Ever wonder why Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021? It’s because of metaverse. It’s a term that tech devotees to describe a virtual world that’s parallel to the real world. Harvard Business Review describes metaverse as “any digital experience on the internet that is persistent, immersive, three-dimensional, and virtual, as in, not happening in the physical world. Metaverse experiences offer us the opportunity to play, work, connect, or buy.” It’s a fusion of virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) and 3D worlds. If you’ve seen the movie “Ready Player One,” the Oasis is an example of a metaverse. The biggest proponents of metaverse are Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Web 3.0 is the foundation of the metaverse. The technologies used to build the metaverse include blockchain, cloud infrastructure, software tools, platforms, applications, user-generated content, and hardware. Aside from gaming, user experiences will include entertainment, commerce, social interactions, education, research, and more.
Some would say that metaverse is already here. Second Life, a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) allows gamers to create avatars, socialize with others, and collect in-game currency. World of Warcraft players can buy and sell goods, while Fortnite have virtual events such as concerts and exhibits. To say that an MMO is the metaverse akin to saying Google is the internet. Metaverse is more than just online games. It aims to bring in a wide range of users who don’t have to play a game to participate virtually.
Despite criticisms and naysayers, businesses have been getting into metaverse. JPMorgan is the first lender in the metaverse. It just opened The Onyx lounge in Decentraland. The ad group Havas owns a plot of land in The Sandbox where they are planning to develop their first virtual village. Barbados is opening its next embassy in Decentraland. There’s a rush for virtual real estate with different companies buying virtual land in Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, The Sandbox, and Somnium Space – virtual worlds that are part of the metaverse. More than $500 million of virtual real estate was bought in 2021 and may double in 2022, according to investors and analytic firms.
What has cryptocurrency got to do with the metaverse, aside from both having blockchain as the foundation? The metaverse is a digital world that’s similar to the real world and of course, you’ll need currency to get the experiences available in the metaverse. Digital currency such as crypto will be the natural mode of payment in a digital world. You’ll need outfits and accessories for your avatars in the metaverse. If you want to visit an island and enjoy a day of sailing and jet skiing, you’ll need to pay for those. As a gamer, you’ll need to buy weapons. Crypto will truly be its name in the metaverse.
You can’t bring real-life objects you own into the metaverse, but you can bring any digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The blockchain allows you to own digital goods and will let you bring all these between interoperable virtual worlds. This is where the future of crypto wallets will go. As more people adopt the metaverse, crypto wallets will have the capability to not just carry your crypto coins, but all your digital assets and goods as well.
Suffice it to say, you’ll need a secure crypto wallet whether you’re in a virtual world or in real life. It’s necessary for a crypto owner with Monero in the real world to have a secure crypto wallet to keep their XMR safe. There is a slew of hot and cold wallets available and it’s highly recommended that you have both kinds. To store your Monero safely, sign up for an XMRWallet. It’s user-friendly, free, and enables you to be in control of your coins and keys. Users prefer XMRWallet for its simplicity, nice interface, and consider it the best Monero wallet.
