Facebook Throws its Weight Behind the Metaverse
Happy Monday!
This past week I traveled to the West Coast for CoinAgenda. On Monday I’ll be going up to New York for NFT NYC, the largest NFT/metaverse conference ever thrown.
And the timing couldn’t be much better: the big news last week was Facebook’s announcement it will be rebranding to “Meta”.
Facebook going for a rebrand isn’t much of a surprise in and of itself. The biggest social media company in the world has been mired in divisive issues and embarrassing mishaps (Cambridge Analytica, recent whistleblower leaks) for years… excellent movies like the social dilemma have given the public further cause to be wary of Mark Zuckerberg’s behemoth, highly centralized, social media giant. Facebook was probably going to rebrand to something sooner or later to try and take the heat off a bit and give the impression to their users they’re ready to start on a “clean slate”. Ha.
More critical, and surprising, is their choice for the new brand – which will now appear in front of FB’s billions of daily active users all around the world. Facebook chose “Meta”!
In CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s own words: “Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started”. (For more background on the Metaverse, check out my last article on the matter).
There’s some indication that this move has been a long time in the making. As early as 2018, an internal white paper laid out to FB’s board of directors that the metaverse “is ours to lose”. They could be right.
Facebook has been building its capabilities and accumulating market share in the VR (Virtual Reality) space for years. They have an impressive suite of engaging VR products – everything from headsets to fitness games and more – on the roster for release. They have been continually prototyping new and better hardware.
In the virtual world itself, it seems clear Meta is building it’s own massive consumer platform for metaverse gaming and experiences. While crypto enthusiasts may fantasize about the trillion-dollar company coming to existing decentralized platforms like Decentraland or The Sandbox, I think there is very little chance of this.
But as the saying goes: “A rising tide lifts all boats”. Coins representing utility in both of the above leading crypto metaverse platforms (MANA and SAND, respectively) jumped by triple-digit plus percentage gains last week. I had highlighted both MANA and SAND weeks ago in our Discord Group. I had substantial exposure to each one, and hope some of my readers did too!
One thing seems abundantly clear. The “metaverse” is a real battleground, and competition to colonize it is heating up. Now that Facebook is in the game, you can be sure there will be a lot more coverage and attention. I believe some amount of existing FB users strongarmed into Meta’s new platform will explore more of what the space has to offer, and find value and differentiation in existing, more decentralized, open-build ecosystems such as Sandbox and Decentraland. A rising tide…
To Meta’s credit, they seem to understand that a centrally controlled metaverse is a dangerous, dystopian nightmare to be avoided… or so they’ve said. When pressed on this topic following the rebrand announcement, Meta executives insisted they don’t want to own the metaverse, just jumpstart it. Indeed, with over 2 billion users worldwide, Meta will be able to provide quite a boost.
Existing crypto metaverse projects stand to benefit. These projects will be differentiated from Meta’s platform. They will be independent, open, and (more) decentralized. As Meta brings the idea of the metaverse to it’s >2B worldwide users, I believe a decent amount of will find their way to the more open, decentralized, and exciting version offered by crypto. Facebook may have changed it’s name, but users won’t soon forget how many times the company has already betrayed their trust. Crypto metaverse platforms will win on trust where Meta falls short.
Crypto News:
US Regulators Weigh Avenues for Banks to Hold Crypto: Report (LEARN MORE)
Florida’s Miami-Dade County to ‘Study Feasibility’ of Paying Taxes With Crypto (LEARN MORE)
Tom Brady is giving a Bitcoin to fan who had his 600th TD ball (LEARN MORE)
Amazon Web Services Looks to Drive Crypto Settlement and Custody to the Cloud (LEARN MORE)
Have a great week!
Shahar
This newsletter is meant for informational purposes only. It is not meant to serve as financial advice. If you are interested in financial advice, please schedule a personal consultation with me, and be sure to read the accompanying disclaimer.
