The metaverse is a virtual reality world. It is a core feature of Web3 technology. Metaverse will give investors new investment opportunities. It will also create a completely new world, giving organizations a new platform to reach a wider range of people and increase their business.
This is a complicated platform and in this guide, we will tell you more about the idea of the metaverse and what investment opportunities it brings.
“The people are pieces of software called avatars. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the metaverse." - Neal Stephenson
The metaverse is widely referred to as the future of the internet. Metaverse is commonly associated with Web3, as it promises a revolutionary way to interact with a 3D virtual environment. It will be like browsing the internet but instead of looking at the 2D screen, you will be immersed in a 3D world and browse the internet by walking around as we do in the real world.
The metaverse will be a new virtual world that we will be living in. Each person will own their own avatar and will be able to explore the unlimited world. You can go to the casino and play casino games, then leave and enter the mall to purchase both virtual and real-life items.
One thing that the metaverse still can not properly do is recreate facial expressions. Developers are spending a lot of time perfecting this feature, as communication between people is mostly non-verbal, and without these, communicating with someone feels dry and fake.
The idea of the metaverse holds many different possibilities. Up until now, the biggest usage of the metaverse was gaming. But there are many other things we can use it for, from business operations to real estate construction, the possibilities in the metaverse seem endless.
“The metaverse is here, and it’s not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it – from the factory floor to the meeting room.” - Satya Nadella
The first industry immersed in the metaverse is the gaming industry. The idea of a virtual world where people are able to communicate with each other while playing 3D games has sparked the interest of many players and game developers.
Still more people use traditional gaming devices, such as computers, consoles, and phones, but interest in metaverse gaming is present and is predicted to increase.
A virtual, made-up world with many different possibilities is not a new concept for gamers. Games such as Minecraft, Runescape, and Second Life have been around for many years and follow the same principles as the metaverse. The main difference between regular games and the metaverse is the implementation of blockchain technology as the underlying principle upholding the metaverse.
If we told someone in the 50s that they would be able to communicate with someone who lives across the ocean in less than a second, they might have called us crazy. If we told someone just a few years ago that we would be able to sit with someone in the same room while being thousands of kilometers away, we would have received the same response.
The metaverse gives us this opportunity. We are able to meet up with people from around the world and communicate with them as if they were standing in front of us. Decentraland, a metaverse platform, has already hosted Metaverse Fashion Week, where brands such as D&G and Tommy Hilfiger participated.
There are many different Metaverse venues where people are able to rent a venue and hold virtual events and gatherings. VR Chat is also a popular VR game that allows users to join different spaces with their avatars and communicate with each other in a 3D virtual world.
When we want to shop online, we go to different marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and personal retailer’s online stores to pick up what we are looking for. The metaverse gives us opportunities to turn this online shopping experience into something that is similar to real-world shopping.
People can wander around the malls and shops, look at different products, and experience shopping just like in the real world. Whenever you purchase something in the metaverse, it could be delivered to you in the real world. It also gives retailers a great opportunity to gather all kinds of useful data about customers which might be hard to obtain otherwise. Because of this, brands such as Nike and Gucci alongside many others are already getting on board of introducing their products to the metaverse.
The work environment is another space that can benefit from the metaverse. When Covid-19 hit, most businesses moved to online operations. Work-related meetings and other activities which required communication moved to Zoom and similar video conferencing applications. For some, this was a hard adjustment, but as time passed some people and businesses found that these kinds of communication are somewhat more comfortable.
The metaverse gives businesses opportunities to move their offices to the virtual world. Here workers will be able to attend meetings using their avatars and communicate with each other from the comfort of their homes. It also gives companies the ability to employ people from all over the world without the need for relocation. All of these give companies opportunities to save some expenses and diversify their workforce.
Another sector that could benefit from the metaverse is construction and production services. Everyone is trying to improve their working conditions, especially companies that have big production facilities. Companies are paying big money to improve their production lines, but with the metaverse, they will be able to create virtual versions of their facilities and experiment with new developments there before implementing them in their real-world facilities. By doing so, companies will be able to save additional expenses.
Investing in the metaverse can be done through different means. We can invest in metaverse tokens or even invest in metaverse real estate. Let us take a look at some of the best investment opportunities of the metaverse.
One of the easiest and simplest ways to invest in the metaverse is by buying crypto tokens that are associated with different metaverse projects. This process is simple, and it is the same as investing in tokens such as Bitcoin. You just need to pick the project you believe in and purchase their native tokens.
For example, MANA is a native token of Decentraland, which is one of the biggest metaverse projects out there. At the time of writing this guide, the market cap of MANA is $1.3 billion. These native crypto tokens that are associated with different metaverse projects are the primary payment methods in those worlds. With the metaverse growing, it is expected that these tokens will also grow in value. But not every token is destined to grow as they tend to be volatile, so choosing which metaverse token to invest in needs good research and a strong belief in the project.
As the opportunity for businesses to move their operations to the metaverse emerged, virtual real estate also saw the light of day. Metaverses give users opportunities to build and sell their own digital assets. One of the most famous investments in this field comes in the form of NFTs and virtual lands.
To invest in these virtual assets, you need to create an account on the metaverse platform that you see potential in and want to purchase NFTs and virtual land on. Decnetraland is one of the best places to purchase virtual land plots and build whatever you like. Sandbox is a metaverse that helps you purchase different art NFTs.
But here we come across a problem that NFTs have, and it is their non-fungibility. Because of this, determining the price of a land plot or NFT might be hard. We can purchase those assets on the primary market from the project itself or purchase them from the secondary market from people who are selling their assets. Determining the price on the primary market might be hard, but we can be sure that it will most likely sell for higher on the secondary market. Purchasing these assets might be more transparent, as you can compare different assets and their prices, their transaction histories, and many other relevant factors.
If you are looking for a more traditional form of investing which does not require any blockchain-related activities, then investing in metaverse stocks is the simplest option.
Investing in metaverse stock is the same as investing in regular stocks. Here you are investing in stocks of companies that operate those metaverses. The value of these stocks tends to swing just like any other stock, or even more. But in general, it is considered less risky and less fluctuating than cryptocurrencies.
Exchange-traded funds are also another option if investors want to invest in the metaverse. If you want to protect your investment by not investing in a single metaverse stock and want to diversify your portfolio, metaverse ETFs are a great option that you have.
There are already some good ETFs on the market in which you can invest. Those ETFs usually include blue-chip tech stocks as growth stocks.
Another great option that we have is to invest in companies that produce products that are used in metaverse development. Companies that specialize in 3D design, hardware, and software developers, and many others.
This type of investment is seen as the safest form of investment in the metaverse. These companies are not dependent on metaverse success and operate outside of it. So if the metaverse concept fails to live up to expectations, your investment will not get devalued because of it.
"Metaverse isn't a thing a company builds. It's the next chapter of the internet overall." - Mark Zuckerberg
There are many different metaverse platforms that are available and have already boosted a huge number of users. Let us take a look at some of them.
One of the biggest metaverse platforms available right now, Decentraland, was one of the first metaverse platforms that were fully decentralized. Here you are able to purchase land plots and use them as you see fit. You can connect your own apps and marketplaces to your own land, set up your own settings, and a lot more.
Decentraland broke the record for the most expensive virtual land plot ever sold when it sold one land plot for 618,000 MANA which was equivalent to $2,43 million at the time of the sale.
“Decentraland is a shared virtual reality experience where you can own your patch of land in this virtual world and create wherever you want” - Esteban Ordano
Even though a lot of celebrities and cooperations jumped into this project, things are not looking too bright. Today Decentraland has about 650 daily active users, and this number keeps shrinking as we approach the end of 2022.
The Sandbox in essence is the same as Decentraland. Here users can purchase plots of land and build whatever they want. The Sandbox is an NFT game and metaverse at the same time and this feature has attracted many investors. It also tends to be more stable and secure than some of the other metaverses.
In December 2021, one user paid $450,000 to purchase virtual land next to the rapper Snoop Dogg.
As with Decentraland, Sandbox's user base seems to be dwindling and today they have just around 600 people logging on each day.
If you are looking for a massive metaverse, then HyperVerse is the place for you. This is a galactic metaverse that has many different planets and these planets are not owned by any single entity. It has millions of different universes that players, who are referred to as Voyagers, can explore, interact with other users, and earn HyperVerses' native token, the HVT.
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Investing in metaverse tokens can be both a good and bad decision. These tokens tend to be volatile and their value greatly depends on the project. If we invest in metaverse projects that have not yet gained huge market capitalization, we can either make big profits as it develops into something big or lose everything as it fails to live up to expectations and gets overshadowed by other projects.
Metaverse might be a good long-term investment, but probably not. Over the last year, we have seen too many companies jump into the metaverse and then go nowhere. Will we live in a virtual world in the future? Perhaps, but the projects that are currently out there are more likely to fail than to be the next big thing.
Recently Meta had to beg their employees to use their Horizon Worlds metaverse because no one is interested in it. After nearly a year in operation, they haven't even managed to get 200,000 people to sign up.
Meanwhile, the MMORPG game RuneScape, which was founded in 2001, still pulls more than 400,000 players in each day.
Sure, some you can walk around for free. But if you want to build something, play games, or join a club then you will need to fork out some cash. Some come with a subscription model while others will require you to own an NFT associated with that metaverse. So if you don't just want to window shop then you will need to pay a few bob.
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