As the year 2021 is about to end, Metaverse has created a huge fuss in the crypto market. With the massive interest in Metaverse, almost everyone in the industry wants to get involved. “What is metaverse?”, could be the first question to mind especially if you are basically new in the crypto space. According to Wikipedia, the word originated from the sci-fi novel “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson in 1992. In the crypto world today, Metaverse refers to the hypothesized next iteration of the internet, supporting decentralized, persistent online 3D virtual environments. It is a virtual world that is accessible via a virtual-reality headset, augmented-reality glasses, smartphones, PCs, and game consoles.
Social media giant Facebook recently fueled the buzz on Metaverse after it rebranded from Facebook to Meta. The tech giant’s recent action resulted in the surge of metaverse tokens like Decentraland, a 3D virtual world platform. MANA (Decentraland), the native token of the gaming platform surged by 400% as Facebook embraces metaverse with its recent rebranding.
But Decentraland, a metaverse platform is just one of the types of metaverse in the crypto space today. Basically, there are 3 types of top metaverse that are currently in the market. What are these?
- Play-to-earn metaverse games
These are platforms where you can play-to-earn games. Axie Infinity, a Pokemon-inspired play-to-earn metaverse game built on the Ethereum blockchain is so far the largest of this kind. Players can earn AXS (Axie Infinity), the native token of the platform when they participate in adventures within the Axie Infinity Metaverse or battle through arenas against other players in the platform.
- 3D virtual metaverses
These platforms give users actual 3D experience and allow them to explore a virtual universe similar to Minecraft, Roblox, and even Fortnite. The best example of this type is Decentraland and The Sandbox which both have multi-billion dollar valuations. The 3D Metaverses offer a virtual universe where users can deploy these play-to-earn games.
- Metaverse platform
This type also includes blockchain where metaverses are built including Ethereum, WAX, Solana, IoTeX, and Binance Smart Chain.
To date, despite the buzz created by metaverse, there are a few platforms that can perfectly fit its description. None of these projects support VR tech at this time. But there could be a chance that the concept will be realized soon. Along with the rebranding of Facebook to Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, and CEO of the tech giant declared the company’s commitment to developing a metaverse. In a report by CNBC in December 2021, Meta announced the launching of Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality world of avatars, to anyone 18 and older in the U.S. and Canada. With Horizon Worlds, users of the platform Oculus virtual reality headsets can create a legless avatar to wander in the animated virtual world. Also, they can play games and interact with other users’ avatars.
As further stated in the report, in line with its commitment to building a metaverse, Meta will be allocating $10 billion over the next year to develop technologies for the realization of its vision.
The report further adds:
“Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers.”
With so much potential in the metaverse, it is not surprising to see the entry of other top companies like Walmart. In a report by CNBC, Walmart plans to venture into metaverse by launching its cryptocurrency and NFT collection. This was revealed last month after the retail company filed several new trademarks that show that the company is venturing into creating and selling digital goods. This includes electronics, home decorations, toys, sporting goods, and personal care products. In a separate filing, Walmart also stated that it will offer its users virtual currency along with NFTs.
Although the complete build-up of the metaverse could take years, crypto investors can start investing in projects that have the biggest potential in realizing this virtual reality. What are the top metaverse tokens to invest in this year? In our next article, we will be discussing the metaverse coins with the biggest potential and are worth adding to your portfolio.
