Metanomics
Metaverse Economies
Metanomics is a term to describe Web3.0 economies within the virtual world. The term incorporates decentralisation, crypto blockchain and NFTs as ways in which people create, trade and sell their services in the Metaverse. The Metaverse offers significant potential for creators, entertainers and artists to earn from their talents. The new digital economy is emerging where rewards await unique skill sets and ownership is decentralised. The monetisation of the Metaverse is happening in several ways—advertising across popular platforms, the selling of digital assets such as land and wearables, entertainment event, physical goods in virtual environments and play-to-earn game ecosystems.
Cryptocurrency is core to the economics within decentralised Metaverse platforms. Each decentralised Metaverse platform has its currency, and these currencies are called Crypto Tokens. Metaverse Crypto Tokens fluctuate in value and are traded like any other cryptocurrency. They differ from cryptocurrency coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum by not having their own native blockchain. A blockchain is a digital ledger that stores information on a digital asset.
Cryptocurrencies started way back in 1983. A cryptographer called David Chaum conceived an electronic currency called eCash. Then in 1995, he implemented it using his company DigiCash he created a type of cryptographic electronic payment system. The system allowed the digital currency to be untraceable by the issuing bank, the government, or any third party.
Twelve years before Bitcoin, in 1996, a paper published first in an MIT mailing by the National Security Agency (NSA) entitled How To Make a Mint outlined cryptocurrencies. It was Bitcoin though that first realised the idea of a decentralised cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto (his pseudonym) in 2009. The cryptocurrency was the result of Nakamoto’s vision of a currency not regulated or centralised and not controlled by any single country or bank, that anyone anywhere could use, and because of the architecture of the blockchain technology, no one could ever change or break the technology. The purchasing of Bitcoin in the early days also was not straightforward but now Bitcoin is easily traded on the exchanges and has been adopted by financial institutions.
Many cryptocurrencies have been created since Bitcoin, often referred to as Altcoins. Some of the leading Altcoins are Ethereum, Binance, Cardano and Avalanche. They differ from Bitcoin as they are programable cryptocurrencies and this means for example, that when a purchase is made with them, all of the information is stored on the blockchain.
Cryptocurrencies are core to decentralised Metaverses and allow the applications to monetise Land, Buildings, Wearables and other digital assets. The value of real estate, Metaverse property and digital assets within the platforms is determined by the value of the Metaverse crypto token on exchanges.
NFTs are a way of trading physical and digital assets that make buying and selling easy, transparent and with reduced risk of fraud. The ownership details of the item are stored on the blockchain. NFTs are the way Metaverse collectables trade.
NFTs were created by Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash in 2014. McCoy and Dash called the technology “monetised graphics”. Today NFTs are used as a format to sell a diverse range of copyrightable creations, from digital artwork to wearables, land, music, film, and physical, real-world items. Converting the item into an NFT makes buying, selling, and trading efficient, documents ownership, and helps artists monetise their creations.