One concept that has gained a lot of attention in recent years is the metaverse, a virtual shared space that is created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the internet. The metaverse is often described as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the internet. Essentially, it’s a virtual world that people can visit and interact with in real time, using VR or AR technology.

AR and VR are closely related technologies that are often mentioned in the context of the metaverse. AR involves superimposing digital content onto the real world, while VR involves creating a fully immersive digital environment. Both technologies have a wide range of applications, from gaming and entertainment to education and training.

Another term that is often mentioned in relation to the metaverse and other interactive technologies is “gamefi.” Gamefi refers to the convergence of gaming, finance, and technology, and it’s an area that is expected to see significant growth in the coming years. For example, gamefi could involve the use of blockchain technology to create virtual currencies or assets that can be used in games or other virtual environments.

Overall, the metaverse, AR, VR, and gamefi represent exciting new developments in the world of interactive technology, with the potential to transform a wide range of industries. From entertainment and gaming to education and finance, these technologies are sure to play a major role in the future.

While the metaverse, AR, VR, and gamefi are still in the early stages of development, it’s clear that they have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with the world.

For example, the metaverse could be used to create virtual spaces for socializing, work, and entertainment. Imagine being able to attend a virtual concert or conference, or even live in a virtual world full-time. The metaverse could also be used to enhance our physical reality, for example by providing augmented information about the world around us or by allowing us to interact with virtual objects in the real world.

AR and VR also have the potential to transform a wide range of industries. For example, AR could be used to provide enhanced information about products or locations or to create interactive experiences that blend the virtual and the physical. VR could be used to create fully immersive experiences, such as virtual reality gaming or training simulations.

Gamefi, which combines gaming, finance, and technology, is also an area to watch. With the use of blockchain technology, gamefi could create new virtual currencies and assets that can be used in games or other virtual environments. This could have major implications for the gaming industry, as well as for finance and other areas.

Overall, the metaverse, AR, VR, and gamefi represent exciting new developments in the world of interactive technology, with the potential to transform a wide range of industries. While these technologies are still in the early stages of development, it’s clear that they will play a major role in the future.

This article answers these questions, with the goal of educating users about one of the most important aspects of Web3 access infrastructure.

Wallets or keychains?

In the context of blockchain and Web3, a “wallet” is essentially a cryptographic key management system that doubles as a user interface allowing you to interact with network applications and services by reading and/or modifying the state of the blockchain. It is in this sense, therefore, that we will use the term “wallet” from now on.

Although the use of the term is already widespread, it is somewhat misleading, and it is worth dispelling a common misunderstanding right away. Contrary to popular belief, when you make a transaction on the blockchain you are not “sending” tokens from your wallet to someone else’s wallet. In fact, you are using your private key to sign a transaction and transmit it to the entire blockchain network. Only after the network validates your transaction will it be executed, and then this change will be reflected in the updated balances of your address and the recipient’s address.

In this sense, the term “wallet” is misleading because the applications we use to interact with the blockchain do not store money the way physical wallets do. Instead, they store the private keys that allow you to sign and make transactions, and the public keys that allow you to receive assets. A more apt analogy would be to a keychain, with the important difference that in the case of the blockchain this “keychain” not only manages the keys needed to interact with the network but also shows the record of transactions and the balances of the addresses associated with these keys.

But what exactly are the “keys” that digital wallets manage, and what are they used for?

Keys and seed phrases

A “key”, in the sense in which the term is used in cryptography, is the basis of a transformation, usually mathematical, of an ordinary message into an unreadable (encrypted) message.

In public-key cryptography, which is the standard used to implement blockchains, a pair of correlated keys are created for this purpose: the first is called private because it must be kept secret; the second is called public because it can be shared with anyone who wants to receive it. Any participant that has access to your public key can encrypt a message using that key, but only you can read it, using your private key. In addition, you can use your private key to “digitally sign” a message, allowing others to verify that you were the sender; this verification is also done using your public key.

Public-key cryptography — Source: Network Encyclopedia

A wallet stores and allows you to manage this key pair to interact with a blockchain.

• A public key refers to an address that allows you to send and receive transactions.
• A private key proves that you own the assets associated with your address.

You can think of your public key as analogous to your bank account number, and of your private key as analogous to the password you use to access your account and make transactions. As with banking, your public key can be shared with anyone to receive funds, but your private key, like your password, must be kept secret.

Public & Private Keys — Source: Crypto.com

Most modern wallet implementations use a single master key, also known as a seed phrase, to generate the public and private keys. This key generation system is called deterministic because in it the public and private keys are correlated and can always be reproduced from the same seed.

Seed phrases are represented as a list of English words (usually 12, sometimes 24) that you can write down and keep somewhere, and can reuse to retrieve your wallet if for some reason you lose access to it (say, by having a device stolen or damaged).

Example of seed phrases — source: Realt Academy

There are a set of industry standards for wallet implementations that ensure interoperability between different applications. Thanks to these standards, you can easily export and import your keys between wallets from different vendors.

More than keychains — wallets as Web3 identities

The keychain analogy helps, but it doesn’t catch all the functions of wallets. In a blockchain, nodes are constantly synchronizing the state of the network and updating the history of transactions made. As we saw above, wallets connect you to the blockchain nodes and allow you to read this history and also make transactions, registering new data in the network. In this sense, we can also say that wallets work analogously to a traditional web browser, serving as a gateway to access and interact with Web1 / Web2. Wallets, in turn, are your gateway to Web3. But they go further, and can also serve as your identity in this new environment.

In Web3, identity and reputation work very differently from what we are used to today. As a rule, in Web2 our identities are tied to some centralized provider, which almost always requires users to hand over confidential and personal information. Examples of such identities are your Google account, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Web2 Login — Source: Dev.to

In Web3, you simply link your wallet to a decentralized application (dApp) to be able to interact with it. And unlike Web2 authentication methods, wallet addresses are pseudonymous by default. If a user chooses to connect the same wallet with multiple dApps, her (pseudonymous) identity can be easily transferable between those dApps, which means that over time the user can build up a sort of portable reputation, even without having to reveal her personal information.

Web3 Login — Source: Coinbase

As more and more aspects of our lives come to be experienced on Web3 — communication, work, education, entertainment, finance, and so on — all “orchestrated with tokens” (see Dixon and McCormick’s definition of Web3), our very identities will become more and more intertwined with the content of our wallets. For this reason, having a portable, privacy-preserving, and secure digital identity will become of paramount importance in this emerging future.

(I delve deeper into issues involving risks to our identities in Web3 and in the Metaverse in this article.)

Types of wallets

Types of Wallets — Source: Odyssey DAO

The first important distinction for categorizing wallets concerns whether or not they are connected to the Internet. So-called “hot wallets” are connected to the Internet, while so-called “cold wallets” are kept offline.

Hot wallets

In hot wallets, the user’s keys are stored and encrypted in the application itself, which is kept online. Examples of hot wallets include:

• Web-based wallets (websites or browser extensions)
• Wallets for mobile devices (Android or iOS applications)
• Desktop Wallets (applications installed on your OS)

Using a hot wallet, in its different forms, is generally quite convenient, but along with convenience also comes more risk, since computer networks tend to have hidden vulnerabilities that can be targeted by hackers or malware programs, among other forms of a system intrusion.

Hot wallets can be subdivided into two further categories, having to do with the way the keys are controlled in each case.

Custodial hot wallets

These are wallets managed by an exchange (for example, by Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, etc.), and require you to log in with a username and password to access them, just as you would do to access any traditional web application.

With a custodial wallet, you do not own your keys and therefore are not in full control of the assets they manage. As a popular saying in the crypto community goes, “not your keys, not your coins!”

Because of this, when using custodial wallets you must trust the service provider to securely store your assets and implement strong security measures to prevent unauthorized access. These measures include two-factor authentication (2FA), email confirmation, and biometric authentication, among others. Many exchanges will not allow you to transact until these security measures are properly configured by you.

Non-custodial hot wallets

These are self-managed wallets. The keys and assets these applications manage are fully under the control of the users. But since with great power comes great responsibility, this means that users of non-custodial wallets must take care of their own security regarding key and seed phrase storage. If any of these are lost, recovery may be difficult or even impossible, since they are not usually stored on any third-party server.

Cold wallets

Cold wallets are, by default, offline. This makes them less convenient than hot wallets, but as a rule, also makes them more secure.

Examples of cold wallets include:

• Paper wallets: as the name implies, a paper wallet is a physical location where private keys and/or seed phrases are written or printed. Since hackers cannot access these records remotely, this method is generally more secure than using a hot wallet connected to the internet. On the other hand, it opens up the potential risk that the piece of paper will be destroyed or lost, which could result in unrecoverable funds.
• Stainless steel wallets: To avoid the risk of destroying a paper wallet in case of fire or flooding, you can also engrave your private keys on a stainless steel plate. Some manufacturers even offer ready-made kits for this type of wallet.
• Hardware wallets: A hardware wallet is an external, dedicated device (usually a USB or Bluetooth device) that stores your keys. You can only sign a transaction by pressing a physical button on the device, which malicious actors cannot control.

Wallets with multiple signatures (multisig)

Also known as “multisig”, these are wallets that require two or more private key signatures to authorize transactions. This solution is useful for a number of use cases:

• An individual using a multisig wallet can avoid losing total access to the wallet in a scenario where one key is lost because then there will still be other keys able to sign transactions.
• Multisig wallets can make misuse of funds and fraud more difficult, which makes them a good option for hedge funds, exchanges, and corporations. Since each authorized person will have a key, and a transaction requires the use of most keys, it becomes impossible for any one individual to unilaterally perform unauthorized transactions.

(All the wallet types described above have multisig versions — hot, cold, hardware, and so on.)

How to secure your wallet

If your wallet’s private key or seed phrase gets lost or stolen, you not only risk losing access to your assets but, given what was said before, an integral part of your identity on Web3 will be jeopardized. Therefore, it is crucial that you learn how to secure your wallet to avoid fraud and identity theft.

Here are some tips to ensure the security of your wallet:

1. Store your private keys and your seed phrases in a safe place. Consider copying them to paper or stainless steel and storing them very well, or, if you prefer to have online access, use a password manager (such as 1Password or LastPass).
2. Never share your private keys or seed phrases with anyone. No matter who asks — just don’t share!
3. Protect your password. If your wallet has a separate password, anyone who obtains it can obtain your private key. So choose a secure password, preferably saving it in a password manager, and using 2FA.
4. Don’t leave valuable assets in your everyday hot wallet. Instead, put those assets in a cold wallet or in a separate hot wallet with reinforced security. If you have a lot of assets in your wallet and share your address publicly, sooner or later someone will try to pull a scam using this information and some social engineering techniques.
5. Carefully check any website URL, email address, or social network profile before taking any action involving your wallet. Scammers usually pose as a trusted platform to phish your seed phrase or private key.
6. Turn off private messaging in apps like Discord and Telegram, and never interact with unknown assets (such as NFTs) that appear “out of nowhere” in your wallet. These are two common attack vectors that scammers use.

In addition to these general tips, here are some suggestions of best practices for using cold wallets specifically:

1. Your seed phrase is more important than the device itself. If your cold wallet is damaged, you can always recover your assets by importing your seed phrase into another wallet. Therefore, prioritize the safety of the seed phrase as indicated above.
2. Do not use the seed phrase from a hot wallet in your cold wallet. The purpose of the cold wallet is to store a seed phrase offline. Reusing a hot wallet seed phrase in the cold wallet means bringing back all the problems of online storage.
3. Be very wary of cold wallet phishing attempts. Buy a cold wallet only from the official websites of the manufacturers (such as Ledger and Trezor). Do not respond to “support” emails, letters, or private messages asking for your seed phrase.

Common frauds involving wallets, and tips to avoid them

One of the main goals of scammers regarding the Web3 space is to trick you into sharing your private key or your seed phrase. Here is a list of common scams for this purpose, and tips for avoiding them.

Phishing attacks by fake customer support accounts

Scammers send a message via email, social network, SMS, etc., informing you that there has been some kind of problem with your wallet — for example, “Your Metamask account has been hacked.” The criminals then try to convince you to share your private key or your seed phrase, supposedly to verify that you really own the “hacked” account. If this happens:

• Carefully check the website URL, email address, social profile, or phone number from which the message originated.
• Even if the source seems reliable, remember: no reputable platform will ask for your private key or seed phrase!

MetaMask’s Fake Support Attack — Source: Odyssey DAO

Trust Wallet Fake Support Attack — Source: Rainbow

Airdrops of fake tokens and NFTs

Since wallet addresses are public, literally anyone can send tokens or NFTs to these addresses. This is usually not a big problem, because you can simply choose to ignore them; but some cybercriminals have developed ways to send tokens that can execute transactions on your account as soon as you interact with them. In this sense, one could compare these tokens to a trojan that allows hackers to access your computer as soon as you interact with a malicious file. A more detailed analysis of this type of scam, including an explanatory video, can be found here.

As a precaution, be very careful with “freebies” and “gifts”, usually offered by fake profiles on social networks or by private instant messages on Discord servers or in Telegram groups. Never interact with a token of unknown origin in your wallet!

Blind-signing

Another recent and still little-known type of attack used to steal digital assets from wallets is blind signing. This attack takes advantage of the fact that users who employ their wallets to interact with dApps and NFTs often do not review the code of the smart contracts underlying these applications and therefore may end up signing and authorizing transactions without knowing exactly what they are signing and authorizing.

For example, it is sometimes necessary to grant a third party — say, cryptocurrency exchange or an NFT marketplace — permission to conduct transactions involving tokens within your wallet. Once third-party access is approved, users can exchange tokens or list NFTs for sale without paying additional fees each time. The attackers have found ways to trick victims into giving them third-party approval over the contents of their wallets, which can be transferred to other addresses controlled by the criminals.

Fake hardware wallets

One very ingenious scam involves sending some sort of correspondence — it can be an email or even a physical letter in the mail, “signed” by a CEO of a hardware wallet manufacturer — that tries to convince the user that their wallet has suffered some sort of attack and needs to be replaced. Sometimes a new device is even sent along with the letter. But these new devices have been hacked to provide access to the fraudsters, who then clone the wallet using the previously created seed phrase to gain access to the user’s funds.

If something like this happens, simply throw these devices in the trash and inform the manufacturer of the attempt.

A fake letter signed by “Ledger CEO” — Source: Ledger

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Sources and Further Reading

• Wallets as web3 identities By Jônadas Techio — Blockchain Solutions Architect & Web3 Evangelist @ Axur(Medium)
• What is a Crypto Wallet? A Beginner’s Guide (Crypto.com)
• What is a crypto wallet? | Coinbase
• Public Key Cryptography — Network Encyclopedia
• Seed Phrase 101 (Realt Academy)
• How to use a hot wallet? (Odyssey DAO)
• The Anatomy of MetaMask. An X-ray of Web3’s Beloved Fox | by Julia Wu | Jun, 2022
• How to use a cold wallet? (Odyssey DAO)
• What is a Hardware Wallet and How Does it Work? (Crypto.com)
• How to avoid crypto scams (Rainbow)
• How to avoid wallet scams? (Odyssey DAO)
• Digital Risks in Blockchain and Web3 (Axur — Free Ebook)
• Digital risks in the Metaverse (Medium)

Alien Worlds

In this game, players join an alien universe consisting of several planets where they must fight for scarce resources and mine the game’s native cryptocurrency, trillium (TLM). Players can also battle each other, go on quests and earn additional income by renting out their land to others.

Alien Worlds was the first game to break through 100,000 users and currently boasts over 2.5 million players. This was, in part, due to its free-to-play nature and the fact its metaverse world spans multiple blockchains including WAX, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain.

• Native crypto token: trilium (TLM)
• Blockchains: Native WAX blockchain, but also runs off Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
• Monthly user base: 1,000,000
• The initial investment required: You are required to buy NFT game cards such as land in order to mine.

CryptoBlades

CryptoBlades is a web-based role-playing game that emulates traditional games like Skyrim or Dark Souls. Players can battle monsters or complete in-game raids to earn SKILL tokens. To help with battles, players can craft weapons to build an advantage over their opponents or boost their power. These items can then be traded in an open marketplace.

The gameplay itself is straightforward. There are four main components – fire, earth, lightning, and water – allocated to each character, weapon, attribute, and enemy. Each component will have its strengths and weaknesses, which players must then utilize and build strategies to beat their opponents.

• Native crypto token: cryptoblades (SKILL)
• Blockchain: Binance Smart Chain
• Monthly user base: 510,000
• The initial investment required: Users will need to purchase around 0.2 BNB to play and pay for transaction fees in-game.

Axie Infinity

A Pokemon-inspired universe where you can buy, take care of, breed, and trade digital monsters called “Axies.” Axie Infinity runs off its own specifically built sidechain so that it can optimize gameplay and scale effectively.

The game has a high earning potential but requires high involvement to breed, care for and trade rare or unique Axies. These monsters can battle each other to earn SLP tokens or be sent on quests for resource farming.

• Native token: axie infinity (AXS) and smooth love potion (SLP)
• Blockchain: Ethereum
• Monthly user base: 308,000
• The initial investment required: You need to purchase three Axies from the in-house marketplace before you can play.

Upland

Upland is an NFT metaverse made to parallel our world where players can buy, sell and trade properties linked to real-world addresses. Users can then play, run businesses and connect with other Uplanders across the world.

Players have an Upland avatar that can roam throughout a city to look for available properties for purchase. Or they can visit other players’ properties. To earn special UPX rewards and increase a property’s earnings, users can complete a Collection. This is similar to Monopoly; the more properties you have of a single color, the more valuable they are.

• Native token: upland (UPX)
• Blockchain: EOS
• Monthly user base: 155,000
• The initial investment required: To open an account, you need to first purchase a virtual property.

Splinterlands

This is a digital collectible card game where players build up a collection of cards with various abilities and stats and use them to battle other players. Each card is represented by an NFT and is tradable or can be exchanged on the open market. The game relies on one-on-one fighting where players are randomly assigned battle parameters.

Both players then have a limited amount of time to build a deck of cards they will use to fight each other.

• Native token: dark energy crystals (DEC) and splintershards (SPS), which is the governance token
• Blockchain: Hive blockchain
• Monthly user base: 120,000
• The initial investment required: You must buy the summoner’s spellbook for $10 if you want to unlock the play-to-earn features and receive DEC tokens.

Source: CoinDesk

Unlike many traditional online games, which operate on a “pay-to-win” model and allow players to purchase upgrades in order to gain an advantage over others, GameFi introduces a “play-to-earn” model. This concept involves giving players financial incentives to play and progress through games. In some cases, this has allowed gamers to earn a full-time income by doing so.

How it works

All objects in these types of games are expressed as NFTs – digital tokens used to prove ownership of scarce intangible items. Think of things like plots of land, avatars, costumes, weapons, and gold bars. Once players find and accrue these items through gameplay, many have the option to trade these with others in digital marketplaces for different NFTs or sell them in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Depending on which game is played, users can increase their earning potential by dedicating time leveling up and improving their characters, creating monetized structures on their land that other gamers pay to use, or by competing against others in tournaments.

In order to keep track of what every player owns, all NFTs and cryptocurrency transaction data are stored on a public blockchain. This is a type of distributed, digital record-keeping technology maintained by a global network of computers. Leveraging this technology in gaming provides a number of benefits, including:

• Players can easily prove ownership of their in-game items.
• There is no single point of failure, meaning players will no longer be at risk of losing track of what they own if the underlying gaming company experiences technical issues.
• Items accrued during gameplay cannot be counterfeited, removed, or destroyed.
• Game-native cryptocurrencies can be sent and received without the need for intermediary settlement, clearing, or custody.

Some games also include DeFi elements such as staking, where players can lock away certain tokens in order to earn annual interest, and other rewards they can save to purchase other in-game items or unlock new content.

What you need to play

In order to take part in any of these play-to-earn games, users will need to do the following:

• Create a cryptocurrency wallet: To store their virtual currency and NFTs, and make in-game transactions. Which wallet you need will depend on which blockchain the game was built upon. For example, MetaMask – an Ethereum-based crypto wallet service – will work with any GameFi game built on Ethereum.
• Purchase starter items: All GameFi games are free to download. However, many require players to first purchase characters, native crypto tokens, decks of cards, or upgrades in order to begin.
• Pre-funded crypto wallet: You will need to pre-fund your crypto wallet with a particular cryptocurrency in order to purchase starter items and proceed. Cryptoblades, for example, requires users to download MetaMask, purchase Binance coin (BNB) and exchange it for the game’s native cryptocurrency, SKILL.

Where did GameFi come from?

The emergence of GameFi comes from a combination of factors that dates back to 2017 and the emergence of the NFT phenomenon CryptoKitties. The digital collectibles economy proved a viral success, with CryptoKitties amassing over 14,914 users a day at its peak. CryptoPunks, a collection of 10,000 pixelated NFT characters also built on Ethereum, enjoyed similar success, surpassing $1 billion in sales over 2018.

Unfortunately, the success of these NFTs showed both the good and bad sides of the state of blockchain technology at the time. Games like CryptoKitties caused heavy congestion on the Ethereum network, leading to extreme spikes in transaction fees and much slower than normal transaction confirmation times. These technical issues highlighted a clear gap in the market for more efficient and scalable platforms that could handle the rising demand from online gamers and virtual asset collectors.

Since then, a number of new “Ethereum killer” blockchains have emerged that promise faster transaction speeds, greater scalability, and cheaper fees. These include the likes of Solana and Cardano, both of which have recently set new all-time highs as investors bet big on new dapp competitors.

The proliferation of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms over 2020 was the next critical component enabling GameFi’s growth, introducing a range of blockchain-native financial platforms that run entirely using smart contracts. This provided the infrastructure for decentralized exchanges where in-game cryptocurrencies could be launched from and traded, as well as additional features like lending and staking.

In September 2020, Yearn.finance founder and DeFi developer Andre Conje tweeted about the gamification of monetary policies in a decentralized environment. He recognized the multiple benefits DeFi and NFTs could bring to the online gaming industry, and GameFi applications quickly started to form. Axie Infinity was one of the first play-to-earn games to take off in a big way, surpassing $1 billion in revenue on Aug. 9, 2021.

Coming Soon: Top GameFi Games

Source: CoinDesk

You’ll find that these blockchains and cryptocurrencies are being used to create more cryptocurrencies and blockchains. Most are also involved in the metaverse and web 3.0 development.

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NB: NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE!

Ethereum(ETH)

With the advent of WEB 3.0 and Ethereum 2.0, Ethereum is set to become the most popular and most used cryptocurrency. Then there’s the Ethereum Naming Service. Look just own 0.01 of ETH. Please do. Ethereum is that crypto that has so much potential. It can be used for so many things. Most metaverse tokens are built on Ethereum. Most Defi tokens are built on Ethereum. This should tell you something about the coin. So just make an effort to own this. Even just 0.01 ETH. That’s enough.

Bitcoin(BTC)

Bitcoin is the biggest crypto right now and it still has the potential to grow. Buy it now and forget about it.

Metaverse Index Token(MVI)

The metaverse is hyped right now. I believe it’s going to continue to grow. Buy this and you should be good.

Others to include that have potential: Dogecoin, Solana, Decentraland, Binance Coin, Uniswap, Binance USD, and Shiba Inu

NB: This article is not financial advice. Do your research. I recommend you start with Web 3.0, Metaverse, and Defi.

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Have a great day everyone!

Photo by Executium on Unsplash

The “metaverse” might be a new term for many, but it has actually been around for decades. The metaverse is the zenith of all science fiction fantasies that were played out in films such as ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Sword Art Online’ and ‘Tron.’

It’s therefore not a surprise that companies such as Facebook are investing heavily in the metaverse. But, what exactly is the metaverse, and what tokens should you know about if you are looking into investing in it?

Read on to learn more about the metaverse and what investment opportunities exist in the crypto markets that provide you with exposure to the growth of the metaverse.

What is the Metaverse?

Before we take a look at the metaverse investment options you can consider, let’s first take a look at what the metaverse is.

The metaverse is a convergence of both our physical and digital lives — a new phase of the Internet that will see the coming together of augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), and virtual reality (VR) with our physical world.

The world as we know it today will change greatly with the arrival of the metaverse. The metaverse will provide an alternative digital universe where human beings will not only be able to live and work in, but also play.

So, why should you care about the metaverse?

As an investor, why should you invest in it? According to Bloomberg, the metaverse’s market size is expected to grow to $800 billion dollars( 89 Trillion Kenyan Shillings) by the year 2024. This signifies how lucrative the metaverse could become in the coming years.

But, what metaverse investments can you make? How can you get started investing in the metaverse? What tokens should you consider investing in?

Decentraland (MANA)

A metaverse token you should know about is MANA, Decentraland’s token.

Decentraland is a blockchain-based virtual reality platform where users get to buy, sell, and develop land, all while playing games, creating content, and interacting with each other.

Decentraland is the biggest virtual universe in the NFT space and is represented as a non-fungible ERC-71 token known as LAND. Each parcel of LAND on Decentraland is unique and owners can choose what they get to do with their portion of land.

Users can purchase LAND on the platform using MANA. Besides being used to purchase LAND, MANA is the main token used in Decentraland. As a native utility token, it’s used to pay for goods and services. It’s also built on Ethereum and can be bought and sold for other cryptocurrencies or for fiat currency.

MANA’s total supply is fixed at 2.6 billion MANA. That means that there will never be more than 2.6 billion MANA at any given time.

Axie Infinity (AXS)

Axie Infinity is an NFT-based online video game that uses the Ethereum-based digital tokens AXS and SLP. In the play-to-earn game, players breed, raise, and battle their digital pets known as Axies. The Axie Infinity game uses the governance token AXS.

Token holders are able to vote and shape the direction of the game world. This is different from traditional games, where the game developers make all the decisions. AXS owners are not only able to stake their tokens and earn more, but they are also able to vote for different governance proposals.

The Axie universe also uses the Smooth Love Potion (SLP) token. The SLP token is primarily used for breeding purposes. Players can earn the SLP token by winning adventures and battles in the game. The main difference between the SLP and AXS token is that it’s not a governance token. Hence, it’s not used to vote. The AXS token has a total supply of 270 million.

Enjin Coin (ENJ)

Enjin Coin is another metaverse token that you could look into. It’s an Ethereum-based token that seeks to make it easy for individuals, brands, and businesses to use NFTs. However, NFTs that are built with Enjin use the ERC-1155 standard, which is different from the commonly used ERC-721 standard.

NFTs minted within the Enjin environment are directly backed by ENJ. ENJ is the native currency used on the platform. Whenever a new NFT is produced on the network, a certain amount of ENJ is minted into the token. These locked funds are what give the newly built tokens real-world value.

Additionally, Enjin recently raised close to $19 million that will be used to build Polkadot-based blockchain for NFTs. ENJ token has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens.

The Sandbox (SAND)

With a maximum supply of 3 billion, SAND is another token that should be on your metaverse radar. The Sandbox is a virtual world that, like most platforms on this guide, is built on the Ethereum blockchain.

On the platform, players are able to build, monetize, and own their gaming experience. The platform uses the SAND token, which is an ERC-20 utility token that is used for governance, staking, and transfers.

Star Atlas (ATLAS)

Star Atlas is a huge online multiplayer game that occurs in a virtual gaming metaverse. The game is built on Unreal Engine 5 and features real-time, cinema-quality environments.

In the game, there are three major factions that exist and are competing for control and resources. The game is also partly a flight simulation and also allows for role-playing.

The Star Atlas game is currently being built on the Solana blockchain and players will use the ATLAS tokens. ATLAS tokens will be the in-game currency that will be used to purchase assets as well as buy NFTs in the NFT marketplace. The ATLAS token has a maximum supply of 36 billion.

Metaverse Index (MVI)

The Metaverse Index (MVI) token is another interesting example of a metaverse token. Represented by an ERC20 token, the token is built to capture the trend of business, entertainment, and sport migrating to virtual worlds.

With the MVI token, owners are able to get exposure to a wide variety of tokens from various crypto projects that encompass sectors like online gaming, NFTs, and virtual worlds.

Think of the Metaverse Index token as a metaverse ETF but for the crypto markets. The Metaverse Index token has a maximum supply of 39,602 tokens.

Source: 7 Metaverse Tokens By Trust Wallet Blog

To buy any of these cryptocurrencies I suggest you use Binance.

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange that is currently the largest exchange in the world in terms of the daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies.

Register by visiting this link: Binance

Science Fiction is slowly becoming non-fiction

These are the industries I believe will shape the future. Many in this list are already in use now. I’ll explain each at a later time. For now, have a nice day!