Will China's Metaverse Alone be Worth $8 Trillion?

In a note to investors, Morgan Stanley analysts predicted that the Metaverse would be worth about $8 trillion (US) in China, reported  Blockworks. That’s about what other investors are predicting to be the worldwide value of the Metaverse.

The figure doesn’t include NFTs, either, adding that “restrictions on cryptocurrencies generate ambiguity on the potential “blue-sky” possibility in non-fungible tokens.” Virtual concerts and other similar digital collectibles were also excluded from the estimates.

Morgan Stanley sees that better, more immersive experiences in the Metaverse will push people away from mobile web technologies to these virtual worlds. Initially, the total addressable market in China will be around $4 trillion.

In a statement to clients, the Wall Street titan predicted that the nascent virtual realm in China alone will grow to be an $8 trillion industry in the future. It won’t be until the Metaverse begins to disrupt other activities — like vehicle test drives, real-estate showings, and education — that the market will hit that $8 trillion figure, according to the company.

The note said: “The metaverse will be the next generation platform to replace mobile internet. We anticipate that the metaverse TAM will be broad and also it will extend beyond the existing online consuming market. Dominated mostly by e-commerce and online entertainment spending.”

At a time when there’s been considerable drops in cryptocurrencies and new doubts about the Metaverse — particularly Meta’s sudden drop in valuation — Morgan Stanley’s announcement is considerably optimistic and even more optimistic than recent attempts to nail down the Metaverse market by competitors, such as Goldman Sachs. And the new stab at predicting China’s Metaverse TAM is possibly even higher than Morgan Stanley’s previous estimates, which saw the global market at $8 trillion.

Consensus-wise, most investment firms see the Metaverse well into the trillions of dollars.