Celebrities in the Metaverse
Countless celebrities are developing an interest in cryptocurrency and Web3. For better or worse, cruising on their reputations they bring their fanbases blindly in contact with decentralized ledger-based technologies, with mixed results. Dear Kim Kardashian, unfortunately now under investigation by the SEC, touted the EthereumMax cryptocurrency on social media in an apparent pump-and-dump scheme. Despite his alarming inability to pin down the definition of a security, the exorcism of celebrity-led Ponzi schemes by SEC Chair Gary Gensler is something that both nocoiners and cryptophiles can get behind. Her whopping $1.26 million fine, likely eating into her profit margin, and the ongoing investigation should do well to discourage copycats. During the 2021 bull market, the noble Logan Paul paid over $600,000 for an Azuki NFT, which is now worth $10. There are numerous success stories, the Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT group has a die-hard and mature fanbase, absent ponzinomics. Snoop Dogg and Eminem both transformed into their Bored Ape counterparts during their VMA awards ceremony performance in August this year. Despite the bear market blues, the floor price of this collection remains over $70,000 on the OpenSea marketplace.
Such stories unwittingly have valuable lessons to teach businesses interested in this space. Enter Celebverse, the first virtual world to provide a neutral venue where fans can interact with celebrities. Users are granted exclusive access to celebrity cities, concerts, fashion shows and merchandise. Yogesh Dixit, Head of Operations for the Dubai-based company hopes the platform will allow people to test their imaginations’ limits. The peer-to-peer network, driven by Smart Contracts on the Ethereum network enables users to explore NFT ownership through designing and minting, buying, selling and auctioning land parcels. The platform also presents an opportunity for newer celebrities to gain exposure. Celebverse captures the essence of what smart contract-based technologies have to offer while leaving ample room for user exploration.
Institutional traction and community benefits
The metaverse concept is gaining institutional traction, Singapore’s largest bank DBS has launched a partnership with the Sandbox, a metaverse and gaming platform, to design DBS BetterWorld, an interactive metaverse experience for their customers. The South China Morning Post have snagged a large plot of land in the Sandbox metaverse with intentions of using the platform to deliver a variety of cultural experiences.
The metaverse yields much-untapped potential in the form of community benefits derived from holding NFTs. Currently, most NFT ownership revolves around price speculation, however, the NFT collections that have stood the test of time such as the Bored Apes, also have well-developed communities. The utility of NFTs often seems ambiguous and applied after the fact, leaving many asking why this project required a blockchain.
The magic of NFTs lies in digital proof-of-ownership, the blockchain allows your unique membership identity to be set in stone forever – or until you decide to sell it. The strongest communities hold onto their NFTs as they anticipate additional benefits as the community grows, such as boosted staking rewards or exclusive access to digital or physical events.
Imagine a time-share with a hotel, but one that appreciates in value, can be sold on the open market or even auctioned off without a mediating third party. Such membership NFTs can also offer exclusive access to community events, where the NFTs can act as tickets and perhaps discounts and special deals with brands that partner with the community.
Future applications
NFTs could also be used as tickets for sports events, most match tickets get lost over time. Hardcore collectors can be rewarded for holding onto tickets from classic games, as memorabilia collection takes on a new digital facet. With sports-focused projects like Chiliz and ticketing solutions such as GET fans may soon be offered a deeper level of ownership over their sports club’s merchandise and have access to greater benefits.
Another totally untapped arena is gambling, currently, there are many Web3 protocols that offer bets on predictions, such as Mojito markets and crypto options platforms such as Buffer Finance. But these apps have yet to fully explore the potential of community membership assets such as NFTs.
Harking back to those mischievous celebrities, community development is also dependent on the profit-taking strategy of the business entity, which must not leave your most loyal customers and adventurous metaverstranauts feeling like they have had the rug pulled out from under them every time you need to boost your quarterlies.
While luxury items, such as Azuki’s scan-to-own golden skateboards seem to be leading this space, casual $100k purchases for businesses and celebrities translate to considerable risks for their loyal followers. Retail audiences need security, assurances and some education when they choose to engage with such projects – but not blanket protection – because investing and making purchases always involves risk and people should not be made ignorant of that fact. The limits are yet to be tested in this space and are waiting for true entrepreneurs to come and explore them.
See the abbreviated version of both parts of this essay on Storm Asia.
