CRYPTO 101 PART 10: THE OPEN VS CLOSED METAVERSE
HI DENIZENS, AND WELCOME BACK!
WHAT IS THE OPEN VS CLOSED METAVERSE?
For the closed metaverse think Facebook’s “Meta”; is simply a repackaged, dressed-up, 3D virtual version of web 2.0. It’s a private industry hustle, a con job; a place created by a centralized and nontransparent authority designed to mimic the open Metaverse. It’s a place where the organization sets the rules, owns your data, and profits from your experience. Many more companies are trying the same thing.
For the Open Metaverse, also known as the real Metaverse, think “Ready Player One” without the corporate overloards. It is the antithesis of a closed Metaverse, literally the inverse. A decentralized, web 3.0, Blockchain-based 3D virtual place/experience that nobody owns.
“Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men’s protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to their owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it.”
-Ayn Rand
THE METAVERSE IS NOT THE MARC ZUCKERBURG "META"
WHAT THE HECK IS THIS METAVERSE ANYWAY?
For all in the crypto world, the metaverse is coming, and it’s going to be big.?If you’re not familiar with the term “metaverse,” it’s a portmanteau of “meta,” meaning beyond or transcending, and “universe,” meaning, well, all existing matter and space.
So the metaverse is to be a place that transcends the physical world we live in today. In theory, It’s a digital reality, not bound to the laws of physics and traditional economics. A place of endless creativity and opportunities and will function according to its rules and principles.
The idea is that the siloed 2D internet we know today will be replaced by a 3D interoperable metaverse resulting in a video-gamelike internet experience.
The potential applications of such a technology are virtually (pun not intended) limitless, and we’re already seeing early examples of it in virtual worlds like Second Life and massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft. So while the metaverse may still seem like science fiction, it’s actually not that far off from becoming a reality.
The more connected than ever before trend is only set to continue with the rise of the metaverse. This digital economy will transform the internet with shared virtual worlds. Hundreds of companies and teams are working on making their visions of the metaverse a reality, and it is forecasted to be a multi-trillion-dollar industry.
In some ways, the first signs of the metaverse are already here. People study on YouTube, work in Teamflow, meet on Discord, game together in Minecraft and Fortnite and, shop and watch movies on Amazon, tweet on Twitter, and eat dinner from UBER Eats.
Today though, most of these services are disconnected. Users have to switch from one platform to another and log in with different accounts and inter-platform communication doesn’t exist.
However, with the metaverse, all of these activities will be connected in one shared virtual world. The possibilities are endless and the potential for growth is tremendous. Get ready for the metaverse – it’s coming sooner than you think!
CLOSED METAVERSE
Most people would be surprised to learn that the internet is dominated by just a few large companies. In fact, the most-used platforms and services are owned by just a handful of tech giants.
This concentration of power can have serious implications for users, who may find themselves at the mercy of these companies. For example, if one of these companies decides to change its terms of service or raise prices, users may have little choice but to go along with it.
Additionally, these companies may use their power to stifle competition or silence voices they don’t agree with. Therefore, it’s important to be aware of the concentration of power in the tech industry and to understand the potential implications.
Powerful platforms become exclusive. Not surprisingly, that harbors the potential for conflict. If these companies are no longer mere service providers, they become gatekeepers equipped with the power to decide who gets to use their platforms. This wouldn’t be a problem if hey weren’t monopolies within their fields, but they are.
Users get de-platformed and silenced, lose their voice, and in some cases even their livelihood. Consequently, as these companies have expanded it’s become increasingly hard to hold them accountable. Otherwise, we risk becoming trapped in a digital world where only a select few have a say.
As anyone who has attempted to leave a social media platform knows, it is not easy. Not only are you saying goodbye to your friends and family, but you are also giving up your history, your identity, and your data.
This is because web 2.0 social media platforms have a monopoly on our data. We may not agree, but the reality is that we’re at the mercy of these platforms. They can change their terms and conditions at any time, and they can delete our data if they so choose.
We may not like it, but this is the reality of the situation. So before you opt out of a social media platform, think long and hard about the cost of doing so.
OPEN METAVERSE
In this case, the metaverse is built in an open and decentralized manner on the principles of Web 3.0, built on blockchain technology, ensuring permissionless access and the ownership of data by the users. “A metaverse that won’t yield control in the hands of just a few but allows users to truly own their creations and data. In an open metaverse, digital items will be truly possessive thanks to NFTs, and users can monetize and trade their virtual goods and data at their will.”-RealVision
Imagine being able to shop, work, play, and socialize all in one place.
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And should a single entity build and control the metaverse, they would wield an immense amount of power. So it’s important to be aware of the potential implications of the metaverse and make sure that we don’t hand over too much control to any one institution.
Decentraland and The Sandbox are two projects that are building the open metaverse on the principles of Web3. Decentraland is a virtual world where users can buy, sell, or trade virtual property.
The Sandbox is a game world where players can create their own games and experiences. Both projects are powered by blockchain technology, which allows for decentralization and security. The open metaverse is still in its early stages, but Decentraland and The Sandbox are leading the way in its development.
THE PROBLEM WITH A CLOSED METAVERSE
Web 3.0 and crypto enthusiasts are not the only ones building the metaverse.
The clear problem is that major tech companies don’t just want to be a part of the future metaverse, they want to define and own it, similar to how they control their Web 2.0 platforms.
The private industry is fully aware of the potential of the metaverse and probably has the most aggressive conviction about its future importance.
Several companies have publicly announced that they are building their own version of the metaverse. This usually comes with a commitment to fund metaverse projects with large sums of money and to delegate their best engineering talent to it.
WEB 2.0
Whoever controls the largest parts of the metaverse will be able to extract the largest profits from it. Meta (formerly Facebook) has even changed its name to openly communicate its intention AND lay claim to the metaverse.
They have also purchased the virtual reality headset company Oculus, which allows them to control the hardware entry point to the metaverse. The Metaverse is coming, and the tech giants are positioning themselves to be its gatekeepers.
Besides Meta, other early leaders in the metaverse space are well-known names in the tech industry. Microsoft, Amazon and Google are just the prime examples among many that are pursuing a metaverse vision. Unity, Valve, Epic Games, and Apple, to name just a few more, are also pursuing the metaverse as the next big thing.
IS THE CONFLICT OVER?
The recent push by large tech companies into the metaverse space has raised the question of whether the battle for an open and decentralized metaverse is already lost before it really begins. However, there are two significant forces that will make it much more difficult for the metaverse to be walled off and controlled by a few centralized entities.
The first is blockchain technology, which enables developers and artists, no longer reliant on VCs or large companies to finance them, to lay the foundations and create fully decentralized applications that are independent and outside of the reach of large tech companies.
Unlike in Web2.0, successful decentralized protocols running on a blockchain cannot be possessed by a single entity and, therefore, cannot be sold to a large company with deep pockets. Thus, consolidation on the application level is less likely to happen.
The second force is the fact that the metaverse will be built on existing infrastructure such as the internet and cellular networks. This will make it much harder for any one company to control or shut down access to the metaverse. In short, the battle for an open and decentralized metaverse is far from over.
The idea of augmented reality has been around for some time, but imagine a world where you can be anyone you want to be, where you can go anywhere you want to go, and where you can create anything you can imagine. An open-source creator economy on a blockchain network where billions of avatars interact.
This is the promise of the Metaverse, a virtual reality that is constantly being built and expanded by millions of its users. And to realize this promise, the metaverse must be built on blockchain technology.
Only blockchain provides true ownership of digital assets and guarantees access for everyone. And only blockchain allows users to own their data and monetize their creations at will. By harnessing the power of blockchain, the metaverse can become a truly free and open platform for creation, collaboration, and exploration. And that is why blockchain is essential for the metaverse.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We don’t really know much about the metaverse yet. It’s all still up in the air. Who will own and run it? What will it look like? We just don’t have enough information to make solid predictions. The metaverse will likely be created by a network of different platforms, blockchains, and technologies working together.
This cooperation and embracing of interoperability are essential for the success of the metaverse. Different organizations will need to be able to communicate and interact with each other to create a cohesive user experience. Only by working together can we hope to build something as ambitious as the metaverse.