6The Web3 Metaverse
Decentraland. Somnium Space. The Sandbox. Earth2. These are all examples of Web3‐based Metaverses, in which you can buy virtual real estate, build something to share with others or enjoy on your own, and hang out all day long as your avatar, interacting in real time with other people's builds and avatars. More and more physical world companies are announcing their coming presence in one or the other of these Metaverses, and for many people these fully virtual worlds are the first thing they think of when they hear the word Metaverse.
But … I don't get it. This is the one Metaverse category that I'm not passionate about, because I struggle to understand the relevance of digital real estate to anything outside itself, and especially to anything in the physical world. To be flippant, the only problem that the Web3/Blockchain‐based Metaverse seems to solve is the problem of having too much money – and investing in virtual real estate sure seems like a good way to solve that particular issue.
It's not the use of Blockchain that I object to. I do see the value ...
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