Will Facebook’s Metaverse Take Over the Crypto Space?
Imagine a world where everything, in the most literal sense of the phrase, is at your fingertips. A world where chores are fun and sleep is an option. You’re free to do anything you want at any given moment and repercussions are a thing of the past.
Eating at your favorite restaurant before meeting your friends on a deserted island; attending events and concerts in a blink of an eye; changing clothes on the go; buying land and cars with just a push of a button. Those are some of the things promised by Facebook’s metaverse. A reality free of pain and body envy because every single avatar is pixel perfect.
The social media giant, now called Meta, has been cooking this idea of an online virtual reality for a while. Enthusiasts and even some believers of the metaverse may share the opinion of it being a bit too ambitious. But considering Facebook’s seemingly endless budget, it might just be a matter of time until VR headsets become as common as toothpaste.
What Facebook Has in Store for the Metaverse
The metaverse isn’t a brand new concept. Many facets of it exist across a wide range of platforms. VRChat is a great example of an early structure of the metaverse. Users can choose from a variety of interactions and activities they want to participate in and have the freedom to display themselves as they see fit. There are no goals or agendas or missions to complete – just you and the rest of the world and one big conversation. People were drawn by the simplicity of it and from there the metaverse evolved.
Decentraland and Sandbox take it further by allowing users to acquire and own assets. These are real, certified digital possessions that get recorded on the metaverse’s blockchain as NFTs and have a monetary value. Users can trade and sell these assets to earn cryptocurrency native to the metaverse in which they dwell. The sense of ownership and an opportunity for profit made MANA and SAND some of the most popular metaverse tokens in 2021.
Facebook has revealed much about its plans for the metaverse, including the numerous interviews Mark Zuckerberg did with journalists. Overall, the company seems to have all the core mechanics in mind with a focus on social complexity. The ability to express your emotions in the virtual world as how you would in real life is yet to be achieved. This would allow for much deeper social interactions and users to develop relationships in the metaverse.
Another thing is an accomplishment. The metaverses we have today are built around rewards so players tend to rush through the process to get there. In Facebook’s metaverse, the process is the reward. Users will get to enjoy the virtual experience without worrying about the grind or earning tokens. There will be ways for you to earn, too, though the specifics haven’t been elaborated. But considering the level of realism, they’re aiming for, we’ll likely be looking at virtual jobs or errands.
Metaverse and Cryptocurrency
Facebook has recently reversed the ban on cryptocurrency advertisement on its platform and it may have to do with the virtual project it’s got going on.
Everyone knows a metaverse is only as real as the blockchain it’s built on and a blockchain needs its coins. Facebook has attempted its own crypto in the past, originally called the Libra coin. A separate company was built just for that called the Libra Association. The problem was Facebook and its leaders had mixed ideas on where the coin was headed, resulting in several changes and rebranding.
Right after the name change to Meta, a new crypto called Novi was launched, looking more promising than its predecessors. The Novi will be pegged to the USD and you can transfer to other Novi holders without fees. This coin will likely be the main currency in the future metaverse.
If the virtual world Meta envisions comes to life and at the intended scale, the Novi or whatever crypto they may have then would become potentially the most used coin in the world.
Facebook currently has over 2.5 billion monthly active users and this number doesn’t appear to be slowing down. There are only about 400 million bitcoin users, 25% of which actually own it. To log into and play or basically do anything in the metaverse, you’ll need some of its native currency. If even half of Facebook’s current users decide to give the metaverse a go, Novi would have twice the user base as the world’s largest crypto.
Metaverse and Freedom
Behind the colorful walls of digital paradise is something we may value even more. Data. As the metaverse operates on the blockchain, everything you do, the games you play, and even the things you say, are all recorded and stored in Meta’s database.
If you didn’t think Facebook had enough of your data, it would have ten times as much when the metaverse welcomes you in. Things may not seem that serious now since nothing has happened and most of us feel we’re in full control of our private information.
Facebook doesn’t seem to have decentralization in mind when talking about its metaverse. This means your virtual experience would be at the mercy of whatever regulations the company may impose.
For some, this doesn’t sound like a bad idea as the platform would be much more secure and they’d feel protected against inappropriate behaviors and scams. Others might say it’s cyber tyranny and they’ll have none of it. Whatever side we may be on, one thing is clear: the metaverse is coming.