Will Mark Zuckerberg Save NFTs?
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social media empire Meta Platforms (META) strongly believes in the metaverse, an immersive virtual world where people will interact using digital avatars.
In this virtual world, which is Meta’s next big thing, non-fungible tokens (NFT) will undoubtedly play an important role. NFTs are a way to claim ownership over a piece of online content, such as an image or recording. While NFTs were the hot buzzword at the beginning of the year (due to Fear of Missing Out, or “FOMO”), they seem to have lost their luster.
The NFT market is cold. Trading volume on OpenSea, the Amazon of NFTs, is down 99% in just under four months, according to DappRadar. Where the platform processed a record $2.7 billion in NFT transactions as of May 1, the marketplace recorded just $9.34 million on August 28. Prices have also collapsed.
Currently, luxury companies such as Chanel and Gucci have adopted NFTs, which are also an effective way to retain customers and create unique loyalty programs. In fact, NFTs allow the luxury world to recreate an impression of belonging to a select circle, which is in line with the image conveyed by luxury.
The highly discreet and elegant French brand Hermes has also just filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to protect downloadable software for viewing, storing and managing virtual goods, digital collectibles, cryptocurrencies and NFTs “for use in online worlds.”
It makes sense to see that the French luxury house wants to give buyers of its highly popular Birkin bag the feeling that they belong to a very prestigious and rare club by offering them to make an NFT of this bag or its famous silk plugs.
Zuckerberg is taking back NFTs
Hoping to encourage the same atmosphere of exclusivity, Zuckerberg wants to reclaim NFTs and encourage the masses to adopt this important part of this metaverse that he is trying to sell us at all costs. Meta has just announced that after Instagram, Facebook will welcome NFTs.
Users will be able to share their certified photos on their profiles. As on Instagram, the photos will look like any publication with the addition of a small badge stamped “Digital Collectible” at the bottom left to distinguish them. You must also connect your virtual wallet to one of the two social networks so that you can then use it on the other platform.
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With 3.65 billion users as of June 30, Meta hopes to revive interest in NFTs and make money. It is not certain that the company and its billionaire boss will succeed. To begin with, they had to prove that the value of these digital collectibles is not based on pure speculation.
The big problem with Zuckerberg and his metaverse is that sometimes it feels like he has no choice but to cling to these efforts that are currently far from paying off. Reality Labs, the division that houses Meta’s metaverse projects, posted an operating loss of $2.81 billion in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, the losses amounted to 5.8 billion dollars. For all of 2021, Reality Labs had a loss of $10.2 billion.
The big test is ahead
Some projects related to the metaverse, including virtual reality headsets, have already had some success. The Meta Quest headset sold 8.7 million units in 2021, indicating that virtual reality (VR) has an audience beyond the video game-centric base for which it was originally created.
In October, Meta is launching its new virtual reality headset that will replace the Quest 2. Called Project Cambria, it was announced in October 2021 and promises to mirror users’ facial expressions in VR for a more realistic metaverse experience. It has been specially developed for work use.
There is a lot of speculation about this headset, as rumor has it that it will be marketed as the Meta Quest Pro. It would have eye and face tracking that would sync it to people’s avatars in real time. The new headset can also transform the environments around you into virtual ones. If these features are confirmed, it might really be the beginning of the virtual social interactions that Zuckerberg has been trying to sell for months. There is no doubt that such originalities would arouse curiosity.
“I think people are going to be pretty impressed with this,” Zuckerberg told analysts during Meta’s second-quarter earnings call in July.
Let’s even say that he keeps his promise of innovations, what will be the price of this headset? Rumor has it $1,500. If this price is confirmed, it’s very likely that the masses, faced with inflation currently affecting every product in their daily lives, will shun the headset… at least at first.
Therein lies the first real test of whether he wants to save NFTs and, in passing, his stake in the metaverse.
