Raphael Thys
The Metaverse is a term being increasingly used and for good reason. It’s the future, but it has its dangers and pitfalls. Today we’re going to understand it, the good, the bad, and the ugly…
The Metaverse is a term people are throwing around like decentralization when it just started being a thing — they use it far more than they need, and to describe things that are not quite what the term means.
It’s easy to get lost in all of this Metaverse talk.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m 100% confident that it is the future, but people really need to think about what it means because it definitely brings its own set of dangers, pitfalls, and traps.
Throughout this article, we’re going to go over what the future holds for the “Metaverse”, and we’ll discuss its pitfalls and how this can evolve into 1, 2 , or 3 different scenarios.
That’s right, NFTs and the Metaverse is the future, but I’m not quite sure what of these predictions of mine will occur, but one of them most certainly will.
So, if you don’t mind a bit of speculative digging, here are the three different scenarios for the future — you’ll be able to contribute your own in the comments section if you think differently than me.
Make my blog your think-tank.
One Integrated and Seamless Metaverse: Alternate Reality on Crypto
The first vision I have is of one integrated and seamless metaverse, running on a single platform.
The most likely to run it is ETH, even with the absurd fees, it just seems like it may be easier to solve its scaling problem than to really take the next runner-up tokens up to the level ETH is today.
However, there are tons of other tokens out there that can take up ETH’s mantle if things go well for them… Perhaps we’ll see something coming from BSC, EOS, HIVE, BCH, or any other chain with smart capabilities (or side-chains that provide it).
In this future, there will be one Metaverse to rule them all, and the other small pockets of planets will be merely an afterthought without the same degree of immersion, variance, and overall performance.
People who’ve YOLO’d into ETH or any of its major universes will be the winners of the game, and monopolies on certain planets (NFT Collections) will undoubtedly occur.
This is probably the future vision most think about, but I wager this isn’t going to happen, it is just — in my opinion — too reductive of what this transformation really means. I’ll tell you my own opinion of which of these visions is more likely to occur further down the line.
For now, let’s take a look at another future scenario through my very own crystal ball.
Different Metaverses for Different Taste: A Fragmented Galaxy
If things keep evolving along the way they’ve been evolving up until now, we’ll have a fragmented galaxy.
We won’t have a huge Metaverse, we’ll have a cluster of Metagalaxies of sorts, in which each token will talk about its own universe as if it is the Metaverse — the one and only.
You’ll see the usual bickering among fans of different chains and they’ll be pulling up their charts, articles, and arguments to claim their token, chain and metaverse is superior.
Since more and more NFT based projects are coming out, things will escalate to another dimension — one typical of console wars:
Honestly, this is easy to imagine, we kind of see it by now, but then again — there have been certain new developments that make this scenario unlikely.
I’m talking about entities that have as their sole purpose to connect different NFT projects and different Metaverses. And that leads me to my own favorite speculative future, the one I think we’re heading to.
One Huge Seamless Metaverse: New Crypto Titans Rule
And here we are on my future of choice.
The one huge seamless Metaverse to rule them all — a Metaverse that is connected across different chains, different tokens, different NFT projects…
Each family of smart chains with its own bridge to others, and each NFT project is a part of a much bigger reality. This is the future I’m hoping for, and thanks to the developments we’ve been seeing lately in the cryptoverse, it’s possible that this is what the Metaverse even means (we’ve seen countless new “bridge-maker” projects seeing the light of day).
ETH won’t be the big ruler of the Metaverse in this future scenario, not even the other chains I mentioned. Can you guess what the big rulers, what the big titans of the “industry”, will look like?
That’s right!
The new titans to respect are these bridge-making tokens. Tokens that make all of this seamless and that serve to connect every project, giving us the metaverse we deserve. This is why I’m really investing in “bridge-making” tokens, as I definitely think they are the future.
Finally, and in conclusion, what about the pitfalls to consider in this path towards the metaverse?
Well, don’t focus on one chain too much. Avoid thinking of the Metaverse as ETH NFTs for example. Avoid thinking small.
Stop underestimating human ingenuity. Don’t pick a chain or a family of projects. Pick promising NFT projects of each chain and find the bridge makers.
This is the smartest thing you can do right now… according to me…
…and I know nothing.