Published on
February 23, 2022
I get it. It's hyped and the technology is great! I love it as well. And the urge to invest now is absolutely understandable. Still, here is my warning why buying "property" is not the way you want to go.
But before diving into this, let's talk about the word "Metaverse" first. The term “Metaverse” has not only become an overused marketing buzzword, it's very often used instead of any of the terms VR, AR, Web3.0, IOT, NFTs, digital twins, multi-user 3D simulations and many other things. Doing something in VR does not mean you are doing things in the Metaverse - and here lays the reason for this misconception. The Metaverse will be a combination of all these technologies. Fact is that the Metaverse as such is not yet existing.
There are a lot of people and companies claiming that they are working on building the Metaverse. Some of them actually do. If that's you: Keep on the great work! But the other 99+% either don't even know what they are talking about or are trying to scam you. So, how do you tell wright doers from wrong claimers apart? It’s simple: people actually working on the Metaverse are not asking private people for their money. They approach investors or are big tech companies themselves with the necessary financial resources to create the Metaverse. To find out how much of a poser you are dealing with, you can simply ask them to explain to you all the above terms and how they relate to the Metaverse.
One thing makes it very clear that "buying property in the Metaverse" is not a good investment: The Metaverse will not be owned by a single company (even though Meta is trying hard to become the evil, humanity-dominating monopoly in this space) - just like the internet is not owned by a single company either. So, if you "buy property" from a "metaverse company", you are actually just paying a ridiculous amount of money for data space on a proprietary platform. This isn't the Metaverse - it's just bits and bytes on someone else's computer. To provide you with an analogy: It's like paying for a subdomain on another person's domain. You wouldn't do this either, would you? If you want to have a more detailed explanation on the flaws of this concept, check out this seven minute video by Joakim Vindenes on YouTube. His main statement is this: The value of virtual property should come from the opportunities it provides, not from an artificially created scarcity.
But what if you still want to invest in the Metaverse? The alternative I suggest is to invest in yourself!
Let you, your product, and your services be of value in the Metaverse! First, you need to check how similar those will be in a virtual environment compared to reality. What purpose do they serve, what value do they provide to your customers, and how could you adjust your offering if no longer limited by the constraints the reality poses on you? The ability to create and offer valuable products and services in a virtual, interactive, and multi-user environment will be in huge demand and secure your return on investment.
An outstanding example of a person who already achieved similar success is Anna Zhilyaeva. She creates art in VR and makes a performance out of it. On her website you can find more information about her work as a virtual reality artist. This does not mean, however, that we all should try to become virtual artists. Just think of what you already do and what you are good at - and transpose this to offer the same or even greater value in a virtual space. Maybe you come up with a completely different way which has only become possible by the new freedom that virtuality can offer.