Why do major global brands test NFT in Metaverse?
Blockchain is a core technology that stands out from the rest by solving double costs with the introduction of the Bitcoin blockchain in 2008. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are powered by blockchain technology, which brings scarcity and interoperability to non-interoperable tokens. But what do blockchain technology and NFT have to do with Metaverse? Why do large companies test NFT in Metaverse?
Metaverse
The term “Metaverse” first appeared in 1992 when Neal Stephenson published his science fiction novel. snow. In this book, people interact with each other and with software agents as avatars in three-dimensional space that acts as a metaphor for the real world. Although Stephenson was the first to use the term, the idea of a virtual reality-based successor to the Internet was debated by Internet pioneers in the late 1970s and early 1980s who envisioned the future Internet as a shared virtual space. A place where our physical world merges with the virtual world and creates new digital spaces somewhere.
In these rooms the rules change. People become what they dream of in their daily life. They express their inner selves through digital avatars and can even bring their digital idols into this world. Now that the word “metaverse” has gained prominence in the mainstream, some have ventured into the concept of a metaverse.
However, the definition of the metaverse is still a gamble. As in the early days of the Internet, many people have no idea what will become of it, let alone business models like Uber, Amazon and Netflix. When people say the metaverse is going to be this or this, in my opinion, nobody really has any idea of the exact size and width of the metaverse.
For those who still don’t understand what Metaverse is, the film was directed by Steven Spilberg and is based on the novel Ready player one Written by Ernest Cline is worth a try.
Related: Science fiction or blockchain reality? OASIS ‘Ready Player One’ can be built
Metaverse and Web 3.0
Two trends that will shape the world in the next 10-15 years are the metaverse and its rise in all aspects of society, as well as Web 3.0 and the democratization of the Internet.
But aren’t Metaverse and Web 3.0 the same thing? Just as there is no specific definition of Metaverse yet, there is also no concept of what Web 3.0 is, both of which are still in development.
Related: Metaverse: Will it be a decentralized paradise or a centralized autocracy?
However, some features of Web 3.0 have been identified, such as networks (we will no longer be dependent on huge centralized data servers). In addition, Web 3.0 content becomes more graphical with more videos and 3D images. In addition, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will become commonplace in Web 3.0 and bring more realistic graphics to apps and games.
With that in mind, we can say that Metaverse, which is still in its infancy, is being developed in several areas, with Web 3.0 being the largest.
It supports both games and social spaces like Second Life, one of the successful attempts to create a portal to the metaverse, but it cannot be said that the metaverse is the web itself.
Metaverse and NFTs
As we saw in the previous paragraphs, members of the tech community have foretold the exponential age in which the “Internet of the Future” will lead us to the metaverse.
Yes, the future is knocking on the door, but until recently it was not known how this space with multiple virtual worlds could reach its full potential. Can the metaverse not only fundamentally change the way people interact with the digital world, but also change parts of the real world?
It was the integration of NFT into the Metaverse that began to transform our interactions in the virtual world and affect part of the real world. Gucci was trying to reach new consumers in the Roblox game’s metaverse. The strategy was to sell NFTs for a limited edition “Gucci Collection” avatar in the game Roblox that included a bag, glasses and a hat.
In July of this year, Coca-Cola launched virtual branded apparel in the form of a non-washable token, including a “wearable” jacket that can be worn over the avatar of the virtual world from Decentraland Start. Now in November, NASCAR will launch a digital car on the breakout gaming platform Jailbreak Roblox, selling clothing for player avatars. Players can also create their own NASCAR uniforms as part of a fan contest, where the game’s developers act as influencers to promote them on social media.
NFT is the gateway to many within Metaverse
In the last quarter, several global brands developed their own NFTs and introduced their unusable tokens into the virtual world. Reason?
There are many eyeballs and ways to interact. At Roblox, more than 200 million monthly active users, about half of whom are under 13 years of age, play hundreds of thousands of virtual games, many of which now include branded activations. Wonder Woman: Themyscira Experience by WarnerMedia has been visited nearly 30 million times on the platform. And what’s interesting about this initiative is that it reflects the trend of companies meeting consumers where they are.
As Coca-Cola and Gucci show us, regardless of the product or mission statement, all companies should think about banking on this new niche. While the Metaverse is still in its infancy right now and brands are still in the early stages of their own digital transformation, NFT is proving to be a great gateway for various brands to work, the impact of shifting parts of the economy on Metaverse, and user behavior among others.
Related: New industry, new rules: Build an unbiased metaverse
The new face of NFT with blockchain technology
NFT is a representation of an asset that cannot be used in digital media. In a more technical definition, an NFT is a piece of software code that confirms that you own an indelible digital asset or digital representation of an undetectable physical asset.
It is important to note that NFT existed before the first blockchain, but blockchain technology changed the NFT market by solving the double spend problem and bringing scarcity, uniqueness, and authenticity for an unusable token.
Thus, when the NFT is registered on a blockchain, it truly becomes a “unique” asset that cannot be tampered with, tampered with or defrauded. Blockchain technology has brought standardization of basic NFT properties like ownership, transmission, and access control, as well as additional properties like specifications to consume the NFT. . The standardization of NFTs through blockchain technology has also enabled interoperability, making it easier for NFTs to move between different ecosystems.
Since 2017, NFTs have been immediately visible at dozens of different wallet providers, tradable in several markets and are claimed in several virtual worlds due to publicly activated open standards. Blockchain technology provides a clean, consistent, and reliable API with read and write permissions.
Interoperability, on the other hand, has expanded the tradability of NTFPs by allowing them to trade outside of their native environment and in any currency – from stablecoins and cryptocurrencies to fiat electronics. And this bargaining power has also brought about the transition from the original closed NFT economy to a free market economy. As a result, NFT markets that were previously closed and limited to the platform they were created on have become a free market with real trading and, more recently, virtual worlds too.
While many still consider NFT to be a bygone fad, industry leaders have recognized that combining blockchain technology with NFT and integrating it with the metaverse is the missing piece to create the “metaverse functionality”. A fully functional metaverse is one that has the potential to fundamentally change the way people interact with the digital world, and to merge it with the real world.
It is a truly collective virtual experience that not only can reinvent the creative industry by opening new doors for creators, players and artists, but it also offers an integrated physical world.
When we look at where we were in the early days of the internet, where we are and, more importantly, where we are going, we realize the inevitability of the shared cyberspace that is giving up our public and private lives.
And you, have you ever bought NFT in the virtual world? From what we’ve seen here, can you determine how NFT and Metaverse affect or might affect your daily life? Let’s think about it until our next meeting.
Tatiana Revoredo is a founding member of the Oxford Blockchain Foundation and blockchain strategist at the Saïd School of Business at the University of Oxford. Besides, she has …
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