Metaverse?

The metaverse is a combination of the prefix "meta" (meaning beyond) and the stem "verse" (a back-formation from the universe"); the term is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe. In the metaverse, user-generated content (UGC) is the main product, and exchanges are made with cryptocurrencies.

Since Linden Lab released 'Second Life', an IT Venture in the United States that has grown in popularity, the interest in the metaverse is growing. Although the metaverse was described to express virtual reality in the past, its definition has evolved to describe the more advanced virtual world of things.

Borderless Reality and Virtual World

Millennials and Gen Z, born after 1980, naturally equate themselves with online avatars or characters.

There is no border between online and real-life friends, and no wonder they spend money to buy apparel and accessories to express their personality on their avatars.

Moreover, due to COVID-19, it is becoming natural for people to create offices on the metaverse platform for their work instead of physical commuting.

Expectations about Metaverse Market and Size

According to the PwC report, the market outlook of the metaverse, including AR and VR, is expected to grow continually and reach about US$ 1,500 billion by 2030.

Here are a few examples that can back up predictions of the metaverse market growth.

Despite all performances and concerts canceled during the global pandemic, Travis Scott, an American Singer, decided to hold a concert in Fortnite, an online battle royal genre game.

The concert was a success, and albeit the paid performance, it was recorded that 12 million spectators (users in the game) attended.

Another metaverse platform called "Zepeto" held an autograph event with "Blackpink", a K-Pop idol, and 40 million fans attended. Blackpink also performed their latest album with their avatars in that space.

Since the above figure of audience and participants are physically impossible in the real world, all global companies are paying attention to the future of the metaverse.

Roblox, one of the representative metaverse games, was listed on the New York Exchange on March 11, 2021, and it is reported that there are 2 million developers who use 'Roblox Studio' to create mini-game on the platform. As of July 2022, "Fortnite" has 350 million users, "Zepeto" has 200 million users and "Roblox" has 150 million users from countless countries.

Blockchain Cryptocurrency and Metaverse

Game money existed in games before cryptocurrency using blockchain technology appeared, and in some cases, game money was traded for actual money through an external item exchange.

In "Roblox" and "Zepeto", there is a tradable game currency in those platforms called Robux and Gem, and creators can exchange those game money for real money.

However, Robux and Gem are not decentralized cryptocurrencies. Thus, there is no monetary or distribution policy, the value of a currency can also be adjusted according to the development direction of the developer.

To solve such problems, the metaverse platform of "The Mars" applies cryptocurrency to the base in-game currency of the metaverse in order to realize the decentralization and limits of quantity for a transparent operation according to a set distribution policy, rather than arbitrarily adjusted by the developer.