Blockchain facilitates this in every existing metaverse, enabling cryptocurrency transactions to take place while being cryptographically secure. In this way, the technology is an integral part of how the metaverse is implemented.
That said, though crypto transactions have their problems they remain our best bet. Due to the spirit of decentralization, the metaverse is no place for centralized fiat currencies. Moreover, crypto has already proven itself to be secure, traceable, transparent and, most importantly, completely unhackable. It’s the perfect solution that just needs a little refinement to be ready for prime time.
Crypto payments are already a thing and they will become integral to a metaverse world where transactions and commerce are an absolute necessity. Questions around the volatility of crypto still cause some concerns, but the rise of stablecoins and, perhaps, even central bank digital currencies, might resolve this. One thing is certain is that crypto provides us with plenty of options.
Blockchain is also the secret sauce that enables ownership of digital metaverse goods. Thanks to NFTs, we can record the ownership of any digital item, be it a game character, a weapon, a wearable, a virtual ticket, a digital artwork or something else, and trace its history of ownership. This allows the metaverse to be populated with unique, digital assets that all command their own value, based on rarity, supply and demand.
Entering The Metaverse
Blockchain-based metaverses are up and running now and can be experienced in many ways. One of the quickest and easiest to enter is The Sandbox, an Ethereum-hosted decentralized gaming metaverse where users can buy virtual land as NFTs and develop it to create a range of unique experiences.
The Sandbox is a community-owned platform that allows land owners and creators to monetize the experiences they create. They have complete freedom to build and showcase just about anything they want. One of the most popular attractions in The Sandbox is the rapper Snoop Dogg’s virtual mansion, which plays host to the Snoopverse, a multi-event set within the Metaverse that includes parties, virtual concerts and the chance to meet up and interact with Snoop himself in one of his virtual chillout lounges.
The future of The Sandbox is dictated by SAND token holders, who are able to participate in governance decisions through a decentralized autonomous organization. Anyone who owns SAND tokens has the right to make proposals about the game and vote on those ideas, ensuring that any decisions taken are fully transparent and agreed upon by the community.
Another popular metaverse world is Decentraland, which is a similar concept in that players can buy virtual land, develop on it, monetize their buildings, trade, and more.
Decentraland is a virtual world that allows users to test the limits of their imagination, for instance, by building an art gallery to showcase their artwork as NFTs. They can create games and challenges and host special events using sophisticated tools to create a full ecosystem around whatever it is they create.
Users can explore Decentraland and visit the land developed by others to share those experiences. The most popular destination by far is Decentral Games, a virtual poker lounge that accounts for more than 70% of the platform’s total traffic. There, visitors can play in numerous poker lounges such as ICE Poker, using their cryptocurrency and potentially earning vast amounts of money.
Within Decentraland everyone appears as a unique digital avatar that they themselves can create, adorning them with digital wearables that anyone can design or purchase within the Decentraland Marketplace. Once you’re virtually suited and booted, the digital world is your oyster, with numerous virtual experiences to enjoy, including Vogue’s fashion week, the Buffalo Metaverse Tour, the Australian Open metaverse and more.
Gaming is a big part of the metaverse too, and nowhere is this better exemplified than with Axie Infinity, which is a world of flying robots and hammer-wielding mutants and other beasts.
Axie Infinity is a game universe populated by player-owned creatures called Axies. Players take on Axies as pets and nurture them to improve their skills and then engage with others in creature vs. creature battles. Admittedly the world of Axie Infinity looks a lot like most other online multiplayer games at first, with beginners able to complete quests to gain experience. The key difference is that Axie Infinity is based on the blockchain platform that powers a complex in-game economy. Each Axie is actually an NFT that’s owned by a specific player, and each one has its own value based on how powerful it is. Players compete to win prizes and rewards paid out in cryptocurrency tokens that can be used to power up their Axies, or cashed out for rich financial rewards.
The above examples are just some of the earliest metaverses to come into being. It’s still an emerging concept, and as we go forward we can look forward to exploring many more, increasingly realistic virtual worlds. Ultimately, it’s too early to know what to expect, but we can be clear about one thing – blockchain technology and crypto will continue to play a fundamental role in shaping the metaverse economy.
