Metaverse On Blockchain Creates New Reality For Modern Commerce

Although the pandemic is officially declared over and most restrictions have been lifted, it cannot be said that life has gone back exactly to the way it was before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the world. The most obvious change would be how people are now relying more on the Internet, especially when it comes to personal interaction and professional communication.   

The development of the metaverse, a virtual twin of the real world with limitless opportunities for online interaction and communication, is reliant on this fact. The metaverse not only opens up a whole new world in gaming and entertainment, but it also offers new avenues for profit-making.

Many developers are releasing their own versions of the metaverse. However, there are some challenges. For one, a virtual headset that can handle the technical requirements for a smoothly running and high definition metaverse—and yet be comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time—is something that needs more development.

There is also the problem of bandwidth, as the metaverse would necessitate faster Internet connection. But the biggest challenge would be the foundation on which the entire metaverse will be built on. It has to be both affordable yet highly capable of handling the technical requirements. For Robert Rice, founder and CEO of experiential reality (XR) firm Transmira and developer of metaverse platform Omniscape, the answer lies on blockchain. 

On the last day of the recently concluded London Blockchain Conference held at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Rice hosted a spotlight session titled, "The Metaverse, Blockchain, and AI Transformative Applications for Government, Enterprise, and Brands." He explored the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), metaverse and blockchain, and how these all come together so companies can maximize the potential of metaverse monetization. 

Rice views the metaverse as a "near perfect simulation of the real world," which he predicts will grow into a massive industry in a relatively short time. This is especially true now that its AI integration has unlocked a more realistic user avatar from correlating data at breakneck speed. 

 Coupled with blockchain having the capacity to efficiently govern data usage and model sharing, as well as maintain a transparent data economy, makes the metaverse a reality—and not just some technology in a sci-fi movie. However, Rice also stressed that not just any blockchain will do.

"BSV is pretty much the only one on the planet that can handle the size, the speed, the scale and the cost to bring the metaverse fully to life," Rice explained. This is because the BSV blockchain is able to scale unboundedly after it restored the original Bitcoin protocol, which, according to Bitcoin white paper author Satoshi Nakamoto, can already surpass Visa-level transaction capacity in 2008. 

Unfortunately, greed drove others to rewrite the Bitcoin narrative, rendering unscalable blockchains, such as BTC, futile in processing large transaction volumes. This cost businesses a significant amount of money and time due to network latency, botched transactions, outages, and the development of second-tier scaling solutions. 

A scalable blockchain, on the other hand, enables developers and businesses to explore the metaverse's staggering potential to offer another revenue source. So long as they find a way to link and create value between the real and digital worlds, such as introducing virtual showrooms in their stores to allow customers to be a part of the brand story. 

The complex yet enjoyable nature of virtual showrooms encourages users to extend their engagement with the brand and buy more products than when interacting in-store. With labels like Gucci, Dior, Bloomingdale’s and Ralph Lauren all working to establish a strong presence in the metaverse, it is no surprise that other merchants—both big and small—are now racing to catch up.

The massive amount of data that will be generated each day by the metaverse can only be recorded on a blockchain that can scale on demand. To put it in figures, the BSV Blockchain can now handle 4GB data blocks and 50,000 to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) at an average fee of $0.000015. And unbounded scaling means that these numbers can be increased as necessary, while fees are lowered to the bare minimum.

And this is why only a scalable blockchain can efficiently handle storing a company's tracking data on metaverse activities, from what products their customers interact with to identifying which product placement and space layout are most effective in closing sales. In this sense, the metaverse can support businesses by tailoring experiences to their audience demographics, and ultimately, deepening client loyalty. 

Although the metaverse is indeed an exciting world that everyone cannot wait to get into, it is still something to look forward to in the future. Rice noted that the metaverse will only materialize in all its full glory in 10 to 15 years due to uncontrollable external factors, such as the current political landscape.  

Still, Rice is certain that the metaverse will reach a tipping point in the near future, where it will leave a mark on all sectors. One can only wait and see what wonders the metaverse has in store for the world.

Image sourced from Shutterstock

This post was authored by an external contributor and does not represent Benzinga's opinions and has not been edited for content. This content contains sponsored advertising content and is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.