The metaverse is load of marketing bullshit. It has been around forever and everyone already knows what it is. This is just people trying to seem smart by calling it a new name. The Metaverse is where my kids and her kids will spend their time. Thats it. So I am going to break what it is, where it's going, how to make money off of it.
How we got here?
But it is overall part of Web 3.0. To explain what Web 3.0 is lets talk about the first 2 version of the internet. Web 1.0 was for all intents and purposes was a “Read Only” web. It was static pages that were created to deliver content. Newspapers, companies, stores, and shit like that. It was just
taking everything in the world and giving it a URL. There was also organizing and putting the internet into directories so people could find and visit these sites. I think we all remember this.
Version 2.0 was “User Created” web. This moved to sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc where the site was based around user created content. Blogs, streams, video essays, and comments where the main things that people ingested. This is the internet I know best and that is most of what I experienced. The transition between version 1 and 2 was not clear cut because it developed over time, its not like one year it was Web 1.0 and the next was Web 2.0. This will be the same thing that happens in Web 3.0 because it has already been happening and by the time most people notice it the transition will already be complete.
McKinley and The Metaverse
I will attempt to explain the Metaverse thru my daughter. McKinley has grown up in the Metaverse. She plays roblox, Minecraft, and loves my VR. I think the fact that her favorite game in VR is Job Simulator says just about everything you need to know. She enjoys having a job inside of VR, the tasks of it and the direction of it are what make it fun for her. She also has attend MANY concerts in Roblox and she watches hours on content on how to setup Minecraft servers so you can do unique things within the game. She spends the majority of her time with her cousin inside one of these games. She gets Robux and Minecraft Gift Cards as presents all the time.
Just think about when she is 18 -25 what she is going to want to spend her money on. An expensive purse or her brand new NFT of a meme that makes her and her friends laugh. By the way keep in mind that if we fully understood it kids wouldn’t think its cool. That is the basic rule of the universe.
So what if all that money she has put into these games could travel with her. What if she had a way to securely and easily sell all her items from one game and move that money into the new game she is playing now. That is where NFT’s come in.
NFT’s are digital receipts. That is all they are. A non-fungible token is a fucking terrible way to say you can’t replace it. If they were called Ownership Keys everyone would get it. Right now they are used as a way to purchase high end digital art, collectibles, and digital land. Which makes sense in a credit bubble. Why would someone that made 3 billion dollars in Crypto want to buy a brand new Bugatti when they could have a 1 million dollar NFT as their profile pic. This all just makes total sense to me. (The item below is a set of 3 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT's for a humble 555 Ethereum or 2.6 million US Greenbacks)
Possible problem: Let's say McKinley owns $1,000 worth of cloths, items, and resources in MineCraft and she has started to play new game X and she doesn’t want to just lose all that capital.
Possible Solution: Well she would have an NFT attached to each and every item and she would list them for sale within the game or on a 3rd party site. She would get paid in MineCraft coin which she could then convert into Game X coin.
When I learned this I really just made me think “Why doesn’t it work this way already?”. Why doesn’t all your data on Twitter go into your Instagram profile? Why cant you just login into every site with the same ID? Why can’t you pay your taxes on the same site that you pay your light bill? Interoperability and siloing are the reasons. These sites can’t talk to each other because of certain programming issues and if they could they wouldn’t bc it would impact their competitive advantage. So in the future if you had PROVEN and unbreakable ownership of all your data and currency there is nothing any company or government could do. You own all your info so if you want to migrate it you can. You own the currency you use so if you want to use it wherever you want you can. What else is there but data and currency?
Making Money in the Metaverse?
There are a couple ways that you can make money in the Metaverse right now. There is no way to invest directly in the Metaverse just like there is no way to invest into the internet. With the internet you can buy telecom providers, computer companies, phone companies, social media companies, retail companies that all take advantage and win from the internet. This is the same with the Metaverse.
Quick Note*** Since this is a new Tech that is likely 5-10 years out from fully developing buying some of these inside an IRA would be ideal. Especially the ETF's and developer stocks. The coins can be bought within an IRA but its very specific and muddy waters with that right now.
Right now you can buy MetaVerse ETF ($Meta)
Meta Stock ($FB)
Buy Metaverse tokens (Sand, Mana, AXS) which are native tokens to these gaming platforms
NFT's on land inside of these games
Then there are these plays. What are the things you would need to make a Metaverse come true. 5G or ultra fast wireless internet. Computing power that would blow your hair back. Gaming companies and gaming engines like Unity that these things will be built on. Hardware providers that these devices will be built on, etc. I also think large production companies and creators will get in on this as well.
hardware, computing, networking, virtual platforms (Nvidia, Qualcomm, Oculus)
High Speed Internet (Verizon, AT&T, Comcast)
Payment services (Coins and defi payment processors)
content services and assets (Gaming Studios, Facebook, Apple, etc)
In conclusion "The Metaverse" and its requisite parts are something you either get or don't get. If you get it then it makes sense to invest heavily in it now. If you don' get it then it makes sense to wait and make sure you are right instead of early. In my humble opinion based on a few google searches and expert analysis done by people smarter than me I think there should be plenty of money to be made in this sector.