ZEPETO is not a real Metaverse!

Blockchain, Web 3.0, A Real Metaverse

Zepeto @naver

Metaverse services that are not based on blockchain are fake. Roblox, Zepeto, etc. are not real in that sense.

It's a pretty provocative word

This is the mainstream argument for Metaverse and blockchain services recently. Metaverse services, such as Roblox and Zepeto, that have recently aroused interest, will only survive if they evolve based on blockchain. As it is now, the model managed and serviced centrally by companies is far from an innovative Metaverse.

<Related article: Survive or thrive in the Web 3.0 era>

The reason can be found in the nature of the Metaverse. This is because Metaverse should be a new virtual space where economic activities such as reality take place. One might think that is a very exaggerated argument. New 3D services, advanced communication networks, and new content with many things to do are thought to be enough. However, there are quite a few people who make this claim. They say that only Metaverse services that combine technologies such as Web 3.0, decentralized, blockchain, and NFT are truly Metaversees.

 

We need something more real

This is because Metaverse is not just a virtual space where people gather. True Metaverse can only be called 'innovation' when economic exchanges occur just like reality. In order for the virtual space to be the same as reality, participants must be able to move freely as in reality to conduct commerce or business.

However, shoes and clothes purchased from Zepeto cannot be moved to Roblox's Metaverse. Even if Zepeto disappears, it is a real "asset" only when you can still use and wear the items at Roblox. Only when these "real" assets can be collected do people voluntarily immerse themselves in the virtual economy with sincerity. In other words, services such as Zepeto and Roblox should be connected and compatible.

A 'Blockchain' is needed to secure compatibility between Metaverse. As it is now, compatibility is impossible with a structure that monopolizes subscriber data on each Internet server or service. Blockchain is the same as a public server or data storage space. If items issued by each Metaverse are recorded and stored as NFT, a "digital registration copy," on the blockchain, the participants' assets become "real mine" that cannot be stolen even if Zepeto fails.

 

There are many challenges to overcome

Blockchain technology itself is a difficult problem to solve. For companies, there are currently not many reasons to have a service in a public blockchain that shares data with everyone. This is because the more we aim for the public blockchain, the more companies as the subject of the blockchain gradually lose the power to move the platform. Private blockchain technology, in which only some companies operating the service participate in a limited amount, may be an alternative, but technology development is slow at present. Slow speed and security issues are still challenges to overcome.

However, there is no reason to ignore the view that innovation projects should aim for a Metaverse as a decentralized platform if they see them as creating a new paradigm and a world that did not exist before. And we need to pay attention to the companies that implement it.

 

Google and the Entrepreneurship of the Web 2.0 Era

In September 1998, a search company of two graduate students, which rented GFRIEND's garage, stood tall as a bookish IT company just six years later in August 2004. The company that rose to the top of the search engine by creating the new word "Google."

Two graduate students were arguing nonstop on a campus tour. Sergey Brin, a second-year Ph.D. student guide on the campus tour, and Larry Page, a prospective student. As soon as they saw each other, they knew at first sight that something was there for each other. The two have been engaged in constant discussions about their interests and are drawn to each other's values.

Larry Page, who chose Stanford University and entered the school, focuses on the World Wide Web (WWW) for the reason of "mathematical attraction." When Larry Page studied, there was no way to find the information that was registered on each site, so Larry Page thought that the web would be much richer if there was something with a structure that allowed them to know what was on the site. And Sergey Brin is drawn to that kind of research by Larry Page, and he works with it. And this paper and this research for mathematics, it's the beginning of Google.

 

Web 3.0 Era, Will Second Google Come Out?

What kind of companies are there? The Sandbox and Exy Infinity are representative. All of them aim for decentralized type and provide blockchain-based services. However, their content based on this is also simple because blockchain technology is still incomplete.

At this point, I would like to briefly summarize Metaverse-related companies.

• Content 
• Epic Games (Fortnite, Battle Royale)
• Roblox Corporation
• Nintendo (Animal Crossing)
• Microsoft (Minecraft)
• Naver (Zepeto) 
• Virtual reality devices: Apple, Microsoft
• Content Production Program: Adobe, Autodesk
• Game Engine: Unity
• Graphic: NVIDIA
• Edge Computing: NVIDIA, SK Telecom, China Mobile
• Video communication: Zoom, Cisco, Microsoft
• ETF : HERO US (Expense Ratio 0.5%)
• Others: Entertainment industry (Big Hit, YG, JYP, etc.)

Nevertheless, in the future, it is necessary to distinguish more delicately between companies that want to think about and implement such a new vision and those that do not. This is because we can gauge the milestones of companies that emphasize Metaverse in this huge wave of innovation.