So you’ve probably seen that Facebook have announced their rebranding to Meta and start talking about the MetaVerse, and if you haven’t spent the last 6-12 months living and breathing on Crypto Twitter you’re probably like, wtf is going on. Which, is absolutely fair. So let us help you break it down.

As always, none of this is financial advice, do your own research and make decisions that are best for you.

What is it?

The MetaVerse is a network that combines aspects of different forms of entertainment, from gaming to augmented reality, virtual reality to cryptocurrencies, with the goal of allowing users to interact with each other virtually.

This is the digital version of the real world in a way, which can be perceived as an extension of it because of the way users interact with 3D avatars and in-world replicas of real world landmarks.

Why should you care?

It’s easy to dismiss the MetaVerse as a tool solely for gamers or those interested in tech, but the possibilities truly are endless. It will revolutionise the way you not only interact online, but your digital identity as well.

Here are some of things that are possible *already* in the MetaVerse, keeping in mind we are still so so so early and this space is about to go boom. In a good way.

1. Virtual identity going beyond a good pic you took back in 2011, now you can have your digital identity as any avatar your heart desires. Imagine the benefit of being able to truly express who you are.

2. Clothing, currency, cars, land, names – all items of value. Insane.

3. The opportunity to meet people who are like minded and sharing the same values or catch up with friends and family who live in other parts of the world.

4. World tour that doesn’t include Australia? No worries. Virtual. Events.

The MetaVerse is going to start to force us to reevaluate how we view and value ownership.

So where do I start?

To scale it right back think of the MetaVerse as a Social Media platform, there’ll be multiple MetaVerses the way you have Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. Below are two of the more popular ones that sit within the Ethereum network.

Sandbox

The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based MetaVerse as well as a gaming ecosystem. Within it, players get the opportunity to create, share and monetise through in-world assets and game experiences. 

The Sandbox software uses Ethereum to analyse and log the ownership of digital LAND and NFT assets. 

Users can engage with the ecosystem by using their SAND tokens. SAND is the native cryptocurrency token that powers The Sandbox.

Decentraland

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform, one powered by Ethereum. It is a virtual world where anyone can purchase plots of land that they can then move across, build on, or monetise in the long term.

Each LAND is an NFT, which is purchased within Decentraland.

Once you own LAND, you can do whatever you want with it, and each plot of land is capped at 33 x 33 feet but limitless in height. The native cryptocurrency asset that powers Decentraland is called MANA. 

MANA is an ERC-20 token that is required to purchase LAND and pay for any in-game items or services.

So what next?

Be curious, go explore, get involved and ask questions. If you’re reading this and it’s got you thinking, that’s perfect. Dive right in.