Metaverse can be described in many different ways, forms, and shapes, including the most bizarre and strange ideas. In contrast, those approaches to understanding the Metaverse can still be considered correct. Different sources give a diverse description of the term, but they all have one thing in common – “Internet reality”.

What is Metaverse?

The term “metaverse” has its origins in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of “meta” and “universe.”

Basically, Metaverse is a hypothesized iteration of the Internet. So far, Metaverse can already be observed in the videogame industry, defying the laws and reality using technologies of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality). These technologies include special headsets, gloves, and other wearable devices.

Each Year different game developers and big industries improve their adaptation for metaverse trends, thus fostering the competition between these “BIG companies.” After a while metaverse trend started to evolve in different directions as other major players emerged into the game. The idea of the Metaverse became eligible not only for the videogame industry but also for everyday life usage. When Facebook announced its new brand called “Meta,” they set the new goal for this life-bending technology.

 “The Metaverse is the next evolution of social connection.  Our company’s vision is to help bring the Metaverse to life, so we are changing our name to reflect our commitment to this future.“

-©Meta

The goal is set, the road is clear, now the race begins.

Still, there are predictions for metaverse (mostly negative) which describe metaverse as a harmful environment with unpredictable and uncontrollable consequences. One states that “It will be harmful, addictive and inevitable”, others say “Metaverse is a new gate to the future”.

Metaverse and Crypto

You don’t need much effort to understand the connection between Metaverse and Blockchain technology of crypto; these two are directly linked to each other with a simple word – “money.” For example, to buy land from Decentraland, you simply need to acquire Mana, a blockchain component. Furthermore, different games and projects require different cryptos to buy and sell in-game components or project-based assets, establishing a connection between Metaverse and Crypto realities. Currently, there are lots of tokens that are considered to be a property of metaverse, these tokens are as easy to purchase as any other cryptos. Below you can see a list of the most famous tokens of Dec 22, 2021.

Decentraland is a decentralized 3D virtual reality platform consisting of 90,601 plots of land which is approximately 23 square kilometers or approximately 9 square miles. The virtual assets in Decentraland are NFTs, which can be purchased by the cryptocurrency MANA based on the Ethereum blockchain. It opened to the public in February 2020. developers offered virtual land plots for as little as $20 when Decentraland originally opened in beta in 2017 during the 2020-2021 boom in NFT art, the most desired digital real estate in Decentraland was selling for more than $100,000 now.

What Is a NFT?

Digging deep into the Metaverse, it is important to keep an eye on NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) and overall digital arts. Although they’ve been around since 2014, NFTs are getting popular day by day. The idea behind any NFT is basically digital scarcity. Each NFT is unique and secured with special identifying codes, thus ensuring the privatization from the owner’s side and keeping the uniqueness of each.

Still, it is noticeable to find NFTs of already existing art, product or video game assets. There are NFTs of famous football players, there are NFTs of famous artworks, favorite artists, singers, politicians: Everything can become an NFT.

Buying NFT is possible with crypto, but this is the only similarity. Much can not distinguish the idea of these two, so there is a big misconception about NFTs being the same as crypto. Cryptos are fungible, meaning they can be traded or exchanged for one another. Also, both physical and crypto currencies are equal in value, meaning one dollar is always equal to one dollar, and one bitcoin is equal to another. NFTs, on the other hand, have specific signatures, thus giving each of them a unique value and impossibility to be exchanged for or equal to another.

This is a list of the world’s highest rates paid for digital assets represented by NFTs, as well as the top NFT artist by volume. The current sales high for an NFT project is Pak’s (creator) “The Merge,” which sold $91.8 on the NFT platform Nifty Gateway.

In a nutshell, understanding the Metaverse means understanding every single component that drives from behind. These forces are co-related, connected, and work with one another, keeping the Metaverse wheels in circulation and moving it forward to its goal.