Every time Mark Zuckerberg shares a screen shot of his version of the Metaverse, the trolls come out to play.

But even when the cool kids, or the Bored Apes share what they’re working on, it’s not that fundamentally different from Zuck’s version. It always feels similar to what we’ve been seeing forced on us as “the future” for decades. Call it Second Life. Call it Roblox. Call it cartoon avatars walking around a 3D recreation of our physical world on magic mushrooms.

How much better can this virtual reality get? Doesn’t it feel like we’ve hit a wall? And what is with all the nausea inducing headgear? Is that really going to be normalized? Isn’t that just playing into our fears of a techno-addicted future head on?

I think the Metaverse will be something different than what the media and memes portray. Sure, there will be immersive environments that will mostly appeal to gamers. But I think there is a bigger market at stake here.

I think the Metaverse will be more of a “feeling.” It will be enabled and powered by web3 technology that we see being prototyped today. I think the idea of a “digital wallet” is being slept on. The ability to have your entire identity, securely tucked away, while at the same time giving you personalized access and experiences will be transformational.

It’s early innings now. I’ve been working in web3 for nearly a year now, and the amount of resources and thinking is truly staggering. Right now, the tech is too far ahead. The user base is tiny, but passionate. Like 1994 era AOLers. Digital wallets today are far from user friendly, but that is a barrier that is actively being tackled from many perspectives. When it becomes as commonplace to be literate and intuitive with your digital wallet, or “digital passport” as I like to say, that’s when you’ll see the tides really shift.

These digital passports will drive the Metaverse forward. Everything will go digital and be stored in one place. As you move around the world, your tightly synced digital identity will follow. Your money will be accessible instantly. Your licenses and IDs will be scannable, but encrypted, letting you seamlessly travel, get on plans, book accommodations. Your digital passport will mean you’ll walk around with all of your loyalty cards and histories with your favorite brands, products and experiences. Just by walking in the door of your favorite shop, you might unlock some rewards. By holding collectibles from your favorite athlete or teams, you might get to meet them.

This seems far out and yet familiar at the same time. Because of the decentralized nature of Web 3, people and entities will not be able to know anything about you unless you allow it. When it’s in your advantage, to pick up some rewards, you will be able to connect your digital wallet and verify your unique assets. If you don’t opt in, you can remain anonymous.

I think the Metaverse will give us a greater sense of independence. It will enable a feeling of both being hyper-connected, and also as anonymous as we wish to stay. I think this will be a powerful and transformative feeling. It will give us the ability to verify and prove many aspects of our lives and social standings. It will prove our loyalty to our favorite pieces of culture. It will give us a feeling of ownership, that will reap rewards, rather than just being passive followers as we were in the corporation dominated Web 2 era.

The Metaverse will be visualized in all sorts of crazy and futuristic ways. But that will just be a small aesthetic choice. The depth of the Metaverse will come in what it enables. It will be the evolution of our digital lives which enables a greater sense of control and ownership. We’ll be able to opt out of being exploited and choose where and how we want to show up. We’ll be able to more tightly craft our digital identities to represent exactly who we want to be.

The Second Life 2.0 derivatives are just trying to put a “futuristic” look to the idea of the Metaverse. Because it is new, people think it should look new. But I think it’s the feeling of digital, financial and personal freedom that will win over the masses.

Every time Mark Zuckerberg shares a screen shot of his version of the Metaverse, the trolls come out to play.

But even when the cool kids, or the Bored Apes share what they’re working on, it’s not that fundamentally different from Zuck’s version. It always feels similar to what we’ve been seeing forced on us as “the future” for decades. Call it Second Life. Call it Roblox. Call it cartoon avatars walking around a 3D recreation of our physical world on magic mushrooms.

How much better can this virtual reality get? Doesn’t it feel like we’ve hit a wall? And what is with all the nausea inducing headgear? Is that really going to be normalized? Isn’t that just playing into our fears of a techno-addicted future head on?

I think the Metaverse will be something different than what the media and memes portray. Sure, there will be immersive environments that will mostly appeal to gamers. But I think there is a bigger market at stake here.

I think the Metaverse will be more of a “feeling.” It will be enabled and powered by web3 technology that we see being prototyped today. I think the idea of a “digital wallet” is being slept on. The ability to have your entire identity, securely tucked away, while at the same time giving you personalized access and experiences will be transformational.

It’s early innings now. I’ve been working in web3 for nearly a year now, and the amount of resources and thinking is truly staggering. Right now, the tech is too far ahead. The user base is tiny, but passionate. Like 1994 era AOLers. Digital wallets today are far from user friendly, but that is a barrier that is actively being tackled from many perspectives. When it becomes as commonplace to be literate and intuitive with your digital wallet, or “digital passport” as I like to say, that’s when you’ll see the tides really shift.

These digital passports will drive the Metaverse forward. Everything will go digital and be stored in one place. As you move around the world, your tightly synced digital identity will follow. Your money will be accessible instantly. Your licenses and IDs will be scannable, but encrypted, letting you seamlessly travel, get on plans, book accommodations. Your digital passport will mean you’ll walk around with all of your loyalty cards and histories with your favorite brands, products and experiences. Just by walking in the door of your favorite shop, you might unlock some rewards. By holding collectibles from your favorite athlete or teams, you might get to meet them.

This seems far out and yet familiar at the same time. Because of the decentralized nature of Web 3, people and entities will not be able to know anything about you unless you allow it. When it’s in your advantage, to pick up some rewards, you will be able to connect your digital wallet and verify your unique assets. If you don’t opt in, you can remain anonymous.

I think the Metaverse will give us a greater sense of independence. It will enable a feeling of both being hyper-connected, and also as anonymous as we wish to stay. I think this will be a powerful and transformative feeling. It will give us the ability to verify and prove many aspects of our lives and social standings. It will prove our loyalty to our favorite pieces of culture. It will give us a feeling of ownership, that will reap rewards, rather than just being passive followers as we were in the corporation dominated Web 2 era.

The Metaverse will be visualized in all sorts of crazy and futuristic ways. But that will just be a small aesthetic choice. The depth of the Metaverse will come in what it enables. It will be the evolution of our digital lives which enables a greater sense of control and ownership. We’ll be able to opt out of being exploited and choose where and how we want to show up. We’ll be able to more tightly craft our digital identities to represent exactly who we want to be.

The Second Life 2.0 derivatives are just trying to put a “futuristic” look to the idea of the Metaverse. Because it is new, people think it should look new. But I think it’s the feeling of digital, financial and personal freedom that will win over the masses.