NFTs, non-fungible tokens are the cornerstone on which the Metaverse is being built. This fact, makes the NFTs and Metaverse inextricably linked, and hence the revolution around these technologies all the more exciting.
The crypto and blockchain markets have matured and evolved greatly over the last few years. With the rise of Web3, businesses taking on Metaverse facilities with open arms have increased its popularity amongst providers and consumers. The UAE is no exception in realizing the potential of the Metaverse and is living up to its reputation of being one of the earliest adopters of this technology and its complementary fields as well.
Chainanalysis State of Web3 reports that collectors have sent over $37 billion to NFT marketplaces between January and May this year. This indicates that the NFT marketplace is poised to break the limit set by 2021’s total of $40 billion. Generally, the NFT market has its peak and troughs, they are often due to global trends and user demand. Taking that into account, there has been an increase every quarter from 2020 before the dip in the 2nd quarter in 2022.
NFTs allow people to own digital assets. Images, audio, and video can be sold and bought or even transferred between NFT owners. This generates interest and the demand to own an NFT due to the digital nature and the unique token identifier of your asset. That is not all, within the Metaverse one can even own their very own virtual real estate.
Have you ever seen the movie by Steven Speilberg – Ready Player One? We can draw interesting parallels between the Oasis (the universe in the movie in which players can interact using their avatars) and the Metaverse.
The interest reaches new highs, due to the simple fact of enabling people to express themselves in different ways. Many brands, gaming communities, and individuals have already begun treating the Metaverse as a living reality that is actively influencing the virtual experience. Blockchain-based virtual real estate prices grew by 879% from September 2019 to March 2022. Compare this to a 39% growth in real estate prices during the same time, showing a growing disparity between the consumer’s interests.
Brands in the UAE have been quick to embrace the Metaverse. Backed by the government’s initiatives such as the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to increase the Metaver sector’s contribution to the nation’s economy to 1% of the total GDP.
Etihad Airways, have minted their NFTs. The collection of 2,003 limited edition collectibles offers travel and lifestyle benefits to its owners. Dubai’s Museum of the Future in collaboration with Binance NFT has developed a range of virtual assets that are ready to go public in the coming weeks. These initiatives are steps in ushering the Metaverse into the daily lives of the people to bolster and augment communities and events alike.
Technologies like the Metaverse and blockchain operate seamlessly to introduce a better quality of life for its user. Say, let’s take the gaming industry for example. An industry that is set to value at $321 billion by 2026, stands to benefit through such technologies. Easier ways to animate and create games and more immersive mediums through which one can experience the stories created by the developers. In a few years, an avid role-playing gamer can experience the feeling of being part of the Animus (the fictional engine that helps the player tap into the lives of their ancestors in the Assassins Creed franchise developed by Ubisoft), and that will change gaming forever.
When we talk about day-to-day operations of the world. The nature of interoperability is being toyed with, with super fast connectivity and security to encourage long-range interactions through virtual reality. A technology that allows the metaverse to become a living, breathing space for industries to conduct their business daily.
Several brands in the MENA region are already incorporating VR as we speak. This stands to invite visitors into this space of technology and encourage them to join in this journey of adopting new technologies to improve the general quality of life.
Rest assured, it is an interesting and exciting time to be alive. It is safe to say that, whatever may come tomorrow, this is just the beginning of how the Metaverse and NFTs stand to change how we live our lives.