Grayscale proclaims metaverse as a $1tn industry

Digital asset management company Grayscale has reported that economic opportunities present in the metaverse could top $1tn within the next few years.

The report, dubbed ‘The Metaverse, Web 3.0 Virtual Cloud Economies’, said metaverse platforms that have been integrated with features like crypto tokens, NFTs, decentralised finance and a host of other crypto-related projects have “created a new online experience”.

“The market opportunity for bringing the metaverse to life may be worth over $1tn in annual revenue and may compete with Web 2.0 companies worth ~$15 trillion in market value today,” the report said.

It explained this potential has attracted companies like Facebook to pivot towards the metaverse, which may serve as a catalyst for other Web 2.0 tech giants and investors to follow.

Per the report, blockchain games/metaverse-related projects were able to raise $1bn in new funding from investors during the third quarter of 2021.

Creating an open-world metaverse

Grayscale, whose total assets recently exceeded $60bn, also noted that projects like Decentraland were creating an “open-world metaverse where users can log in to play games, earn MANA (the native token of Decentraland, with which users can purchase NFTs, including LAND or collectibles, and vote on economy governance), or create NFTs, giving them real-world interoperability for the value of their time spent in-game”.

The potential of this internet evolution, claims the company, has started to attract Web 2.0 companies like Facebook, which is shifting to a metaverse company and is changing its name to ‘Meta’.

“At this inflection point, other leading Web 2.0 tech companies will likely need to start exploring the metaverse to stay competitive, and the spotlight has prompted a new wave of investment in this emerging crypto category,” Grayscale said.

According to the authors of the report, users of metaverse-based wallets have increased by 10 times since the beginning of the year to around 50,000 active wallets.

The space, the report said, though still very much new, could become mainstream in the coming years if it continues with its current growth trajectory.

It was also noted that investors were beginning to notice the enormous potential the space has which has led to an increase in funding for the rising sector.