Five Metaverse Myths – What’s True And What’s Not

Ellen Britt for CNT #NFT

There’s a lot of information flying around out there about the metaverse. What’s true and what’s not? Let’s take a closer look.

One – True or False – You need expensive virtual reality goggles to get into the metaverse.

False – while you will often see news stories written about the metaverse illustrated with a photo or graphic of someone wearing virtual reality goggles, some of the most popular platforms such as Decentraland or The Sandbox, can be accessed right from your laptop, desktop computer or even your smartphone.

Two – True or False – The metaverse is just a fad and will fade away soon.

False – The metaverse has actually been around a very long time. The popular platform Second Life, was founded in 2003 has an astounding 200,000 users who visit daily, with nearly 45,000 actively logged on at once! In 2021, sales of virtual real estate on the major platforms climbed to an impressive $501 million, with no signs of slowing down.

Three – True or False – The metaverse is only for games. No real world practical uses actually exist.

False (with a capital F!!) – Tell that to JP Morgan Chase who just opened an impressive new office in the Metajuku Mall, located in…you guessed it, the metaverse!! Propy, a blockchain based real estate firm recently sold a five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home, located near Tampa, Florida as an NFT auction. The home sold for $650,000 in cryptocurrency. Real estate sales are just one example of real world applications that are using NFTs to save time and secure transactions.

Four – True or False – Investments in the metaverse are a fool’s errand and you are certain to lose money.

False – While any investment carries risk, dismissing all NFT based investments out of hand is a mistake. Right now, the stock market is declining but metaverse real estate sales remain strong. See Number Two above.

Five – Buying “land” in the metaverse is just a Ponzi scheme.

False – Just as real-world real estate is not a scam, neither is virtual real estate. In fact, land in the metaverse shares a lot of characteristics with the real real world: scarcity, uniqueness and located in a specific place. To invest in real world real estate successfully you have to have confidence that the location where the property is located is going to continue to develop and be attractive to other people. This is no different in the metaverse. And if this is true, either in the real world or in the metaverse, property values will continue to rise. As long as you stick with a reputable platform like The Sandbox, Decentraland or the up and coming Mint City Places, your risk is no greater than purchasing a piece of land in rural Oklahoma or Tennessee and hoping it will appreciate in value.