Thread
1/ On Why The Metaverse Needs Crypto
And, specifically, why the metaverse needs NFTs.
The tl;dr is that it is critically important that the ownership layer of the metaverse ends up on public blockchains not in private databases.
Read on for why.
And, specifically, why the metaverse needs NFTs.
The tl;dr is that it is critically important that the ownership layer of the metaverse ends up on public blockchains not in private databases.
Read on for why.
2/ First topic: What is the metaverse?
Is it Facebook? Is it Epic? It is Apple? Is it Otherside? Is it Decentraland?
No, in my view, the metaverse is none of those things.
The metaverse at the most abstract layer is the internet, but the internet with 2 distinctions.
Is it Facebook? Is it Epic? It is Apple? Is it Otherside? Is it Decentraland?
No, in my view, the metaverse is none of those things.
The metaverse at the most abstract layer is the internet, but the internet with 2 distinctions.
3/ The first distinction is that the visualization layer of the internet will get progressively better.
Today we have free global video conferencing and 4K movies on the internet. We did not have that before.
In a decade, we will have functional extended and mixed reality.
Today we have free global video conferencing and 4K movies on the internet. We did not have that before.
In a decade, we will have functional extended and mixed reality.
4/ What is 'functional extended/mixed reality?'
Imagine something like a pair of sunglasses in size/weight/style.
These glasses will be able to switch between normal reality, augmented reality (digital objects overlaid on your field of vision) and virtual reality.
Imagine something like a pair of sunglasses in size/weight/style.
These glasses will be able to switch between normal reality, augmented reality (digital objects overlaid on your field of vision) and virtual reality.
5/ We will spend most time in augmented reality, not virtual reality.
Imagine augmented reality as breaking the tyranny of your laptop and phone screen.
Imagine walking down the beach, not picking up your phone to see a notification, just seeing it in the corner of your eye
Imagine augmented reality as breaking the tyranny of your laptop and phone screen.
Imagine walking down the beach, not picking up your phone to see a notification, just seeing it in the corner of your eye
6/ Imagine a colleague teleporting into your office for a chat or brainstorming session and they more or less look like they are right there.
Man, if Zoom/COVID put a dent in business travel, can you imagine what teleporting will do?
Man, if Zoom/COVID put a dent in business travel, can you imagine what teleporting will do?
7/ You will on occasion pop into virtual reality.
Maybe with your colleague you want to walk around a room with data and documents, a virtual work space.
Maybe you want to see a hotel you plan to visit and walk through it, see the beach, see the pool.
Maybe with your colleague you want to walk around a room with data and documents, a virtual work space.
Maybe you want to see a hotel you plan to visit and walk through it, see the beach, see the pool.
8/ But most of your time you will be in augmented reality.
For the type of knowledge worker (me) who anyway spends all day looking at screens, this should be an improvement to quality of life, not a reduction.
Less time on a screen, more time in a more natural UX.
For the type of knowledge worker (me) who anyway spends all day looking at screens, this should be an improvement to quality of life, not a reduction.
Less time on a screen, more time in a more natural UX.
9/ And it is going to start to make physical location close to irrelevant for business purposes.
Basically except for the social part of eating / drinking, everything will be close to real-life, without the travel.
Basically except for the social part of eating / drinking, everything will be close to real-life, without the travel.
10/ In the meantime, we will have progressively better 3D spaces on our computer.
Walking around and looking at an NFT gallery on @OM100m does not require special gear and is clearly better than seeing the NFTs on OpenSea in 2D.
Walking around and looking at an NFT gallery on @OM100m does not require special gear and is clearly better than seeing the NFTs on OpenSea in 2D.
11/ You can of course go into @OM100m with virtual reality goggles as well, but in practice, today, VR goggles are still quite annoying - heavy, bulky, short battery life, dorky.
I spend 99.9999% of my time in OM on a laptop.
I spend 99.9999% of my time in OM on a laptop.
12/ But it will be a progression, an incremental progression where browser based worlds will get better, augmented reality devices will get better.
Bit by bit, the visualization layer of the internet will get better until it is unrecognizably better (+/- 10 years)
Bit by bit, the visualization layer of the internet will get better until it is unrecognizably better (+/- 10 years)
13/ As the visualization layer of the internet gets better, digital objects will become more useful and more important.
Avatars (2D and 3D), art, schoolwork, work work, 3D virtual spaces and hundreds of other things.
Avatars (2D and 3D), art, schoolwork, work work, 3D virtual spaces and hundreds of other things.
14/ Not only will the objects themselves become more important, they will lead to different emergent behaviors.
We see this already with avatars and mixed eponymous/pseudonymous/anonymous communities.
Yes, it is the internet plumbing underneath, but...
We see this already with avatars and mixed eponymous/pseudonymous/anonymous communities.
Yes, it is the internet plumbing underneath, but...
15/ ...just like social media changed human behavior on the internet, metaverse type experiences will further change it.
NFT Twitter + Discord + various virtual worlds is a form of early metaverse.
I feel like I am entering a different world here, not just some websites.
NFT Twitter + Discord + various virtual worlds is a form of early metaverse.
I feel like I am entering a different world here, not just some websites.
16/ The most important question for the health of the internet/metaverse/human society in the 2030s will be decided now.
And that question is: "who stores the definitive ownership records of those digital objects"
There are two answers: a company's database OR a blockchain.
And that question is: "who stores the definitive ownership records of those digital objects"
There are two answers: a company's database OR a blockchain.
17/ If we end up with "a company's database" we will end up with all the web2 dysfunctions, but worse.
SMTP is an open protocol that anyone can use so we don't have societal level fights on "who is allowed to use email"
Short messaging online ended up becoming Twitter
SMTP is an open protocol that anyone can use so we don't have societal level fights on "who is allowed to use email"
Short messaging online ended up becoming Twitter
18/ So we end up having the most absurd, surreal discussions on the topic of "who is allowed to use short-messaging" being dependant on "who is the CEO of Twitter"
There is no way this is the correct architecture for our progressively more digital economy.
There is no way this is the correct architecture for our progressively more digital economy.
19/ It is a no-win situation for everyone, including Twitter.
Twitter cannot rank-order all 8 billion people in the world daily and decide each day who has been sufficiently naughty or nice to be allowed to have short messaging.
Twitter cannot rank-order all 8 billion people in the world daily and decide each day who has been sufficiently naughty or nice to be allowed to have short messaging.
20/ But if the metaverse ends up becoming something like today's social networks, with all your (important) digital assets behind an API key and a terms of service agreement, it will be much worse on multiple dimensions.
21/ The first reason is rent-seeking.
Facebook is proposing taking as much as 47.5% of the revenue from each metaverse object
Why should anyone, especially any non-USA economy, want to give 50% of its digital GDP to Facebook?
That is higher than the most socialist tax rate!
Facebook is proposing taking as much as 47.5% of the revenue from each metaverse object
Why should anyone, especially any non-USA economy, want to give 50% of its digital GDP to Facebook?
That is higher than the most socialist tax rate!
22/ The second reason is 'fear' -> the metaverse will be your persistent, ambient, digital reality.
If you can be banned, cast into the darkness, based on an algorithm flag or a random customer service rep, this is terrifying.
You could lose everything for no good reason
If you can be banned, cast into the darkness, based on an algorithm flag or a random customer service rep, this is terrifying.
You could lose everything for no good reason
23/ The third is political security.
It is bizarre enough that Twitter and Facebook are in the strange position of having to decide who won the election, if there is a coup in progress and so on.
This is 100x worse for other countries, who have no say at all in this.
It is bizarre enough that Twitter and Facebook are in the strange position of having to decide who won the election, if there is a coup in progress and so on.
This is 100x worse for other countries, who have no say at all in this.
24/ The 4th is global national security. Augmented reality works by pointing a camera into your field of vision.
Imagine if I sent a camera to web2 executives: "wear this please, on your and your family's heads, stream to 6529 servers. don't worry, I have a privacy policy"
Imagine if I sent a camera to web2 executives: "wear this please, on your and your family's heads, stream to 6529 servers. don't worry, I have a privacy policy"
25/ I would obviously be laughed out of the room. But this is what will happen in the coming years from tech giants.
And this security honeypot - live streaming views of everyone in the world, will be compromised by hackers and security services.
And this security honeypot - live streaming views of everyone in the world, will be compromised by hackers and security services.
26/ What are NFTs?
A standardized, interoperable, portable, decentralized, self-sovereign, user-controlled, cross-application method to store ANY digital object.
In the simplest terms, any application that integrates ERC-721, can integrate punk6529.
A standardized, interoperable, portable, decentralized, self-sovereign, user-controlled, cross-application method to store ANY digital object.
In the simplest terms, any application that integrates ERC-721, can integrate punk6529.
27/ This is a vastly superior way to support innovation and interoperability.
Your web2 digital objects are trapped.
Getting an API key, seeing if your service is allowable and integrating with programmers every service with every other one is basically 'impossible", fake.
Your web2 digital objects are trapped.
Getting an API key, seeing if your service is allowable and integrating with programmers every service with every other one is basically 'impossible", fake.
28/ Whereas with an open protocol all these issues go away.
It is like hyperlinking or HTML.
Anyone who integrates the ERC-721 or ERC-1155 standard can integrate digital objects.
Today we have dozens of applications. One day we will have hundreds of thousands
It is like hyperlinking or HTML.
Anyone who integrates the ERC-721 or ERC-1155 standard can integrate digital objects.
Today we have dozens of applications. One day we will have hundreds of thousands
29/ It is in the end quite simple.
Anyone who says "no, I think NFTs are not the right place to store digital objects" should be asked "OK ser, in which company's database do you believe they should be stored and why is that better?"
Anyone who says "no, I think NFTs are not the right place to store digital objects" should be asked "OK ser, in which company's database do you believe they should be stored and why is that better?"
30/ [I think somewhere soon you will need to hit 'read replies' to keep reading.]
It is funny/sad/frustrating to watch politicians in USA/EU more or less vaguely identify the problems with web 2 and at the same time harass the solution, hit it on the head with a hammer
It is funny/sad/frustrating to watch politicians in USA/EU more or less vaguely identify the problems with web 2 and at the same time harass the solution, hit it on the head with a hammer
31/ The answer to all these forced 'interoperability' rules and so on is staring everyone in the face.
You can have user-owned assets and identity today on public blockchains.
BTC is this for money. NFTs are this for "any digital object"
You can have user-owned assets and identity today on public blockchains.
BTC is this for money. NFTs are this for "any digital object"
32/ My view is that the USA should be promoting user-owned data for innovation reasons and every other country should be doing so both for innovation and for national/economic digital sovereignty reasons.
The digital economy will be massive in the coming decades
The digital economy will be massive in the coming decades
33/ It will absorb most of the white collar economy and even take some market share from physical economy.
Of course we will have houses and restaurants and hotels and power plants, but progressively a larger and larger % of work/social/education will be digital
Of course we will have houses and restaurants and hotels and power plants, but progressively a larger and larger % of work/social/education will be digital
34/ So if I were setting policy, I would do two things in this arena:
✅Encourage development of public blockchain based systems for digital assets/economies (easy to do)
✅Pour money into open-source visualization hardware (harder to do but a decent bet imho)
✅Encourage development of public blockchain based systems for digital assets/economies (easy to do)
✅Pour money into open-source visualization hardware (harder to do but a decent bet imho)
35/ If this is your first time around here, we are fighting for an open metaverse.
Lots and lots of threads about it here 🫡
Lots and lots of threads about it here 🫡
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Chris Dixon @cdixon
·
Jun 12, 2022
Good thread (as always) from @punk6529 👇
