Metaverse will take crypto mainstream … and lots else; here’s what the experts foretell

Given the right platform, the metaverse will drive in huge opportunities for blockchain technology, a strategist at the Bank of America said, adding that it will take cryptocurrency mainstream and allow digital assets to be employed widely for financial transactions.

Haim Israel, Bank of America’s Managing Director of Research, and a global strategist, told Insider that the metaverse as a tool will drive the cryptocurrency industry towards mass adoption.

However, existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are too volatile to fit in this role, he said.

Here’s a look at how the industry feels about the metaverse:

Luxury brands and fashion will see a growth from current low levels to $50 billion by 2030, Morgan Stanley said in a report in November, adding that social gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) would expand luxury brands’ total addressable market by more than 10 percent in the next eight years. "The Metaverse will likely take many years to develop; however, NFTs and social gaming (e.g. online games and concerts attended by people's avatars) present two nearer-term opportunities for luxury brands," it said.

Crypto investment giant Grayscale said the metaverse represents a market opportunity of over $1 trillion annual revenue. The metaverse is in its early innings given the $10 billion that companies like Facebook plan to invest, Grayscale said. Grayscale is an arm of Digital Currency Group (DCG), which owns CoinDesk.

In the coming decades, the metaverse will become a multitrillion-dollar part of the world economy, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, said. “This metaverse is going to be far more pervasive and powerful than anything else. If one central company gains control of this, they will become more powerful than any government and be a god on Earth.”

Augmented reality will become mainstream and part of everyday life, Apple CEO Tim Cook said. Apple and Google have both developed platforms that make it easier for developers to create augmented reality apps. A significant population in developed countries will experience AR every day, like eating three meals a day, Cook said.

The metaverse will become key to not just digital experiences but also crucial for physical processes. In the hospitality industry, branded hotels are likely to be the early adopters of the technology. “In five years’ time, the Marriotts and Hiltons of the world will start building meta versions of their hotels into Horizon, allowing avatars/guests to meet with their friends in the lobby, or brainstorm on their virtual meeting rooms, of course for a fee,” said Simone Puorto, founder and CEO of Futurist, told hospitalitynet.

The Deputy President for Consumer Business of Sony Electronics said with the help of technology, metaverse will appear as ‘real life’ for those participating in it. The consumer entertainment aspects of the metaverse will be the primary driver, Ishida said.

According to the Vice-President of Qualcomm, the metaverse is an ever-present spatial internet. Unlimited users and businesses in the metaverse will be allowed to explore, create, socialise, and participate in a wide variety of communities, daily experiences and economic activities, Swart said.

Sayon Deb, Manager of Market Research at Consumer Technology Association, believes the metaverse will be a self-contained economy where individuals and businesses will create, own or invest in a range of activities and experiences.