ViaBTC Introduction | What Makes the “Metaverse” in the Internet Industry A Favorite of Venture Capital?
“Metaverse” is derived from the parallel world described in Avalanche, the representative work by the famous science-fiction novelist Neo Stevenson in 1992: all scenes in the real world can be found in a parallel world. With the rise of AR, VR, blockchain, and 3D technologies, the metaverse is also regarded as the next form of the Internet, that is, the virtual reality world. Different from the first space (family place) and the second space (workplace), the metaverse is the “third space” centered on social interaction.
Characteristics of the metaverse
The metaverse breaks the boundaries of the traditional physical world and presents the real scenes of the real world through data. Speaking of the characteristics of the metaverse, two views have been widely accepted: identity, friends, immersiveness, low friction, variety of content, communication with the metaverse anytime and anywhere, economy and civility, as concluded by the CEO of Roblox; and sustainability, real-time, no access restrictions, economic functions, connectivity, and creativity, according to a well-known analyst.
From the above, we can easily identify the features relative to the blockchain: unique identity, economic system (function), no access restrictions, and sustainability. Features such as real-time, immersiveness, and communication with the metaverse anytime and anywhere are the ultimate vision after the coordinated development and operation of 5G technology, VR, AR, artificial intelligence, and other technologies.
The system that builds the metaverse must be decentralized
The rise of the metaverse concept is by no means accidental. It is an inevitable product of the coordinated development of the Internet and other cutting-edge technologies to a certain stage. Different from the large-scale 3D games on the traditional Internet, the metaverse is more intelligent and more experience-oriented, and the identity in it is unique. The metaverse credibly carries the equities and social identities in the virtual world so that people’s social interaction, creation, and assets and equities are all secured, which is essentially different from the scenes in traditional large-scale Internet 3D games. Players in such games often suffer asset hacking, identity duplication, infringements on privileges, and even black swan incidents. They can only count on the server or database of an organization for data security and privacy. Once in the case of malicious intervention or uncontrollable conditions, all the data and scenes will be wiped out, and the original system will collapse.
If the metaverse is also built on such a centralized network system, the person or organization that creates the metaverse system will become the master and can intervene in its development and civilization process by modifying parameters, adding or reducing modules in the background, etc., which goes against the characteristics of the metaverse as well as the spirit it advocates.
That’s why we give priority to a decentralized network when constructing the metaverse scenes. Only in this way can we build a credible, permissionless, and sustainable digital world.
The Ultimate Form of Digitalization or the Phase Outcome?
Digitalization represents a direction that cannot be neglected in the development of the Internet and is indispensable to the smart age. Some industries even judge the advancement of intelligence based on the extent to which it is digitalized. However, due to the rapid iteration and profound combination of cutting-edge technology, outcomes emerge in different phases. For instance, relevant policies were carried out in China a decade years ago to advocate the use of NEVs. But the industry found it hard to immediately replace all the fuel vehicles with fully electric vehicles owing to immature technology. Instead, it adopted hybrid electric vehicles as a transition. During the long period when the hybrid electric vehicles, fuel vehicles, and fully electric vehicles coexisted, factors such as the mature technology of lithium battery, application of charging piles, improved supporting equipment, and the popularity of NEVs advance collaboratively. After a long period of transition when everything was ready for the roll-out of relevant approaches, fully electric vehicles to have eventually become the only carrier of the car-hailing service in some cities (Shenzhen for example) as we can see today.
Things show similarities in their evolution, yet digitalization could be the ultimate form of the Internet, including but not limited to infrastructure, media communication, and content loading. As a result, the emergence of the metaverse is inevitable, not a coincidence or phase outcome of transition. Yet it is still too early to draw a conclusion. Considering the uniqueness of identity as well as the redundant permission in the entire scene, blockchain technology seems to be the only solution. But at present, among all the renowned public chains, none is technically capable of serving a massive number of users and scenes. Even the most powerful ETH ecosystem has to set a threshold by charging users a high gas fee, which discourages newcomers.
The development of new things is always filled with disapproval and doubt. Even so, the metaverse has been increasingly recognized. Therefore, in the ensuing years, the success of the metaverse relies on the development of cutting-edge technologies.
Although the hit concept of “metaverse” has been generously funded as it swept through the stock market, consumer market, and encryption industry, that does not mean the insightful and far-sighted venture capital makes the right decision in the post-pandemic era.
Just take a look at the overall economic growth in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic: the brick-and-mortar industry becomes stagnant, while the Internet companies struggle in involution and have to apply unfair prices to regular customers. The economy needs things that could inject new vitality, yet blockchain that is all the rage for years hasn’t shown a prospect of extensive business application. Contrast that with the metaverse which can be easily applied in business fields such as games, entertainment, and social interaction. Also, it is the product of various technologies and has seized the first-mover advantage, thus making itself a favorite of capital.
Hold your horse. That’s my advice for investors. The metaverse craze is reminiscent of the blockchain boom in 2017 when plenty of grass-root media received huge venture capital yet ended in terrific losses. Only those projects that have survived the intensive competition could lead a new industry to a bright future.
