Google search tries to describe the word “metaverse” with metaphors and anecdotes
CRYPT — This is called the “metaverse”. The results of a Google search yield a vast list of articles that seek to define the word with witty analogies and tales. However, one CryptoPunk owner who only identifies himself by his profile picture collection number – 6529 – offers a simple explanation of what that means. “It’s the Internet,” he explains, “with better visualization and persistent visual objects.”
Now that we’ve stripped it all down, the existential question that needs to be asked is, does any of this metaverse stuff matter even more? The anonymous guest on Blockworks’ Empire podcast (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts) recently spent $6 million at a Sotheby’s auction to acquire Dmitri Cherniak’s “The Goose” Ringers NFT. This purchase was made at the height of the bear market. Given the current climate, this is a bold step, but 6529 is thinking about the long-term situation.
According to the Goose’s new owner, while there’s less excitement about the idea of a metaverse than before, the idea isn’t going away any time soon. In fact, it is of utmost importance for the development of how humans will interact online in the future. Despite the fact that he simplified it, the situation is somewhat complicated. The Internet and its applications are constantly evolving, moving from a phase in which companies occupied a dominant position to a system frequently referred to as Web3. Within this system, decentralized and permissionless protocols serve as the infrastructure for decentralized applications.
Our “shared digital spaces” will become more attractive, as 6529 predicts, “but most importantly, each of these digital spaces is currently owned by a company.” According to 6529, Web1 protocols, such as email, are examples of services that are in the public domain. According to 6529, if a user doesn’t like Gmail, they can choose another service provider, such as Outlook or Yahoo, or even create their own server. “The fact that protocol and applications are separate makes a huge difference in business and sociopolitical behavior,” he says. “This difference is seen in both commercial and sociopolitical behavior.”
