Billions of people are expected to be using the Mark Zuckerberg-led metaverse by 2030. As the main tech whizz spearheading the huge idea, Zuckerberg, 37, could find himself leading some 5 billion users into the new virtual world.
According to TheSun, The metaverse is a growing digital space filled with virtual and augmented reality, where we could one day find ourselves working, socializing, and playing. We’ve already seen many real-world things jump across, including restaurants, casinos, and even the metaverse’s very own fashion week.
Billionaire Zuckerberg is betting his company’s future on the metaverse but is keen to make it a collaborative project, describing it as an “embodied internet”. Not only do experts expect people to flock to the platform, they predict it’ll be a multitrillion-dollar part of the world economy. According to Citi, it could be an $8trillion (£6.1trillion) to $13trillion (£9.9trillion) opportunity in eight years.
“We believe that the Metaverse could be the next generation of the internet – combining the physical and digital worlds in a persistent and immersive way – and not just a virtual reality world,” the report states. “A device-independent metaverse that can be accessed across PCs, game consoles, and smartphones could result in a very large ecosystem.”
Experts also warn that the Metaverse “will draw a lot of attention from global regulators and policymakers,” citing content moderation, free speech, and privacy as some of the major concerns. They also say that money could exist in different forms in the metaverse.
This could range from in-game tokens and stablecoins to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and cryptocurrencies. “Additionally, digital assets and NFTs in the Metaverse will allow users/owners sovereign ownership and are tradable, composable, immutable, and largely interoperable,” the report states.
