The Metaverse has become a part of our day-to-day conversation. I would like to share my concept of the Metaverse and how I see it unfolding in the future.
More than anything, the Metaverse is a cultural phenomenon. It signifies the transition from a limited, local culture to a global one. The Metaverse is a projection, not just a buzzword.
As an entrepreneur, I always look at the world with the future in mind. I tend to think that the future is actually much closer than it seems to be, and that it unfolds quickly before our eyes. It helps me tap into the future. When it comes to the Metaverse, the future is already here. Take a look at our daily lives. We pay bills, interact with friends, and consume content online. In many ways, we are already a part of the Metaverse.
Before Facebook (Meta) became a part of our lives, it wouldn’t have seemed realistic for anyone to have 5,000 friends (the current limit on Facebook) as most people could not maintain such a number. Today, if you look at platforms and communities such as Twitter, Instagram and eToro, where a single person can have millions of followers, the concept and scale of community and friends is much wider.
I have friends whom I have never met, with whom I am in contact only via digital platforms such as Twitter. This includes someone with whom I’ve been corresponding back and forth for a decade. We know each other better than some of the people I’ve actually met in person. Technology can redefine the limitations that we might have on friendships and meaningful connections. To me, this signifies our transition to a truly global culture and into a world that has no boundaries. The possibilities of such a world are incredibly inspiring: imagine a world that is open and available to everyone, everywhere. On eToro, we see it happening in the areas of trading and investing.
One of the interesting things about NFTs is that this technology is being embraced by a variety of people (rather than just us geeks). NFTs have reached an inflection point as some of the best-known people in the world are showing growing interest in them — artists, athletes, business people and celebrities alike.
The world of art is going through significant changes, since the Metaverse has opened up new possibilities for local artists whose initial market was relatively small. It would take years for such artists to build their reputation and circle of influence. They had to travel across their region, country and go abroad for years to reach their business potential. With NFTs, an artist can generate their art 10,000 times and create a global impact that otherwise would have taken a lifetime to achieve. NFTs in this sense, create a redistribution of wealth.
NFT activity allows you to be part of a community, whether it is “Bored Apes,” punks, doodles or any other kind of digital art. It allows you to communicate and share with other people who have the same interests and set of values.
NFTs are not necessarily suitable for everyone as an investment, as many of them are speculative at this point. I would suggest looking at them as a club entrance ticket — how badly do you want to be a part of this community? And how much are you willing to invest in it?
In humankind’s past, economies were very local. Before the invention of money, people bartered local goods which represented the community’s local value, not only their economical value. Then, gold, and metal coins represented the values of all local commodities. The world’s economy became increasingly flat and global. Everything of value was determined by its value in gold – a single measure to rule them all. Then, paper money came along, plastic cards and electronic money, until Bitcoin was created — digital gold. Now, with NFTs we are recreating the value of communities, a community driven economy in the Metaverse where people create new economic value by joining forces. We are witnessing the largest transformation of wealth in human history as the concept of money is in the process of being redefined and will become closely embedded in digital technology.
When talking about investment in crypto, the Metaverse and NFTs— the basic principles of investing remain very similar to Benjamin Graham‘s from 1950 — diversification, value, level of liquidity and needs. The only difference is that these investments and transactions are made today on platforms that can accommodate the new world.
While for many of us, this change will seem merely technological, the Metaverse and digital currencies hold great promise for the many people around the globe who live in countries where the value of money is unstable. For them, digital currencies might clear the way for financial freedom.
Yoni
Yoni Assia is eToro Co-Founder and CEO
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