Metaverse and Blockchain link
All your answers on what Blockchain has to do with the Metaverse
Facebook’s re-branding to Meta in October 2021 marked a huge upsurge in search for the word Metaverse and the world rushed to understand what really is the Metaverse. And within no span Metaverse became one of the top searched words of 2021.
Well it even made it to the top ten words in the Collin Dictionary “Top Ten Word of the year 2021” after joining in late in the race as a late entry card in October 2021, thanks of course to Mark Zuckerberg 😄
And for all the searchers in world it revealed a lot more being thrown into the basket- NFT, crypto, AI and of course Blockchain. So before we really move to understanding how Blockchain links in, I strongly suggest that you read my article on titled “ Understand the Metaverse” for a more thorough conceptual understanding of this parallel second world which is likely a digital embodiment of our real lives.
What is the Metaverse ?
Facebook (now Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been famously heard calling the Metaverse as a “digital embodiment”- an embodiment where instead of simply viewing the content on your mobile devices; you are actually in it. Sounds exciting! But how?
Simply put, the idea is that we will create our virtual version or commonly called “digital avatar” which will enter into this virtual world of virtual cafes, shops, cruises, schools, nightclubs and enjoy all of these while you practically sit at home and watch your virtual self do so much that you wish for but are unable to in real life due to time and space barriers.
So the internet of today is 2D or linear — the Metaverse will be spatial, 3D; powered by technologies which support 3D to enjoy these experiences that I am talking about. And this opens a whole new world of possibilities- a whole new economy for entertainment, retail, services, games, education and just about everything as long as you can provide value to the users!! ( PS: We will talk about value for users in the Metaverse another time but hey very very important.)
Wanna know economic possibilities — Check out the latest apparel retail economy unlocked by leading brand H&M by launching apparel to dress up your Digital Avatars.
Now how does Blockchain fit in?? What is the link between Blockchain and Metaverse?
A question that's doing the rounds so let’s hit grass-root level here. Satoshi Nakamoto’s flagship paper titled “Bitcoin: P2P Electronic Money System” was the introduction of Blockchain technologies to the world with the introduction of the very loved -Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Blockchain has ever since been revered because it signifies trust and ownership with more clarity than ever before and hence was first used by the financial systems, crypto users to be specific ( Blockchain 1.0). It has of course over the last decade evolved in usability into many other industries from healthcare to education and is still evolving.
Blockchain resolves to solve the problem with the existing internet age technology — ownership and trust. You see a photograph or a meme or a song and there are so many copies across the internet and social platforms that in most cases you cannot tell which is the original one or which is a copy of the original or even who created it. In fact people make small minor changes and pass off the work as their own creation and no one can be the better judge because we do not have the mechanism to prove it. In short, we cannot tell Proof of Work unless someone copyrights and protects their work through legal mechanisms. Now with Blockchain technology the beauty lies in the fact that it can give clear Proof of Ownership.
Just think of blockchain as a data storage file- a file that contains some information and this file has the following interesting features:
- Only one person or one business or entity has control over this file through their personal key ( like a bank locker- your key is needed to open the locker and marks your ownership of the locker). Same way no one can edit this file till they have this personal key. So, we now know the owner. Ownership.
- Viewing is possible for everyone who has been given view access permission as in case of Bitcoin blockchain. You can view but not edit. Transparency.
- File is stored in multiple data stored at multiple locations or nodes. So if someone tries to tamper or change the file at even one of the nodes, the other nodes would not be altered but would instead quickly exchange notes and point out the tampered location. Security.
- Any new information edit or addition/deletion to this file will be stored in a chronological linear order. This means that any new information will now be added at the end of our file. Value creation.
So doesn’t this sound a better way to store your data? I for one agree. Better still because my data is not stored or held by Big Tech like Facebook or Google where if I delete my Facebook account I lose all my post, like, comments for the last ten years of my life ( centralized control). With Blockchain that will not happen- we will move towards an era of decentralization.
Bitcoin is an established well used case for blockchain technology using it to show transparently the ledger of financial transactions, is secure and creates value for its users. Today the blockchain can have multiple uses where data points are in play and create a transparent, secure, open and decentralized environment.
And that brings me to the Metaverse- which will create data points like never before because of its 3D nature. If you thought that Internet created some heavy data sets, watch out because Metaverse will be spatial with volumetric capture and movement in real-time- so tremendous data generation. And all these data files need to be stored ? Wan to guess where and how?
Well with the visualization of present day, the Metaverse economy will be built On-chain — on some form of blockchain — which and how, that time will tell. A lot of innovation, creation, designing, modelling, re-modelling is happening to reach the vision of this parallel world that will simulate our real lives for greater gains hopefully!
The metaverse vision of today needs:
transparency
decentralization
currency exchange
massive data storage
proof of work
The Metaverse needs all things on-chain !
So stay tuned to watch how Metaverse and Blockchain interlink to give you some phenomenal experiences.
