We have all lived the same experience: you are at a table with friends or family, and the subject of the Metaverse and NFTs comes to light. Some discuss their disagreement, others accept the reality of the technological revolution, and the vast majority hide their cell phones under the table while discreetly searching their browser for “What is an NFT?”
The arrival of the Metaverse and NFTs has raised questions about the future and what this new digital world entails. Therefore, Oriana Nan and Carlos Alcocer, co-founders of Shake Lab, have a detailed guide to the reality of this digital revolution within the framework of the start of the new ISDI program on the Metaverse (METAEX), in which they will act as coordinators.
The perfect guide to understanding the Metaverse and NFTs
Digital Property
On the Internet, we know all digital assets, such as famous memes, can be copied infinitely without losing quality or value. Still, it is challenging to know who is the creator of the meme you liked after it has already been published on different accounts.
This happens with all kinds of content on the Internet, and it is tough for a creator to receive a reward for their creation. Attempts were made to fix this via Copyright, DMCA, or Watermarks. Still, they were unsuccessful as the content continues to be distributed for free.
If you wonder what the business model was before the creation of NFTs, you will see the unfair reality of this model. Content creators receive very little since the same digital platforms own their content. For example, Instagram decides whether to close your account, which would cause you to lose all your created content. But all this changed with the advent of NFTs.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is like a unique digital item. It’s stored on the blockchain, like a super-secure digital record. This token holds all the details about the digital thing it represents.
This digital object can be a song, a meme, a photo, a jpg, a GIF, etc. The information inside this token bears the name, history, who bought it, how many wallets it has gone through (the wallets represent a buyer), etc.
Thanks to the NFTs that many dismiss as fashionable or silly, it will finally be possible to give the deserved reward to content creators. As Oriana Nan said: “NFTs are the bricks that will help build the Internet of the future.”
It is important to distinguish NFTs from cryptocurrency since, in the Blockchain (the large database that cannot be modified and is public), tokens as cryptocurrencies are interchangeable, just like bills in real life.
NON Fungible Tokens
NFTs are non-fungible thanks to the following characteristics:
- They are indivisible
- Transferable
- unique
- And you can prove its origin and scarcity
To understand it better, NFTs are non-expendable since they are unique pieces like art. Someone can’t trade you Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night for a drawing made by a grade school kid. But be careful. It is essential to know that NFTs are not only art pieces since they can be applied in art, collectibles, music, play to earn, redeemable IRL, or access gateway.
Royalties and Profits
Suppose you wonder how money is made in the world of NFTs. In that case, the answer lies in the collection of royalties that the intelligent and unchangeable contract carries. As the creator, you decide what percentage you will take each time your NFT goes from one hand to another, and automatically, the Blockchain will reward you as the creator and owner of your NFT.
But as Carlos Alcocer assured: “What we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg. Think of any industry that will fit into the world of NFTs as soon as we add utility to it.” The utility of NFTs will benefit not only the Internet but also industries. For example, the music industry, as Oriana established, will stop the exploitation of musicians or even education by creating certificates in the form of NTFs.
But how do NFTs enter the Metaverse? And more importantly, what is the Metaverse?
If something has caused the Metaverse, it’s not just a stir but fear for what our future will look like, if it will happen, and how it will affect you. The Metaverse is a reality that was only accelerated thanks to the pandemic.
Myths of the Metaverse
The Metaverse does not only consist of the space created by Facebook, as many think, but multiple Metaverses will coexist. These will be accessible to anyone regardless of their device and will be persistent, meaning it won’t stop when you’re not connected.
There will be an economy of its own in which users can work to generate resources and value within this digital world. In the end, things will get huge. You’ll be able to link up with hundreds of millions of folks.
Within the Metaverse, there will be digital currency, concerts, social events, marketplaces for digital commerce, NTFs, online shopping, workplaces, social networks, digital humans in the form of avatars, infrastructure, and even workplaces.
Who is the architect of the Metaverse, and how is it built? There are two types of metaverses: the centralized one, like Facebook Meta, where a company decides, and the decentralized one, like Yuga Labs, which is part of the Blockchain, where consensual decisions are made, similar to democracy.
An idea of how NFTs are part of the Metaverse can be seen in the Decentraland Metaverse, where there will be 90,600 parcels of land. Each virtual property will have an NFT purchased through the MANA cryptocurrency.
Economic Value and Work Spaces
However, everyone is asking: What is the economic value in an infinite digital world? In our physical world, it is clear that the value of something falls on factors such as authenticity, scarcity, and proportions. In the digital world, there is no such dimension limit until now.
Today, thanks to the Blockchain, a digital file can be authenticated, verified, and limited since its owner will be exclusive, and the objects will be limited as with NFTs, giving them their value. With the economic value, it is clear that companies must enter into this, which entails the jobs available within the Metaverse companies.
The types of companies that will exist within the Metaverse are varied, and their workspaces are as well. Here are some examples:
- Immersive entertainment experiences
- Areas of operations
- Training and coaching
- Rich customer service experiences
- Work meetings
- Advertising and marketing
- Virtual locations
- New sources of income
- More connected work experiences
We know that you have more questions than answers. As is normal with such a new subject and technology, we must educate ourselves and prepare ourselves to be among the first to dominate the conversation to get the best possible benefit for our businesses or companies. Hence, the importance of a program like METAEX will help you begin to know and master the Metaverse from a business perspective.
