The Metaverse: It Is Getting More Serious Every Day

Meta is already at a disadvantage!

However, the most important signal coming from the markets is this: the metaverse will be the next big thing, the next thing to boom in the blockchain industry. Facebook's initiative (now Meta) will help make this new way of interacting online popular, but protocols like Decentraland and The Sandbox have already accumulated such a technological advantage that it will be very difficult for Facebook to close the gap (even with its huge users base, which is demographically less relocatable within the metaverse). For this very reason, it's no surprise that many VIPs, wanting to be among the first to enter these "digital universes", have opted for Decentraland and The Sandbox, rather than waiting for a primitive and immature version created by Facebook. But how many people are currently part of these projects?

• The Sandbox: more than 80,000 wallets and more than 30,000 active users in its metaverse monthly
• Decentraland: more than 150,000 wallets and about 300,000 active users in its metaverse monthly

But let's take a closer look at how many new people enter these metaverses every day. According to an analysis of the official data of opensea.io (the most important platform in the trade of LANDs and assets) about every hour there are between two and six sales of LANDs (which I remember to be 96x96 meters large for "The Sandbox and 16x16 meters for "Decentraland"). Each LAND of Decentraland is currently sold at an average price between 3.5 and 4 Ethereum while the portions of the metaverse of The Sandbox, although larger, are sold only between 3 and 4 Ethereum. Here are some of the “craziest” sales:

• Transaction hash: 0x53628ca3cc92ccf39eb9603dea2553a5594f9f09ca658528b00f00d484873f78 (Decentraland LAND sale)
• Transaction hash: 0x52489121347591c6d54f0c2278c4383adaa61b33659c7afa06da9dbf2e0bc864 (The Sandbox LAND sale)
• Transaction hash: 0x18e9a7ec14f5a82afe3edb3f12bbb5b77b210f6e19fda8c812a979b6f70dc2fd (Decentraland LAND sale)
• Transaction hash: 0x7b61afffd39b14d571c19776d40241c2afe98e67b42d5c640b99aad7e14b9662 (The Sandbox LAND sale)

Fashion industry join the metaverse

The metaverse business is not all about LAND sales. In order to personalize your character in the metaverse, both “Decentraland” and “The Sandbox” offer a long list of in-game assets, including clothes, accessories and gadgets. First among all to move in this direction were Nike and adidas. The company of the swoosh, in recent weeks, has registered some of its brands (Nike, Air Jordan, Converse and RTFKT) to use in virtual contexts and has announced that it has acquired RTFKT Studios, specialized in the creation of NFT (Non Fungible Token) and which has distinguished itself in the sneakers business. The aim should be to be among the first to develop a real line of virtual clothing (earlier this year RTFKT was one of the first companies to design and sell virtual shoes combined with a line of real shoes). "This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike's digital transformation" said John Donahoe, CEO and president of Nike, "and will enable us to serve athletes and creators in the marketplace that sits at the intersection of sports, creativity, gaming and culture. We've acquired a very talented team of creators with an authentic, connected brand. Our plan is to invest in the RTFKT brand, grow their innovative and creative community and extend Nike's digital footprint and capabilities." Nike previously won a "private lot" on Roblox (a virtual worlds platform) with the creation of NIKELAND, a sort of citadel of sports that recreates the Beaverton headquarters. The same thing was done by Adidas, which decided to create its own little virtual world within The Sandbox, one of the most famous platforms within which to create buildings and activities in virtual reality. The German company made the announcement through a video showing the three collaborators next to the iconic shamrock-shaped logo: "Today we are jumping into the metaverse... it's time to enter a world of unlimited possibilities". Adidas is also close to launching an NFT line of real-world suits and sweatshirts that can only be purchased by those in possession of the tokens. There is a dedicated webpage called Into the Metaverse where all the details about their NFTs will be shown. The collection is already available on the most famous NFT exchange (opensea.io). "The Metaverse is where anyone can express their most original ideas and most authentic selves, in whatever form that may take" said Adidas' Senior Director of Digital Growth, Tareq Nazlawy. As you can see from the speeches of the executives of the two brands, there are a lot of expectations about the "metaverse" theme, and considering the improvements made daily to the two current main metaverses, it could prove to be a winning choice in the long and short term.

And Institutional too!

Barbados, the small Caribbean island of 280,000 inhabitants will become a full-fledged republic by the end of the month. The former British colony will replace Queen Elizabeth with a new president, a woman, Sandra Mason. At the same time, at the end of January, another revolution will take place, equally unexpected: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has announced an agreement with Decentraland, one of the most famous digital worlds, for the opening of a virtual embassy. Thanks to the metaverse, Barbados would be able to relate, also in an environmentally friendly way (fewer flights) with the almost two hundred countries recognized by the UN. The first country in the world to open an embassy in a virtual world was the Maldives in 2007. Maldives then followed by Sweden, Estonia, Colombia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Philippines, Albania, Israel and Malta.