Andrew was an early NFT / crypto adopter, and is now jumping full steam into the metaverse. So it’s no surprise he lives in the future. And this recent essay of his was the best description I’ve yet read about the metaverse, ie, what Facebook spent $10B and renamed its company to achieve.
Link: https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/metaverse-what-it-is-how-it-will
Some excerpts:
In my eyes, the Metaverse is not one thing or one piece of technology. It is every technology – the internet, AR, VR, AI, crypto, NFTs, etc all working together in one seamless system.
I agree that it will encompass many things, there is no clear dividing line (except maybe between “online” and “offline”)
Economic – The financial system of the metaverse will likely be accessible to all, transparent, and operate on blockchain rails. If you want to buy a digital good in the metaverse and have to wait 5 days for the wire to hit the seller’s account in Germany, that is not going to cut it.
Surprise – I agree! Though there will also be centralized options too, but the most innovative – and likely most valuable – components will be blockchain-based, open source, and permissionless.
In the past, we had “internet” companies, but now almost every company is a “tech” company. Similarly, the metaverse is a collection of technologies and capabilities that will soon transform every company into a “metaverse” company. With the world becoming more digital and connected, the impact of the metaverse will be felt by everyone and everything.
Also agree. Just as every company who wanted to stay competitive and relevant had to incorporate “the internet” over the past 20 years, everyone today will – willingly or otherwise – integrate “the metaverse”. And probably “AI.”