As with any society, the metaverse requires a functional economy. That includes digital ownership, monetization and verification of virtual assets.
Businesses can take advantage of the metaverse by creating products and experiences to meet consumer demands. To do this, they must understand three physical components that comprise its economy: compute power, network capacity and devices.
Cryptocurrencies
The Metaverse Economy employs cryptocurrency-based currencies to enable transactions within virtual environments. Cryptocurrencies operate using blockchain technology, enabling peer-to-peer exchanges without middlemen facilitating direct transactions between individuals.
Blockchain networks facilitate the creation of digital assets such as virtual real estate and goods, supporting the expansion of the Metaverse Economy which has attracted investments from tech titans such as Facebook and Microsoft.
Prototype next-generation metaverses such as Decentraland and Somnium Space have already witnessed the development of real societies, with people developing land, opening businesses and asserting ownership rights.
These early examples demonstrate how the Metaverse could provide people with economic opportunity by enabling them to create, own and monetize their digital presence. One powerful example is ApeCoin (APEC), with an impressive market cap exceeding $1.015 billion as an evidence of virtual currencies powering this digital asset market.
Virtual Real Estate
Virtual real estate (VRE) is an emerging digital asset class that represents pieces of land or structures within the metaverse, creating value for consumers, businesses, and investors.
Just as in life, this market is driven by our desire for new experiences. Digital spaces like these serve to entertain, market and socialize as well as conduct commerce transactions – something companies are taking advantage of by creating unique customer interactions within this virtual space – like metaverse destinations.
Virtual property in the Metaverse is often sold via non-fungible token (NFT) transactions on blockchain, providing security, transparency, and tamper-proof records. NFTs aim to bridge the gap between digital and real values of land or properties residing within them – as such this new market has attracted considerable investment interest both from individuals as well as institutional investors alike.
Virtual Goods
Virtual goods, or digital items without physical existence but which have value within the Metaverse Economy, such as cryptocurrency, virtual merchandise and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Virtual goods play a pivotal role in driving revenue for businesses while creating brand engagement among consumers.
Virtual goods can increase utility by decreasing fixed costs associated with real-world experiences, which could include declines in quality or congestion that shift the RL-curve downward and cause consumers to choose metaverse activities at higher levels as evidenced by an upward movement of their curve from x to x’.
One way that brands can promote and engage with consumers in the Metaverse is by hosting virtual concerts or other events in games such as Fortnite. Such virtual concerts and events can draw millions of users and provide the perfect chance for companies to deliver highly tailored marketing messages directly to their target audiences.
Blockchain Technology
Every society (physical or virtual) requires an effective economy. In the metaverse, that requires authenticating digital properties like virtual land and in-game assets; blockchain technology provides this service by enabling people to assert their identity through zero-knowledge proofs that provide transparency without disclosing sensitive details like age or location information.
Metaverse residents need the ability to prove ownership of digital assets like virtual land parcels or rare in-game items through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which allow users to keep virtual property and trade it with other avatars.
Operating the metaverse involves both physical and digital infrastructure that has substantial fixed costs for each participating consumer, leading to substantial fixed costs per participating consumer. Achieve success within this immersive digital ecosystem means finding solutions to its many challenges and controversies while striking a balance between innovation, regulation and environmental responsibility – an impressive EUR489 billion market!
