The Metaverse as Web3’s Killer App: Exclusive Interview with Gamium Co-Founder Alejandro Rosas

Q1. Hi Alejandro, I’m thrilled to be here with you today! Please tell us a bit about yourself, your experience working in Web3, and your current passion projects. 

Thank you for having me here! 

I am Alejandro, a Mathematics graduate addicted to learning, especially regarding the latest science and tech advancements. My interest in technology began at a young age together with my twin brother Alberto; at eleven years old we were already building websites, brute-forcing our neighbors’ wifi passwords, and playing around with malwares.  

After a fun and chaotic adolescence, I decided to focus on mathematics and software engineering. I started my professional career at Oracle, in Silicon Valley, building recommendation engines.

I have had the opportunity to explore fields like machine learning and data management during my professional career before finding my passion in Web3 and blockchain technology.

In the past years, I focused on gaining experience in blockchain development, and this gave me the knowledge and confidence to establish Gamium as the co-CEO, together with an incredible team of co-founders. At Gamium, we are building blockchain solutions for digital identity and a decentralized social Metaverse.

Q2. The Metaverse is undoubtedly the hottest trend in tech right now. Who are some of the most prominent players in the industry, and some primary use cases? 

The Metaverse as we know it today encompasses the overall trend to dematerialize physical space, distances, and objects into their 2D or 3D representations online. The technology has had many applications in gaming and entertainment historically, but the integration with blockchain has given it new life and market by adding a native economic layer to it.

Almost every major enterprise in tech and fashion is exploring the Metaverse today. This may be a bid to appeal to a new generation of Gen-Z consumers who are getting increasingly accustomed to NFTs and digital assets. Enterprises like Gucci and Samsung are already buying virtual real estate to build virtual experience stores and showcase upcoming products or limited edition NFT collections. Such acceptance makes you wonder if we're seeing mainstream adoption, right? 

Now, coming to prominent players in the niche, Decentraland and Sandbox are among the hottest platforms. They pioneered this space, in fact, and are also projects with great investor and public support. They are definitely the market leaders right now, and every project aspires to be like them. 

Q3. Despite receiving noteworthy attention from some of the most prominent global enterprises, the Metaverse space is still perceived as an unfinished product that is far from going mainstream. What do you think is holding it back from exploding in demand and popularity? 

Today's Metaverses share the common goal of blurring the line between the physical world and the virtual one. Special effects and digital graphics are taking major leaps to make this possible already. 

However, everyone seems to miss out on one simple yet very crucial characteristic of the real world that sets it apart from its virtual counterparts, and that is digital identity. Everyone has an identity in the real world that is interoperable thanks to physical certifications such as your government ID, or your student card, but in the metaverse, this is not happening yet.

The isolation of metaverses due to the lack of connectivity, or to use a more technical term, interoperability, between blockchains forces the users to create separate Web3 identities for different Metaverses.

Q4. This indeed is a genuine concern. Let’s talk more about Gamium. How do you position your project in such a competitive space? Are there any unique propositions offered by Gamium that set it apart from its competitors? 

Gamium is a junction at the center of all metaverse platforms. Let me tell you how. We believe in true ownership and customizability. This has led us to take serious leaps toward metaverse interoperability. Users create avatars to use our platform, and these avatars reside in the user’s wallets together with their NFTs, personal information, and certifications. This creates a unique decentralized digital identity that allows users to collect and share their data to any metaverse or Dapp with ease. 

On top of that, the world of Gamium is completely customizable with the help of the Gamium SDK. Users can flaunt their creativity by designing buildings, assets, and experiences and even connect with external Dapps! 

Q5. You mentioned earlier that the presence of multiple isolated problems is a major roadblock hindering the growth of the metaverse industry. Isn't this isolation necessary for competition? 

In Web3 isolation is death. No user will want to spend time on a platform whose data is not portable to another platform. Interoperability is key for the future of Metaverses! 

Interoperability will open doors for users across platforms to interact with one another, expanding the scope of each platform. Moreover, Metaverses in the future will potentially specialize in specific use cases and characteristics and leverage the qualities of one another to grow as a unified universe. 

So you see, interoperability will facilitate synergy, and everyone will benefit from it. 

Q6. You have got me convinced that the Metaverse is, without a doubt, the future of the online social economy. The industry already attracts a lot of active members from the Web3 space. However, what does this technology deliver that will force users from Web2 to migrate to the Metaverse? 

Currently, the problem with the user transition from Web2 to the metaverse is that you are competing against these super addictive Web2 apps, such as Tiktok.

You are trying to attract web2 users to your metaverse, but their attention is focused on these platforms that have been years optimizing their recommendation engine algorithm to hook their users to spend more time on it. So if they try to spend some time on your metaverse, they will leave soon, since this is not causing them the same kind of stimulus as these web2 apps. I believe these recommendation engine algorithms are becoming a real issue and are leaving people with unreversible damage to their brains.

So, unless there is some regulation in terms of the addictivity of digital platforms, the only way to drive web2 users to the metaverse is by economic incentives and then leave the network effect to do its job.

Q7. Speaking of money, what are the different income streams and possible activities in the Gamium universe? 

Every economic activity on our metaverse happens in virtual pieces of real estate called LAND, which users can buy as NFTs. Once players buy LAND, its applications are potentially limitless. One may wish to design buildings, host Dapps, advertise, or even rent them out to others. 

Q8. Talking to you was a memorable experience, Alejandro! I’m convinced Gamium is destined to revolutionize the Metaverse industry. As a closure to our conversation, let us hear your thoughts on what the next five years hold for Web3 and the Metaverse. 

I believe the adoption of web3 will increase in the coming years thanks to technology being built around it, such as NFTs, and also driven by well-designed products which bring a lot of value or economic incentives.

Also, we will start to see how this complex web3 onboarding experience will become easier and with less friction. This is a critical step for mass adoption.