New research has discovered that by 2026, a quarter of the world’s internet users (25%) will be spending at least one hour of their day in the Metaverse for work, shopping, education, social, or entertainment.
The report by Gartner, a data insights firm, states that the Metaverse will develop with a fully operational virtual economy enabled by digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), impacting every business that consumers interact with every day.
Marty Resnick, research vice president at Gartner, said: “Vendors are already building ways for users to replicate their lives in digital worlds - from attending virtual classrooms to buying digital land and constructing virtual homes, these activities are currently being conducted in separate environments.”
He added: “Eventually, they will take place in a single environment - the Metaverse - with multiple destinations across technologies and experiences.”
Gartner defines a Metaverse as “a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality.”
Adding that it is “persistent, providing enhanced immersive experiences, as well as device independent and accessible through any type of device, from tablets to head-mounted displays”.
Coin Bureau also reports that Marty ResnickResnick said that the metaverse will allow enterprises to drastically enhance their business model.
He predicts that by 2026, 30 per cent of all organisations in the world will have products and services designed for the Metaverse.
While optimistic on a rapid expansion of the Metaverse, Gartner admits things are still in their very early stages, and that speculators shouldn’t be putting all their eggs in one basket.
Resnick explained: “It is still too early to know which investments will be viable in the long term, but product managers should take the time to learn, explore and prepare for a Metaverse in order to position themselves competitively.”
Over the past year, Metaverse hype has prompted tech giants like Microsoft to make massive investments in the space, while Facebook did a complete Metaverse-themed rebrand.
In the crypto space, Metaverse tokens have appeared among the best performing coins on the markets, with altcoins like Axie Infinity (AXS), The Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA) vastly outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2021.
WARNING: Nothing in this article should be read or understood to be financial and/or investment advice. Readers should take their own financial advice from a suitably qualified independent financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
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