Trading in the Metaverse: Have you thought about your Metaverse trading strategy? You need to move on from that, says Gunnar Jarv, COO of First Digital Trust.
Since Facebook’s pivot to Meta, the concept of the Metaverse has been further accelerated into the mainstream. Mark Zuckerberg announces that the metaverse is “The Next Chapter for the Internet” has encouraged business and tech executives to ask, ‘What does the metaverse look like for my company?’ In an effort to stay ahead of the discourse.
With JPMorgan becoming the first bank to enter the metaverse and Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision, these latest developments are just among a myriad of companies that get into the metaverse in their own way. The trend is also making its way through popular home brands including Snapchat, Amazon, and Adidas. Nation-states are also jumping on the bandwagon, with South Korea pledging $186.7 million to build a national metaverse ecosystem to encourage corporate growth and industries.
While the term metaverse conjures up images of 3D avatars and VR headsets, the possibilities uncovered by the metaverse seem to be as broad as the word’s elasticity. The seemingly ubiquitous nature of which regions it can infiltrate uncontrollably is at once responsible for both the potential and entanglement brought on by the metaverse.
Trading in the Metaverse: future development
Under its association with the niche cache of crypto terms such as NFT, Blockchain and Web 3.0, the metaverse can be broadly described as a future development of the Internet based on an online world that lines the lines of reality and virtual reality. blurs out. This enables the expansion of social interaction on a larger, more immersive level beyond what social media has to offer today. More fundamentally, it is an iteration of the Internet whereby a new network of creators and infrastructure providers facilitates how we work, earn, create and play.
The Metaverse may be ready for businesses, but businesses need to be ready for the Metaverse. Whether the Metaverse concept can live up to its potential or whether Metaverse businesses can thrive remains to be seen, and they may not be mutually exclusive. Either way, this emerging phenomenon requires thoughtfulness in its approach and flexibility in its approach.
Are companies adopting metaverse or crypto language around this?
The Metaverse is here, and JP Morgan calls it a trillion dollar market. But what does it mean when a company has entered the metaverse? By doing so are these brands trying to embrace crypto language or are they creating some value – and for whom?
In the retail industry, sports giants Adidas and Nike have taken their approach to the metaverse. For Adidas, their foray into the metaverse was marked by an NFT partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club and the creation of its first NFT collection called In the Metaverse. Owners of these NFTs have exclusive access to a variety of Adidas experiences and physical and virtual products. This includes virtual wearables set in the blockchain gaming world of The Sandbox.
For Nike, entering the metaverse meant the purchase of RTFKT Studios, a virtual sneaker company that would expand Nike’s digital footprint and capabilities. In other words, it enables Nike to produce virtual samples of sneakers, reduce cost of goods sold, and improve the bottom line. It has also launched Nikeland in collaboration with gaming platform, Roblox, to host competitions through minigames and provide digital showrooms, allowing players to customize their avatars with Nike-branded clothing.
South Korean electronics giant Samsung has opened a virtual store on the metaverse platform Decentraland, a virtual world powered by blockchain technology. Users of Decentraland can earn special NFTs by discovering fun quests and various experiences in the experiential playground, including a virtual theater and a dance party hosted by a DJ.
Common to these brands and their approach to the metaverse is that they revolve around gaming and entertainment. It is powered by NFTs and interoperable in-game assets to provide an immersive virtual experience. This vision of the metaverse has raised the perception among some in the crypto community that these are marketing ploys or ‘corporate grabs’ by businesses to stay relevant with the hype.
At the heart of this battle for the next digital frontier is the belief that the biggest challenges are not regulators, but tech giants like Facebook. On the one hand, established companies like Facebook are deploying vast amounts of resources to the Metaverse Advance. They’re doing it through a centralized approach, just like the Web 2.0 tools we have right now. Pioneers, on the other hand, are fighting for the promise of what the Internet was originally envisioned. That is, an open, decentralized system where value is created and wealth is shared with anyone who contributes to it.
Whether this is more an issue of perception or reality can be debated. No matter where one stands, it is important for all players in the Metaverse landscape to acknowledge this growing belief and take steps to address it.
Bridging the old and the new: The value of existing brands in metaverse adoption
One way to consider the metaverse is that it is an emerging phenomenon driven by new technologies (such as blockchain, NFTs and AI). This unlocks a new set of capabilities (e.g. ownership, decentralized networks, digital assets). It is governed by a self-organization principle that gives rise to an output or experience.
All of this brings to life the features of the Metaverse (e.g. augmented workplaces, immersive video games). Those who thrive in the Metaverse will consider all of these layers to shape their Metaverse project and in a way that best balances the desires of individuals, organizations, and society.
It is not unusual for existing brands and traditional companies to see the metaverse as a new avenue, a digital one, in which they can find their existing value. The existing relationship between a brand’s value and their audience should be viewed as a benefit, rather than a threat to be replaced. It can be leveraged to bring existing and new audiences to the Metaverse, connect them through experiences and activities, and build new relationships through the value of the Metaverse.
Trading in the Metaverse: strategy
Businesses should consider whether their Metaverse strategy brings to the community a unique offering that fills an existing gap. Does it offer new forms of engagement with the audience?
The ones that will be most successful in the metaverse are projects that can bring utility beyond merchandise or ‘digital sneakers’. For example, one principle of the metaverse is the degree of interoperability. It refers to the level of freedom that is given to individuals, brands and content creators to move around, discover, and experiment.
In a gaming context, interoperability is the ability to use a game’s assets across multiple games. The assets are NFT Games’ own tokens, which are powered by cryptocurrency. Players can use these tokens to trade and transfer their virtual assets to various Metaverse platforms and games. It’s a way for businesses to align and bridge community-based experiences with their traditional offerings.
While companies will always resort to their own institutional instincts and push for rules that can expose inequalities in our systems, the power of brands is undeniable. It is about how businesses leverage the existing value of brands that will be the key to how the public embraces the metaverse and holds groups accountable.
Beyond Philosophy: The Social Impact and Risks of Metaverse Adoption
Beyond the philosophical debates of ownership and control, it is also important to consider the real-life implications of adopting the metaverse. The convergence of online culture, digital art and gaming experiences exemplifies the current version of the metaverse that opens up new possibilities. But it is also important to consider what this means for a world already vulnerable to the risks of its own digital expansion.
Social media is thought to be responsible for the psychological decline in our comparison culture and especially in adolescents. The new generation has largely grown online. For them the metaverse would be a natural evolution to the next level of digital life. But we should not assume that the transition will be seamless.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the movement towards an online world. We learned to work and socialize through our screens, but it didn’t come without a cost. Still need in-person connection. It may be more helpful to consider the metaverse as a bridge that facilitates certain experiences without at the expense of existing experiences. The metaverse can break down barriers and help people achieve experiences and things that would not have been possible without it. But it shouldn’t explicitly replace real-world juxtaposition.
Bridging and Integration Call for Adoption
The metaverse is still in its infancy and there are more questions than answers at the moment. While we have the technology, the pieces are only coming together. Those who choose to participate can help shape the narrative and landscape of the Metaverse.
It is possible to mold metaverse development from some of the most institutional trends and sensibilities of legacy, centralized systems. It is also allowing businesses to benefit from this space.
The difference in the metaverse approach does not mean that it always has to be a binary option and it is possible to have both. Rather than bite your own Achilles heel, perhaps the more pertinent issue is how businesses can identify areas in which they can leverage the value of their existing brand. It follows the fundamentals of the metaverse, and is finding common ground. Those who can bridge and integrate the best of both worlds – old and new – will thrive
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