Welcome to Crypto Por Favor, where I explore the future of crypto-powered consumer applications. Catch me on Twitter to chat all things consumer crypto. All views in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer, Foundation.
The term metaverse has been trending the past couple months, from startups to corporates looking to play a part in this upcoming virtual wave. For those who are still wondering what a metaverse is, it’s essentially a digital world where one can work, play, and basically do anything one can do in the physical world. Here is a more in-depth explainer by my talented colleagues at Foundation.
I have increasingly become interested in which metaverse worlds exist as well as which have a decent shot at breaking out into the mainstream. What follows is a summary of Messari’s excellent writeup on the potential breakout metaverse candidates, as well as my hot takes on each. Note - I am not personally invested in any of these (yet), just a curious crypto-native looking to go deeper down the rabbit hole.
Axie Infinity
Building off of the success of its play-to-earn game, it is planning to launch its own virtual world, Lunacia, in which users can play with their Axies to earn money and attend exclusive events. Users who buy plots of land, Terra, can rent them out or develop them to produce resources or provide valuable access points to events. Some of the resources that can be developed are herbs, stones, and wood, which presumably the owner will be able to sell to produce cash flow.
Axie Infinity had its first breakout as one of the first popular crypto games, where users can play with their Axies in order to earn $AXS, the project’s governance token. Additionally, users can breed new Axies if they hold $SLP.
The project boasts over 25,000 Axie holders and 17,000 monthly active users, far eclipsing the other projects on this list and therefore giving it a good chance at virtual world dominance if it can convert its large user base into active Lunacians.
Cryptovoxels
This project has made a name for itself as the place for NFT art galleries and the place to be for NFT-related hangouts. It’s the only project on this list that doesn’t have its own token, as the team has decided it would add unnecessary complexity. Instead, users pay with DAI and ETH to purchase land and virtual items. It has the lowest sales volume but the second highest average NFT purchase price, suggesting it has among the strongest product-market fits among its niche community.
If they keep leaning into the NFT community the project should have staying power. Everyone will want to show off their NFTs in their own galleries and Cryptovoxels could become the place to do so.
Decentraland
This one is one of the OG’s of the metaverse, it holds the current record for most participants in one day, 12,000. It counts 115,000+ assets sold since inception and has the most traction of any virtual world largely due to its first-mover status (although Axie Infinity should be challenging this soon).
Decentraland is governed by a DAO and has a native token, $MANA, which is used for governance as well as purchasing land and wearables. The project also has a voice feature so that users can speak to others who are near them.
My first experience in Decentraland came earlier this year, when I attended a casino night hosted and DJ’d by Harrison First. It was a lot more fun than I expected! To keep its momentum, the project will have to keep innovating and creating differentiating experiences.
Somnium Space
Its graphics focus on more realistic design, rather than minecraft-esque feel of some of the other platforms. It is designed for VR headsets, whereas most users in the other worlds participate primarily via desktop.
Somnium enables anyone to create an avatar and sell it on the market. It has the highest average asset price of all the projects on this list. Similar to many of the other projects, Somnium has its own$CUBE
This project has the best graphics by far and is the most visually compelling. However, to fully appreciate it you’ll need a VR headset which could limit the project’s reach until they become cheaper/more accessible.
The Sandbox
Currently in beta, Sandbox closely resembles Minecraft. The project has taken a bit of a different approach to appeal to the mainstream by focusing on licensing agreements with popular brands that allow them to use well-known characters in their worlds.
Users have the ability to create 3D assets and sell them. Additionally, the project is planning on introducing play-to-earn mechanisms soon.
Unlike other projects that have one token, Sandbox has five types of tokens:
SAND - in-game currency used to purchase virtual assets
LANDS - parcels of land that owners can develop as they see fit
ASSETS - 3D tradable assets created by users
GEMS - ERC-20 tokens that are meant to give ASSETS attributes
CATALYSTS - Can be burned to mint ASSETS, and allow users to associate GEMS with ASSETS
There’s definitely a lot going on with all these types of tokens and I wonder whether the increased complexity it brings is worth it. Given its active partnerships approach, it stands a good chance at bringing in new people into the metaverse although I wonder whether this approach may turn off the crypto-native crowd.
The metaverse is already here
It is an exciting time to jump in to these virtual worlds and experience the metaverse firsthand. While it’s still incredibly early to tell if one will rule them all or many will exist at scale catering to different types of users, what’s clear is that this is the future and it will enable many exciting use cases and more ways for people to have fun and perhaps make a living doing so.