NFTs and Crypto Key to an Open Metaverse: Former Amazon Exec Matthew Ball

According to author and venture capitalist Matthew Ball, NFTs are the finest technical option for a more open metaverse.

In an interview following the release of his book, “The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything,” Ball discussed the definition of the metaverse, who will rule it, whether cryptocurrencies will play a role, and how NFTs—unique blockchain tokens that signify asset ownership—could solve the metaverse's biggest problem.

Ball is a former Amazon Studios executive who has been cited as a significant thought leader for all things metaverse by Mark Zuckerberg, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney, and Coinbase's Brian Armstrong. He stated that the metaverse is fundamentally a “parallel virtual plane of existence.”

He believes that we are still in the early phases of building and defining the metaverse, and that its most important participants will most likely be unknown to us. So Meta, Twitter, or even crypto-focused firms like The Sandbox or Decentraland will not govern the virtual sphere.

Instead, companies that are “underappreciated right now” or do not yet exist will become the metaverse's heavyweights.

“I hope we don't recognize such companies,” he remarked, recalling how every technological revolution or huge wave of innovation has spawned new and previously unknown brands.

A Decentralized Metaverse

Ball sees a purpose for cryptocurrencies and crypto's function in metaverse contexts, but believes the public hasn't been properly educated. This lack of understanding has resulted in stigma and confusion, ultimately stifling adoption.

“I don't think either ecosystem has done a good job of communicating why the average person should have it,” Ball said of cryptocurrency.

He contended that blockchain technology may be necessary for technically powering a metaverse that benefits individuals rather than businesses. Because blockchain processing power is decentralized and distributed across many computers throughout the world, a blockchain-based metaverse would give users greater power and less authority to a few giant tech businesses, allowing them to jointly “fight against trillion-dollar balance sheets.”

An Interoperable Metaverse

The metaverse now intersects with the realm of video games, where people engage in virtual worlds and obtain virtual objects. But what do gamers truly want, and why do so many people seem to despise NFTs？

“Gamers have long desired interoperability, as well as actual ownership of their virtual products.” “The challenge has been that no one knows what systems they will utilize,” Ball explained during his interview.

According to Ball, this desire for interoperability clashes with technocratic business models, resulting in a “reverse chicken and the egg” situation in which no company wants to build the infrastructure for an interoperable metaverse knowing that its competitors are unlikely to use it for financial reasons.

Companies might profit from interoperability by charging platform transfer fees, according to Ball.

However, interoperability remains crucial, and he claims that it already exists in the global economy. While there may be some resistance to interoperability right now, “user wants breed free market solutions.”

A Metaverse with NFTs

What kinds of solutions are there？ NFTs, on the other hand, could enable interoperability and digital asset ownership.

“Clearly, there is value there,” Ball said of NFTs, adding that as a technology, NFTs can scale with an expanding metaverse and are the most “viable a solution for virtual commodities [that] we've seen.”

He stressed that virtual and digital collectibles have been popular for decades, even before blockchains and NFTs, therefore the real question is whether decentralization will benefit collectibles.

According to Ball, NFTs have value, but their applications haven't been fully realized yet, and the benefits, like those of crypto in general, haven't been adequately presented to the general public.

“For decades, gamers have been disregarded,” Ball added, admitting many gamers' anger of NFTs. “They feel isolated, mistreated, and used to micro-transactions growing and destroying their games.”

If presented as goods that could “ruin” games, NFTs pose a threat to gamers. However, if publishers took a different strategy, sentiment may shift, according to Ball.

“We're never going to address that animosity until game publishers prioritize product and experience before press releases and new tech that will improve monetization,” he stated. “This creates a vicious spiral in which no one wants to bet much on solving the problem because all of their peers have harmed it.”