I see burgeoning interest in the emerging domain of the Metaverse. I wonder how much do we understand this and how is it going to revolutionize our way of living. In a nutshell, it’s a 3D extension of the Internet where many different trends and technologies are starting to intersect.
When the Internet started in the late ’90s, no one had any clue what it would grow into. A Nobel Prize-winning columnist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman infamously said that the Internet will be a passing fad and will not have more significance than the fax machine.
The truth is with the power of the Internet, many new business models and technologies, hitherto unimaginable, emerged and for the most part of it, we cannot do without them now.
In the same way, under Web3, we are going to see amazing changes - building on the ubiquities of the Internet. Artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) will all blend in the real world with computer-generated images and audio with 5G and 6G smart computing mobile devices.
Now, layer in all the possibilities of the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), decentralized organizations - you will be in a new world with a new evolution of the Internet that’s much richer and more immersive than the version that we experience today. Gamers who play Fortnite and Roblox have already experienced a foretaste of it.
Under Metaverse, instead of just calling up web pages and watching videos, you will enter a virtual world where you interact with other people’s avatars: digital representation of themselves and even be part of a whole new economy.
We are still in the very early stages of these changes just like how the Internet was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, I don’t think anyone predicted the kind of Internet we have today with social media, video streaming and virtual worlds.
It’s important for all of us to understand that that metaverse will not be all about gaming. Under the Metaverse, you will experience viewing amazing art galleries, front row first-rate concerts, luxury shopping, excellent sporting events and virtual political rallies to name a few.
There’s already a ‘play-to-earn’ game called Axie Infinity that’s based around NFTs. Players can earn cryptocurrency in the game and cash it out for local currency. This has been a huge hit especially in places where local jobs markets don’t offer many opportunities. There are people in the Philippines, who are earning more money playing Axie Infinity than they would earn in a real-world job.
You and I may not work in a digital casino or earn cryptocurrencies playing a metaverse game. But other people do. It will transcend geography in a way most real-world economies can’t. It’ll be a great equalizer in terms of spreading financial opportunities to people in places where those opportunities aren’t possible otherwise.
Stay tuned for my next report where I’ll discuss some use cases and major companies.
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Abraham George is a seasoned investment manager with more than 40 years of experience in trading & investment and multi-billion dollar portfolio management spanning diverse environments like banks (HSBC, ADCB), sovereign wealth fund (ADIA), a royal family office and a hedge fund. Currently, he is setting up a hedge fund where foreign citizens can invest in Indian growth stocks like Tanla operating in hyper-growth markets like CPaaS.