It’s an exciting time for technology and specifically how we interact with our technology and how our technology interacts with our world.
One key source of excitement is the more centralized (and somewhat antiquated) technological hubs, such as Facebook (now Meta) and Amazon, coming under increased scrutiny for their business models that are based on taking and owning individuals’ privacy.
The other key source of excitement is the advancement and evolution of the decentralized world, which notably operates in quite a different way to these megacorporations. These megacorporations exist because they extract value from people, sometimes without consent, and create engagement from it.
By contrast, the decentralized ecosystem is delivering on the promise of informed consent and digital democracy. Instead of having your data harvested and your time turned into value for billionaires, the individual is in control of the terms of engagement with companies.
Everything Is Becoming A ‘Fi’
Let’s remember as we explore this conversation further, that blockchain is the necessary layer in the “Fi” conversation. Everything is becoming a “Fi.” MachineFi, GameFi and DeFi (of course) are just some of the Fi’s that are making the future of decentralized technology look pretty Fi-ne.
The ultimate goal, according to many of the major Fi projects and experts, is something called the “Metaverse,” which is essentially the self-sustaining ecosystem built on these decentralized technologies.
Think the internet, but much more secure and much more powerful. Currently, all of our devices are becoming more and more interconnected.
A decade ago, the idea of a smart fridge or a smart thermometer would have been the topic of a satire cartoon. But here we are today, and most would agree that there have been benefits of the changes to our everyday devices, while the drawbacks have been minimal or entirely nonexistent.
Web3 Metaverse To Connect It All
Beyond this phase, the Metaverse enables us to have one system that connects all of these devices and data points, causing them to function as one ecosystem in order to improve lives. In the same way that we take the ease of use of the internet for granted, soon the same will be said about the Metaverse.
Why is this exciting for businesses? Well, most obviously, it opens up a vast array of opportunities, almost akin to the westward expansion the U.S. was experiencing in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In that case, it was land. In this case, it’s… a sort of digital marketplace land. A significant portion of the most prominent businesses around today was simply among the first (if not the first outright) to do what they do on the internet. Some companies that come to mind here are Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. Speaking of Facebook…
Facebook has been building a Metaverse of its own. Instead of an ecosystem of interconnected devices and systems, from my perspective, Facebook is aiming to control the entire landscape. To continue to draw the parallels between the Metaverse and the internet, Facebook’s proposition is that it essentially operates as an ISP (internet service provider), the only search and navigation engine, and the individual companies use the technology for massive profits.
What Will Happen Next With Metaverse?
The decentralized Metaverse, quite to the contrary, is explicitly being built to not benefit the few who own the majority of the system but rather the many who are being placed in a position to reap the benefits of the Metaverse.
One company’s contribution to the decentralized Metaverse benefits another company’s contribution, and average Joes like us would see the benefits. This battle is not just between two rival entities jockeying for position; in my opinion, it’s a battle between freedom and decentralization, and monopolization of information and greed.
It is crucial for the free marketplace and for businesses of every shape and size that the decentralized Metaverse wins out. And there is actually a lot that the business community can do to tip the scales a bit.
MetaFi isn’t lacking in platforms to build on or crypto investors looking to latch on to a project. What it is lacking in is what a lot of us can provide: business. Incorporating your business into the Metaverse now will undoubtedly yield results as the bell curve of technology adoption begins to sharply slope upward.
A lot of companies are already seeing these benefits. Some of the most desired products or services around right now are those that are actually putting blockchain into the hands of the people. For example, the UCam blockchain-enabled home security camera, powered by IoTeX, recently won a CES innovation award, and StarCrazy is one of the fastest-growing Metaverse Play2Earn games on the market.
What these two businesses have in common is that they are partaking in the decentralized Metaverse and are reaping the rewards.
Where Everybody Has Their ‘Fi’
The decentralized Metaverse — and all of the Fi’s that go into it — is a very exciting proposition. It promises a world where people are encouraged to continue to do good in their lives and rewards them for doing so, and it promises a secure future where personal data, and all of the benefits of owning this data, belong to the individual.
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