I arrived in Miami a few days before Bitcoin 2022, hailed by the organizers as the world’s largest gathering of bitcoiners. This is the famed event where the who’s who of blockchain come to rub shoulders, with guest speakers like Peter Thiel of Paypal & President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador. If you are anyone in this space, you are here.
And so, by chance, I had the good fortune to be invited to the launch party of a new Metaverse project built on Zilliqa, called Metapolis.
You might have heard of Zilliqa blockchain because of last week’s rally, making it the #1 token on the market by performance. They jumped 60 spots on the market cap, which is no small feat. That price action got it on my radar and piqued my curiosity, so I couldn’t turn down the invitation to see all the buzz.
Is Metaverse The Future? Let’s Dive In
A quick recap on Zilliqa: this is a high-performance, low fee, layer one blockchain protocol with robust security features and a scaling solution based on sharding. All the nuts and bolts of a solid layer 1, yes, but that’s a given.
I wanted to see something special. If you are an L1, the proof is in the pudding, and I wanted to know: did they have the goods?
“Many people think that the Metaverse is about a place, but one definition of this is it’s about a time when immersive digital worlds become the primary way that we live our lives and spend our time.”
- Mark Zuckerberg
After being here and seeing this project firsthand, I am starting to think that the Metaverse might be a big part of the future, and the not-so-distant one at that.
Metapolis will directly compete with projects like Sandbox and Decentraland and blow them out of the water from what I have seen so far. So what special thing sets Metapolis (& Zilliqa) apart, you ask?
Metaverse-as-a-Service Is More Than Gaming
Metapolis is the world’s first Metaverse as a Service (MaaS), built using Unreal Engine, Unity, & Nvidia Omniverse technology. This stack allows brands to create domed – stretchable ‘worlds’ to suit their business needs with ease. And you can make them as small or as big as you want, allowing for extreme customization.
Their emphasis on onboarding businesses & communities into a cohesive technology stack shortens the time and difficulty (think cost) to create an immersive world of one’s choosing. Metapolis changed my perspective on what Metaverse can unlock for businesses, projects, and communities.
Each dome allows a business to own its brand and tell its story. Presenting the Metaverse through a lens and voice of its choosing. Hosting events, featured premiers, the release of new products, NFT functionality, engagingly interacting with customers; the possibilities are endless, and that’s really what got my attention. This real to digital world connection hasn’t been unlocked yet.
This is now the project to watch for me (one of my favorite projects in web3 to date) because it puts more power into the hands of businesses as they enter into this new space.
A New “Decentralized” Land of Opportunity
What immediately came to mind for me is the possibility of industry events where the business wants to attract a new type of audience; this is how they can instantly position themselves on the cutting edge of their industry.
There are different elements that each brand can utilize that aren’t possible physically or through the current web2.io experience. This is what sticks in my mind about this project; it is the bridging of possibilities beyond what we can imagine now.
According to a new report by Grand View Research, the global metaverse market size is estimated to reach nearly USD 700 billion by 2030.
Big names like Nike, Amazon, Tesla, or thousands of other companies on the cutting edge could use this new tech to create immersive experiences unlike any before.
Imagine a game where you pilot the Amazon delivery drones and deliver packages for NFT-based discounts on products. Or a racing simulator where you get to experience the inside of a Tesla CyberTruck before it launches in the real world. Nasa space station…no wait…TESLA space station. And Nike’ Moon Shoes’ where you can dunk a basketball in low gravity.
Everybody Wants To Get Into The Metaverse
According to market research, 74% of adults are currently considering joining the Metaverse for various reasons, including to experience things they cannot in physical reality and connect to others in this space.
Many of these people foresee massive educational opportunities, and others want to use this technology to become a different person altogether. All in all, this looks to be a positive way to unite people in many different ways. Changing the way we communicate in a post-covid world.
Right now, we are constrained by physical space or technology (thanks, zoom!), but that is fast changing. Virtual classrooms for education, meeting rooms for business, concert venues for live entertainment experiences, and more are all possible in Metapolis.
Accepting this invitation turned out to be the highlight of my week spent in Miami. It wasn’t the famed Florida beaches or the keynote speakers of Bitcoin 2022 that made the biggest impression; it was the domed cities of Metapolis and the promise of what can be built & created in this new medium.
