The Metaverse Economy: How Finance Professionals Can Make Sense of Web3

One Vision podcasters Krishnakumar (Restartup) and Lau (Beyond Good) offer a straightforward assessment of how technological developments may create new financial opportunities for banking, education, gaming, shopping, and work. The authors outline the basic tenets of Web3, an amorphous vision for how the internet might be improved by giving users ownership of their data and decentralizing the means of conducting financial transactions. Examining how Web3 principles could change gaming, the authors argue that players who purchase with real-world money such in-game features as weapons or costumes should own them in perpetuity and be able to sell them to others as they would tangible assets, which would enhance the incentive for gamers to invest more time and money in the game. Krishnakumar and Lau also suggest that companies building the metaverse, including Meta and Pixowl, could monetize their digital facilities by charging transaction fees on in-app purchases and selling tickets to in-app events. The authors highlight some mind-bending ways new online ventures might reshape the world (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is building a virtual counterpart to their physical campus to enhance remote learning) even as they remain clear-eyed about the challenges, such as developing more powerful computers and servers capable of handling millions of simultaneous users. It’s a stimulating glimpse at what the digital future might look like. (Aug.)