By 2030, there could be up to five billion metaverse users, and this giant ecosystem will fuel an economy of its own. 

The Big Ideas

 The metaverse can be thought of as an evolution of the Internet, where the virtual and the physical come together seamlessly. Currently, we tend to think of the metaverse through the lens of popular gaming platforms like Minecraft or Roblox, but the ecosystem will grow much further and beyond entertainment. A metaverse "device agnostic" will allow access across many devices, including smartphones, game consoles, and desktops. It will encompass everything from entertainment and media to education, training, entrepreneurship, and commerce - including a variety of different types of money.

 

The Metaverse Economy

In the metaverse, both traditional forms of currency and native digital forms such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies will be integrated into its economy. Sources estimate that the device-independent metaverse will serve a total addressable market of $8 billion to $13 billion by 2030. There are, however, many problems to solve to bring this vision to life. The virtual environment will require a 1,000-fold increase in computing power and significant investment will also be made to improve connection latency, allowing for a more realistic user experience.

 

Scope for Decentralisation

In the coming years, it's estimated that the metaverse will be centralised, rather than decentralised. Despite aims to promote decentralisation in the future, centralisation is not going to completely go away. The aim is that everyone has access to decentralised apps, whether that's on a smartphone or computer, so that people have the freedom to enjoy the benefits of decentralisation in a potentially centralised metaverse. 

 

Date: 4/7/2022

Source: Azeem Azhar, Expontential View, 19/4/2022