An early interpretation of DappRadar figures from October 11 showed an extremely low turnout for Decentraland, one of the most hyped metaverses of Web 3.0. The figures surprised the community, as the platform has a current market valuation of USD 1.2 billion.
Shortly after the initial study was published, both DappRadar and Decentraland verified that the published number of fewer than 40 active unique wallets (UAWs) was not an accurate representation of activity on the network. According to DappRadar’s tracker at the time of this writing, the number of UAWs is just over 600.
A DappRadar report following the incident revealed that blockchain games and metaverse projects raised a cumulative $1.3 billion in the fiscal third quarter.
However, if user engagement is low, what keeps investors coming back to the metaverse for more?
Cointelegraph spoke with Decentraland, DappRadar, and prominent metaverse investor Animoca Brands, to better understand what it is about the metaverse that keeps investors coming back.
Robert Hoogendoorn, head of content at DappRadar, noted that, despite the sharp drop in both prices of cryptocurrencies as well as US dollar trade volume per metaverse land, the actual number of trades only dropped by 11%.
“This shows that there is still strong demand,” he says. Hoogendoorn also reiterated that involvement in the metaverse goes far beyond mere connection. It’s also about the activity of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and from development teams leveraging each other’s open source software:
“It’s not a one-way flow from business to consumer, but a network of tangled actors, builders, creators, users, investors, organizers, etc.”
Sam Hamilton, creative director of the Decentraland Foundation, said it’s clear that the space is still in its early stages. He went on to say that “it can be shocking,” but the numbers don’t stop anyone from joining this creative space.
Hamilton understands that many dismiss the metaverse as nothing more than “meaningless entertainment”, but in reality, the developers are creating something much bigger:
“When you spend your days building something as massive and impactful as the metaverse, it becomes very difficult to be short-sighted and simply worry about the numbers.”
Yat Siu, co-founder and CEO of Animoca Brands, said negative responses to major technological changes are nothing new, but he expects to see them change as the technology itself matures.
Siu underlined that from an operational point of view, the decentralized metaverse is a better business model, as it is easier to both raise capital and offer interesting opportunities to consumers.
However, from a user perspective, he said it is even more important because the products and services offer empowerment like never before. Non-expendable property introduces new benefits of digital goods and data to “give users a stake and a voice in the products and services they use.”
“Blockchain is not simply a technological change, but also enables sociopolitical change.”
Siu has already said that he believes GameFi will be users’ entry point into the metaverse.
While some among the cryptocurrency enthusiasts on Twitter they questioned the value of the metaversedevelopers and investors have not hesitated to build a digital universe. New tools and events are constantly being rolled out to make the metaverse a more tangible experience.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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