Intro to the metaverse (Part 2 of 7): NFTs

In the previous intro to the metaverse, we established the history of the metaverse and why it matters. Now, let’s explore the role that NFTs will play in expanding and improving the metaverse, offering new experiences, and establishing digital ownership.

Ownership in the new internet

When people talk about the metaverse, they often think about the fact that real people will be interacting with digital avatars. It’s also true that the metaverse offers a chance for individuals and businesses to showcase digital property and artwork. The economies that power Web 3.0, which emphasizes decentralization and more control over digital identity, will likely require NFTs to operate.

A high-profile NFT artist can showcase work in a metaverse museum, for example. Even investment companies are diversifying with virtual land holdings. NFTs allow for certifiable and undisputable ownership thanks to blockchain technology. In other words, one can think of NFTs as the ability to have a “deed” in the metaverse. 

Now that billions of dollars are flowing into the sector, NFTs will undoubtedly help establish ownership in virtual worlds. In other words, NFTs can drive value as the foundation of the metaverse economy. 

NFTs as a “bridge” or intro to the metaverse

While some attempt to dismiss the metaverse as “overhyped,” it’s impossible to deny the powerful money flow into NFTs. OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the world, is on track to have a record-breaking month already. Similarly, many have doubted Bitcoin in the past, despite the fact that it helped give birth to cryptocurrency markets now worth trillions of dollars.

With more interest in NFTs than ever before, it helps offer new business opportunities in the metaverse. Whether you’re a creator with a following, like a celebrity, a billion dollar company, or a small business, creating NFTs can offer a new revenue stream. It can also help you sell products or services in the metaverse.

We all know that there were doubts about the Internet in its early days. These days, it’s hard to imagine a world now where the Internet isn’t easily accessible from a smartphone. The metaverse has massive potential, but it also faces the massive obstacle of mass adoption. 

With NFTs more popular than ever before, they can be the key bridge to mass adoption of the metaverse. NFTs also power blockchain gaming, which will also serve as its own gateway to the metaverse.

Powering metaverse communities

There’s another use case for NFTs that may not be as obvious: their power to help build communities in the metaverse. If you own an NFT in the metaverse, it can lead to personalized experience or unique access to exclusive events, whether it’s in the real world or a virtual world.

We’ve already seen NFT drops lead to the creation of unique communities. The Bored Ape Yacht Club has become such an exclusive community that high-profile celebrities have purchased Bored Ape NFTs to become part of the community’s future growth. The Bored Ape Yacht Club also gives full commercialization rights to the NFT owner. 

This kind of business model can help attract creators and artists to NFT collections, since they can own NFTs and spin off their own art, merchandise, or media/entertainment projects regarding the NFT. It’s also easy to see how like-minded NFT owners might create a community in the metaverse, or congregate at a specific location in a virtual world.

One Bored Ape owner created a Bored Ape-themed beer at their Michigan brewery, for example. Gary Vee is launching the world’s first NFT restaurant, where patrons have to own an NFT to make a reservation. In the future, DAO memberships may require NFT ownership.

In the same way that NFT ownership can offer access to exclusive real-world events and perks, NFT ownership can also offer exclusive experiences in the metaverse. It can create both real and virtual communities, and some NFTs can even offer interoperability between more than one metaverse, which would obviously increase their value.

What other roles are possible?

There are countless factors regarding how NFTs will play a role in the metaverse. How will minting fees and gas fees work, and what blockchains will end up dominating the metaverse? While many experts consider Ethereum foundational to the metaverse, will Solana emerge as a serious metaverse competitor? 

Like cryptocurrency, many NFT critics have tried to dismiss the rise of NFTs as a “fad.” If the first month of 2022 is any indication, the NFT sector will not be slowing down anytime soon. As the metaverse grows, we will likely see the use cases and applications for NFTs expand along with it.