Capitalism is successful for jump-starting economies and systems, but that requires healthy competition and a relatively level playing field. If ‘winners’ emerge that become so large that they have the power to control the tilt of the playing field, then the benefits of capitalism can be outweighed by the negative effects of larger actors protecting their market influence.

This is an increasing problem, as, without competition, there is no free market or room for fair value. Without these components, greed, corruption, and exploitation go largely unchecked [2]. It is becoming increasingly obvious this is leading to the destabilization of world economies, perpetuating an inequality gap that widens exponentially [3,4]. There is hope that this can change with new technology and innovation, driven by the development of the Metaverse.

The potential exists for a future that rebalances current inequality. It depends however, on the choices we make and whether we ignore the threat of runaway capitalism and the intellectual monopolies it creates.

I. THE ISSUE

In contemporary global capitalism, the most powerful corporations are innovation and intellectual monopolies [4]. This means a small number of corporations own and control vast amounts of intangible intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and data. In short, they rely on the permanent accrual and monopolization of society’s knowledge. At first glance, this would appear positive, for innovation to occur money must be spent, and these monopolies hold the greatest wealth.

Even if, as suggested by a recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), intellectual monopolies don’t create “Kill Zones” for entrepreneurs [5], a megacorporation can’t capitalize on everything, nor can they allow competition to arise. Instead of sharing unused knowledge, they stockpile it, going so far as to purchase technology specifically to block its development [4,5].

Keeping Innovation ‘in-house’ is a tool of the megacorporation to maintain a stranglehold on the market, further accelerating their dominance and stifling innovation. This disproportionately affects developing countries, that get left further behind in research, development, and economic growth [4].

II. A NEW HOPE

There are the beginnings of hope for an alternative to the current model. One of the best examples of this is in decentralized Web3 protocols which are a build-space for new forms of cooperation, coordination, economy, and democratic governance. As opposed to earlier versions of the internet that could only read data (Web1) or read-write (Web2), Web3 will be read-write and own.

In short, Web3 is a new layer of the internet where public protocols are being built around shared values, skills, and a common vision for a better future.

Organizations can now operate in a decentralized manner, across international borders, governed autonomously by rules set in code, without the requirement of trust, to reach shared goals. These are known as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and have led to an explosion of new technological development that can scale collective human effort in ways not previously seen. These DAOs include some of the most popular blockchains and an increasing number of applications that are built on top of them.

This is a departure from top-down corporate structures where the goals of few may dictate the actions of the whole. This space, a creator economy, between our physical lives and the possibilities of our digital futures, is heaving with innovation and excitement. This space, contrary to current popular definitions, is the Metaverse. It is the digital universe that is an evolution of our humanity into new directions.

A manifesto authored by Alex Dunmow, CEO of Ninja Syndicate further outlines what may or may not constitute the Metaverse here and sets out a number of principles and attributes to consider when trying to define the Metaverse.

III. BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain technology underlying the Metaverse promises the seamless integration of our physical worlds with our increasingly digital lives by enhancing the security, privacy, autonomy, and stability of our data [6]. These factors should be considered a necessary step in our digital evolution in building robust digital economies that will continue to expand the online worlds we currently reside in.

The best possible version of the Metaverse is one that enables individuals to retain their data and privacy rather than relinquishing it to a privatized company for a profit, with permissions for this often hidden in convoluted and confusing terms and conditions. For example, a core function of blockchain is the support of direct peer-to-peer transactions that can be performed without trust. This enables the negotiation and transfer of goods, commodities, and information between parties, across any border, without intermediaries [6]. This is important because it is the space where the intermediaries sit, where exploitation occurs. You give a third party a dollar and they will guarantee that the intended recipient receives it…but, at a cost.

Thanks to recent innovations in cryptography and blockchain, we can build the fundamental infrastructure to the Metaverse at the same time as creating a macroeconomic revolution using distributed and decentralised technologies. New opportunities will come from technological innovation in this space, which has the potential to create massive global transformation.

IV. METAVERSE VALUE PROPOSITION

The Metaverse can function outside of our entrenched societal and financial constructs. Therefore, innovation in this space provides us with a real opportunity to reimagine our current socioeconomic structures. This could allow us to move towards a future where societal and technological value is regenerative and sustainable rather than extractive and profit driven.

Systems that satisfy human needs, create positive externalities, and bring balance to economies, require a foundation of trust and fairness [7]. The inherent qualities of a decentralized public blockchains and digital economies could provide a potential way forward for humanity in its need to solve the global economic problems we face. These qualities are:

Permissionless: Permissionless blockchains enable any individual to use, join and help secure the network making the network a decentralized and public good. This increases security and trust for all users and is naturally resistant to corruption.

Trustless: Blockchains minimize the amount of trust needed for a transaction to take place due to the distribution of individuals incentivized to secure the network by forming consensus, enabling direct peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries.

Censorship resistance: Censorship resistance ensures that the laws governing the network can’t be retroactively altered to fit a specific agenda. This ensures that no third party, corporation, or nation-state can censor who uses the network or how they use it.

Programmable value: Blockchains optimized for programmability such as Ethereum mean that assets can be transacted in more complex and creative ways than traditional assets. For example, A wants to send B an asset but only executed after specified conditions are met. All conditions are programmed into a smart contract on the blockchain which will only be executed once conditions are satisfied. There are no intermediaries necessary for the transaction to take place, just code in a digital smart contract.

These qualities become the backbone that allows high-level coordination to take place across the world, creating global trust networks and changing the way companies and organizations can operate.

V. COORDINATION

In this new age where personas, communications, and lives are increasingly online, there is immense value created and consumed that exists entirely in the digital space. It is therefore important that this value is distributed in a way that does not lead to monopolies that favor the few and tend towards greater inequality.

One way to avoid this moving forward, is by building out and supporting infrastructure such as public blockchains and applications in favor of privatized mega-corporations. This way, if a monopoly does arise organically, the value generated is owned by the public that belongs to the network rather than a private entity. This public network could theoretically be made up of hundreds of thousands of citizens, from all countries and the value generated is distributed accordingly.

VI. A CHOICE

There is great potential for radical change afforded to us by new technologies that embrace these qualities, but it is yet to be determined which direction this innovation takes. Without greater awareness and a change of direction, we are likely to see mega-corporations move into Web3 to both privatize and monopolize innovation, which could stifle what has the potential to redistribute wealth and create regenerative and sustainable socio-economic communities.

This is a threat we cannot afford to ignore. If we do, we risk an increasing imbalance of the concentration of invaluable and intangible property, into a handful of monopolies, leaving developing countries further and further behind. legacy systems do not need to be aggressively boycotted but by expanding our awareness and utilising new iterations of technology we might be able to move forward, positively impacting those who need it the most, most.

When deciding what to build or what projects to support in the Metaverse there are a few pertinent questions that could be asked to ensure values alignment. Being able to answer yes to the following questions may help direct society away from the exploitation that naturally occurs as a byproduct of runaway capitalism:

1. Is it publicly controlled or owned?

2. Is it verifiably fair?

3. Is it globally accessible?

4. Is it transparent?

5. Is it in service of the common good?

Considering these questions before we align our support can become a powerful agent for positive change.

VII. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

If we want to change, we need to start building more decentralized and publicly owned protocols that have reconsidered forms of democratic governance driven by a different set of values. We can choose to build, rewarding those who create the most value instead of those that have the deepest pockets. Because, at the end of the day, it will not be blockchain technology itself creating a revolution, it will be what we build with it and how we change the way we interact with each other for the better.

The revolution, if it happens, will also be dependent on the choices made, and the type of projects people support. It will depend on whether we can realize the urgency in aligning ourselves at the individual and project level, in ways that have a strong moral standing, valuing freedom, diversity, and equality. It depends on how aware we are of the impact of our actions and what they will have on future generations.

Genuine decentralized and public protocols that have more sustainable, human-centric considerations at the core, can create greater equality, transparency, and fairness at every layer and will naturally be more resistant to corruption.

Which future do you want to be a part of?

REFERENCES

[1] Schroeder. R. (2018) *Social Theory after the Internet: Media, Technology, and Globalization. *UCL Press

[2] Barak, G. (2017). Unchecked Corporate Power: Why the Crimes of Multinational Corporations Are Routinized Away and What We Can Do About It. Routledge

[3] Boffo, M., Saad-Filho, A., & Fine, B. (2019). *Neoliberal capitalism: The authoritarian turn. *Socialist Register, 55, 247–70.

[4] Rikap, C. (2021). Capitalism, power, and innovation: Intellectual monopoly capitalism uncovered. Routledge.

[5] Kennedy, J. (2020) Monopoly Myths: Is Big Tech Creating “Kill Zones”? Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Report

[6] Beck, R., Stenum Czepluch, J., Lollike, N., & Malone, S. (2016). Blockchain — The Gateway to Trust-Free Cryptographic Transactions. Springer Publishing Company.

[7] Owacki, K. (2022). *Greenpilled: How Crypto Can Regenerate the World. *Gitcoin.

[8] Dunmow, A (2022). *Proof of Metaverse. *https://proofofmetaverse.com/

I remember the appeal of digital currency much earlier than this when I discovered E-gold in 2006. I was looking for an easy, secure way to transfer money to someone overseas and they introduced me to the platform. I was pregnant with my son at the time and remember briefly obsessing over its implications and naively hoarded some “digital gold”.

Unfortunately, although it was a brilliant idea and was fit for purpose, it collapsed not long after (you can read more about the rise and fall of E-Gold here). I was a parent by this stage and my obsession had shifted meaning I went on my way through life, not even bothering to release my funds from the platform. This was also about the same time I sold my first car, a 1975 TA22 Toyota Celica, which is a decision I often regret much more.

I first heard about Bitcoin in 2012 but clouded by my previous experience with digital currency, I assumed it would suffer the same fate. It was not until 2017 that it reinserted itself into my view and I started learning about the fundamentals of blockchains and cryptography. I was blown away, instantly hooked, and my obsession was reignited. I saw several ways it could disrupt global economies, evolve transactional business models, mitigate runaway capitalism, and empower developing countries.

I was growing neurons at the time (I am aware of how weird that sounds) for a friend and colleague of mine, who is a Biological-Artist. He was creating music from brain cells (again-weird) that were grown from his own skin cells. We talked about the difficulty certain types of art face with their documentation, exhibition, and sales. You cannot easily reproduce a gigantic synthesizer that is driven by brain cells, after all. You also cannot exhibit it without someone being employed to grow the cells and keep them alive. Tricky problems to solve right? How does an innovative artist like this support themselves through their art if they cannot document and sell it?

Around the same time (2018), I was dipping my toes into my local music scene gigging and recording, naturally I started thinking about music distribution platforms and royalties. I had recently met my partner who owned an independent record label and we talked at length about some of the current pitfalls in the industry for musicians. This always turned into me trying to convert him to my ideological world of blockchains and how it could solve all these problems, plus all the other problems of the world (I know, I know). Needless to say, for someone who has always been considered very pragmatic and rational, I was swept up in the “vibe” and simplified a lot of things to fit a beautiful version of the future it made me imagine. gm.

I was eager to build a project to prove the potential benefits of the blockchain to those that didn’t yet understand. I decided to start small (or so I thought) and create an extremely niche independent record label for experimental art that is difficult to document. The idea was to self-fund a limited edition run of vinyl records, documenting the music generated by Cellf, the world’s first neural synthesizer.

A digital copy would also be sold using programmable smart contracts (now known as NFT’s) and traced on the block chain so that we could track royalties, generate an exclusive membership key for access to the community and take a percentage of profits from any resales to put aside to fund the next artwork.

I wanted an artist collective to grow organically by building a platform for experimental artists to find their supporters, that could also work as a proof of concept for fair distribution and tracing of royalties. I wanted to create a sustainable model so that funds could be reinvested after each run was completed into the next artist’s work. The main problems I wanted to solve were:

How can we track and distribute royalties to ensure artists are compensated fairly and transparently?

How do we document important world class experimental works that are difficult to represent by traditional means?

How do I help experimental artists reach their niche community?

Can we maintain a record of supporters through smart contracts that we can use for rewarding them directly and trustlessly?

I was not interested in profiting from this venture myself, but I needed to build a model that meant I could get back the initial investment I put in for building the label and getting the vinyl record to full production. The idea being that those funds could be reinvested into the next artist, who would then become a part of the collective. The bulk of any funds raised would go directly to the artist and they would continue to profit if those works were resold.

The concept that you could put the power and profits back into the hands of the creators and destabalize a model that currently exploited artists, was far more alluring than trying to get rich by leveraging off someone elses creativity. The collective’s and the labels goal would be to support each other in reaching their fan base through their common ground and connections in the experimental art/music worlds.

I was still working full-time as a scientist and trying to wear all the other hats I had collected. I joined several blockchain projects and their communities, and I have not had many days disconnected from some of them since.I worked for a DeFi protocol for a while and like a sponge soaked up every last bit of knowledge I could. My own ideas and project soon took a back seat as I became a community member supporting other ventures that I believed in.

Fast forward to today and I am currently working as a Research Strategist for Ninja Syndicate, an Australian based metaverse game studio that is experimenting with player owned digital assets and a slew of economic simulation games. It feels obvious from where I stand, that some of the tools currently being built for Web3 will inform and develop real world applications but I will leave those details for another time. I will say however, that for someone like myself, every day in this space recharges me.

I will finish building my project one day, when the time is right. I have pages and pages of ideas that have grown over the years, some which still keep me up at night with excitement. Interestingly, the best realisation I have had during this time is that it is not a race, I do not need to be first or prove anything to anyone for the idea to work or be successful. This technological revolution is happening whether we like it or not and there will always be space for projects like mine.

This is the natural evolution of a system that has decentralization as a core tenet. In fact, the inherent properties found in the networks that have already been built, means that perhaps it matters less whether the majority of the Web3 space falls victim to predatory capitalism. Even if the world continues to spew up centralized monopolies (which it no doubt will unless we become more aware and accountable towards what we structures we support), it is already too late; the foundation has been built to forever support open, immutable, and trustless public networks. I am incredibly grateful to be in a position where I know what this can truly mean, and can see this clearly.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts through a series of essays that aim to help others understand some of the beautiful possibilities of new technologies as we move forward navigating our digital futures together, regardless of distance.

Peace & Respect.