THE NFT AND METAVERSE’S HYPE BY NFT CRITICS
NFTs are the most talked-about trend this year. Everyone is trying to be a part of fashion brands such as Gucci and Nike, tech firms such as Microsoft, beverage brands such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, stars such as John CenaAmitabh Bachchan, and even office-bearers of this emerging trend.
While the trend appeared to have exploded around Facebook, now Meta declared a significant change in its structure and focus — tracking the metaverse. It earned limelight when Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company, Meta, would be focusing on developing the metaverse.
Animoca chairman Yat Siu says tech giants like Facebook and Tencent represent the biggest threat to an open metaverse.
While NFTs have been in existence for quite a while, their adoption increased in recent years. And the proof lies in the diverse list of companies and public figures who joined the bandwagon this year. Beyond their attempted adoption of the crypto language, brands are rushing to stake ownership claims in the metaverse (and are already using it to do it). Companies such as Adidas, Nike, Ubisoft, Pepsi, MG Motor India, Hollywood celebrities such as Paris Hilton, John Cena, Justin Beiber, Rihanna, and Bollywood stars such as Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Kamal Hassan, among others, have invested in this trend. And the list goes on and on.
But what about Facebook and Meta?
While companies and celebrities started investing in the NFTs much before Facebook became Meta, the development served as the inflexion point. Results in this field exploded at a much faster pace. Microsoft introduced Mesh as its entry point to the metaverse. Nike bought a company that makes virtual collectables for the metaverse. Former FLOTUS Melania Trump announced her NFT-based venture. Several Bollywood celebrities, including Salman Khan, announced their entry into the NFT world.
There are multiple reasons for this sudden boom in adopting NFTs and the metaverse.
NFT existed long before anyone had heard about Blockchain technology, at least in the mainstream media or in active conversations. However, this technology made NFTs unique, more reliable, and usable.
NFTs, despite their time of introduction, are still in nascent stages of adoption. Before the metaverse became a more mainstream concept, there were few use cases for NFTs. While there aren’t many use cases, things have certainly changed in the past couple of years. Alongside buying and selling artwork and collectables, NFTs are also being used for transacting in the metaverse.
A long way to go, NFTs!
