Cryptocurrency investors of today are likely to be the “masters of the metaverse”, which has the potential to change how we live, interact and do business, predicts the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations.
The prediction from Nigel Green, the CEO and founder of deVere Group, comes as Facebook announces plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to develop a so-called metaverse.
“The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social and economic opportunities,” the tech giant said in its blog.
The term ‘metaverse’ gives a virtual parallel to physical reality where a community of people can interact in the form of avatars. It refers to the merging of physical, augmented, and virtual reality in a shared online environment.
Mr Green says: “Facebook’s announcement once again underscores that the metaverse is not being seen by those-in-the-know as an ‘extension’ of the internet, but as its successor.
“It will become the entrance to almost all digital experiences and an integral part of most physical ones, meaning it will fundamentally change the way we live, interact with each other and do business.
“It will revolutionise economies, it will be the key to the creation of whole new generations of companies, and this is why the big tech firms are jumping in – no one wants to be left behind something so monumental.”
He continues: “The metaverse is being built and run on blockchains and decentralised applications, which is the same cutting-edge technology used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“In addition, in the virtual worlds which will reshape how we spend our time and our money, financial transactions will, of course, have to be digital.
“This means that cryptocurrencies are likely to become the sole legal tender accepted in the metaverse.
“All of this is a huge advantage to anyone investing in crypto today. Prices of major cryptocurrencies are likely to soar enormously in the next few years. As such, those buying now will be taking advantage of the lower entry points.
“Their purchasing power within the digital space can be expected to be huge as a result: they will be the ones who are the Masters of the Metaverse.”
Everything is very much still in the early stages, and it might be another decade or so until the potential of the metaverse is fully realised.
But, concludes Nigel Green, there is a “massive advantage” for early adopters of new tech – “just ask Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg” – as well as those who “invest earlier on in the currencies of the future.”