The Metaverse seems to have become a buzzword as recently as last year. This March, Citi, the global financial institution, estimated the addressable market for the Metaverse between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030, with total Metaverse users numbering around five billion. How and in which way can one benefit from it?
We are here to make a guide onexperiences and opportunities the Metaverse opens to the creators of all kinds – from artists to engineers – and discover how this phenomenon emerged, making the path to the MetaFi economy and Create2Earn business model.
Web 3.0: paradigm shifts
The Metaverse can be viewed as the next step in developing robust, real-time, visualized communication and the future logical iteration of the internet. Let’s see how close we are to this dimension of Web 3.0 based entirely on blockchain technology and decentralization.
A few decades ago, we used to start the day with a newspaper or watching TV before driving to the workplace. Then this morning ritual was replaced by surfing Instagram, TikTok, or the web, and more and more activities became remote and dependent on technologies and digitalized. Being an intricate combination of the physical and digital world, Metaverse now opens its doors for creators, researchers, entrepreneurs, and engineers, offering new ways of their professional development, material benefits, and even prominence.
The list of prospective use cases across the Metaverse may include everything we use the internet for today: e-commerce, art, gaming, media, advertising, engineering, design, education, virtual communities, events, and social collaboration. Due to its immersive and multiplayer experience, gaming is considered to be the obvious starting point for mass teleportation to the Metaverse.
But it is important to note that the Metaverse ≠ a game – it is a look-alike of the real world with a community and native economy inside. Blockchain technologies running on steroids tend to become a gateway or even spaceport to the rising Metaverse world.
Boom of the blockchain economy: MetaFi is born
MetaFi stands for a new term that blends two of the largest technology trends around the blockchain economy: the Metaverse and DeFi. This would be a big change from the current monetary and financial world – TradFi (traditional finance).
In the Metaverse world, the value will be transferred in tokenized format — crypto, stablecoins, or CDBCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) — and ownership will be registered by NFTs or similar blockchain-based digital assets. The explosion of NFTs in 2021 has led to a focus on digital ownership, their value currently locked in social media, simple 2D art pieces, videos, audio files, or 3D objects.
No doubt that the major use cases for the Metaverse will be in the creator economy. Being an overlap of finance, culture, and technology, the Metaverse has a high potential to provide the creative industry with the benefit of a direct digital distribution channel as well as financial tooling.
A "lingua franca" for creators
Differing from widely used and promoted models like Play2Earn, Engage2Earn, and even Move2Earn, the cornerstone of the true Metaverse would be the Create2Earn concept, I believe. NFTs stand here as a very crucial part of the system: they enable content creators to embed a royalty distribution mechanism into the design of the token. Thus the creator/minter of NFTs would be involved in the economic lifecycle of the object and the Metaverse itself.
Now let’s take a closer look at the experiences and industries that may be key adepts of the oncoming Metaverse:
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The Metaverse welcomes content creators of all kinds to find their niche with something unique and sometimes misunderstandable by a real-world mass audience. Besides, it could boost their selling experiences and virtual assets via boundless facilities like native NFT marketplaces or online Web 3.0 stores.
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We are already seeing virtual workplaces and
VR offices . In the pandemic era, they are seeking to improve remote and hybrid work by creating constant, digital spaces where users can log in as some form of an avatar. This experience widens the technical possibilities and increases mobility – one can use multiple apps and programs from literally every corner of the globe (such a dream for freelancers). -
Building and connecting communities unite Metaverse participants who could become global citizens enjoying virtual experiences and real estate, governance, and voting rights. Networking opens opportunities to business deals and new forms of collaboration between industries.
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The Metaverse tends to be a homeland of digital entertainment: concerts, museums, sports contests, tourism, and fashion shows. Users have to dress and upgrade their avatars, and amusement and challenges may be the very attractive elements of the Metaverse that are not easily accessible in day-to-day life. Have you dreamt of visiting the Louvre or traveling to South Korea? The Metaverse helped the Korea Tourism Organization
to showcase the country’s places of interest to the global audience and hold a concert , while the first decentralized art museum (“Louvre of the Metaverse” with NFTs) is preparing “to connect both artists and art connoisseurs worldwide effortlessly.” -
Virtual advertising allows users and their digital avatar to interact with real-life physical items as well as digital Metaverse-oriented items. Brands could integrate into Metaverse environments through digital advertising and gameplay (e.g., billboard ads or branded clothing).
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Metaverse has every chance to influence the way we shop. This could be the next iteration of commerce, where e-commerce and social media meet and intersect.
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Given the Metaverse's ability to extend use cases beyond gaming, virtual offices, and e-commerce, among others, the manufacturing industry is also exploring opportunities with digital twin technology (according to
IBM , this is “a virtual representation of an object or system that spans its lifecycle, is updated from real-time data, and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help decision-making”). It could be a core to the industrial Metaverse. This technology is beingexplored by Boeing to build their airplanes in a digital ecosystem. -
While surgical procedures already use robotics, complex surgeries and healthcare training may benefit from augmented and virtual reality.
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Metaverse is a gateway to education and learning experience for everyone regardless of the geo, age, and background. It reduces a "barrier to entry" for digital professions while engaging mechanics and networking make the education process more effective.
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In addition to education, the Metaverse also offers opportunities for corporations to train their new joiners in more engaging ways as well as to recruit and search for the required candidates via advertising opportunities.
Making a real-world impact
Despite the fact that the Metaverse is only coming, it already influences the creators and brands in real life.
Some companies have run their marketing activities and set up offices in the Metaverse. NFT artists have a chance to demonstrate their art to the immense world and audience, obtaining the global reach literally. The Metaverse grants an enriched customer experience where the users can feel, see, and touch products before buying.
As mentioned above, over the coming decades, the Metaverse has the potential to become a multitrillion-dollar part of the world economy. The trial period is starting now, with more and more opportunities unlocked – and some of them are already pending and may bring pleasure, fame, and income to the Metaverse pioneers.