The Great Potential of Metaverse
Let’s first discuss the metaverse. Although there are many definitions, the metaverse can be summarized as “a collective virtual space and real-time platform that is scaled, interactive, and interoperable, where people can operate similarly to how they do in the real world.” The metaverse will have a virtual economy that is enabled by digital currencies and NFTs.
What makes creating the metaverse so difficult is its many elements. For example, there are digital currencies, concerts, social and entertainment events, NFTs, online shopping, infrastructure, workplaces, social media, gaming, digital humans, digital assets, and AI. And each of these “things” needs a creator. Right now, there are many limitations to creating these aspects of the metaverse, such as lack of proper hardware, software, standards, norms, rules, bandwidth, latency, and reliability.
In the crypto markets, there are a lot of “metaverse” projects that are meant to propel us into the metaverse. Some of the ones we feature on our Phemex so far are Decentraland, Axie Infinity, Sandbox, Enjin, Yield Guild Games, My Neighbor Alice, Ankr, Ocean Protocol, Mask Network, and Adventure Gold. However, because it’s still early stages in terms of metaverse development, all of these projects up till now are working on developing their own metaverse applications. So how exactly everything converges and grows into larger networks moving forward is still unknown.
But the presence of major corporations such as Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and Epic Games indicates that the race for the metaverse has already started and is heating up. We will surely see many interesting projects come up in the near future that embraces the Metaverse and revolutionize the digital world.
Web 3.0 and the Future of the Internet
With regards to Web3, we can think of Web3 as a trustless, permissionless, and decentralized internet that uses blockchain technology to various degrees.Web3 will undoubtedly revolutionize the way we interact with the internet in the near future. One of Web3’s core characteristics is decentralized infrastructure, which aims to improve peer-to-peer connections and allow formerly marginalized people to participate more fully in everyday digital life. Unlike today’s world, where multinational corporations benefit from individual consumer data, Web 3’s decentralized blockchain technology will allow customers to reclaim control over their time and data while being appropriately paid.
Web3 will fundamentally transform how the world interacts with the Internet of Value, just as Web2 made it easier for end-users to interact with the Internet of Information. We’re already seeing apps that have no analogs in traditional financial services, and as Web3 applications grow more mainstream, decentralized value transfer should become the standard for the majority of modern web-based applications.
For Web3 to materialize, it all starts with the protocol layer, which are the layer 1 blockchains and smart contract platforms like Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Cosmos. These blockchains will be the foundation for future Web3 applications. What these blockchains allow is ownership over your digital assets, be it cryptocurrencies, NFTs, digital land, music, etc.
I see great potential in the Metaverse and Web 3.0. Specifically, NFTs have sparked my interest. With the fast development of NFTs and wider adoption of digital art, we’re redefining ownership, and we’re only getting started with new applications for on-chain assets. Similarly, the Metaverse incorporates cutting-edge GameFi, play-to-earn, and wealth distribution technologies that have the potential to drastically transform our online behavior.
By Jack Tao – CEO of Phemex
