Last Updated on 28 mins by cryptoevent

The Metaverse is an intriguing space, and so have developments over the past few years exceptional to look at. I spoke to Jerry Eitel, Chief Metaverse Officer at Prager Metis, to talk about how the Metaverse is changing the world.

In 1992, Neal Stephenson published Snow Crash, the book widely credited with coining the word “Metaverse.”

The trend towards a more digital world has accelerated in recent years, both due to diverse political and macroeconomic framework conditions and technological innovations.

In the crypto space, the rise of NFTs has complemented online personas with communities built around collectible “works of art.”

In the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contracts empower individuals to manage entire portfolios of assets and do all sorts of things with them (lending, providing liquidity, generating returns, collateral…) in a permission-free and transparent manner.

One could argue that these are all components of the metaverse; it depends on how you define the word.

Jerry Eitel, Chief Metaverse Officer at Prager Metis

I sat down with Jerry Eitel, partner emeritus in the tax department at US law firm Prager Metis and Chief Metaverse Officer, to discuss the commercial possibilities for the Metaverse and why we should be optimistic — and I also have a few questions about the possibilities limitations and risks of the metaverse and voiced some concerns I had about the metaverse.

This was a fascinating interview with a real expert on the subject and we covered all sorts of topics from regulation, inequality, awareness, remote work and more…

Below are excerpts from the interview, edited for brevity:

Q:

Before we begin, I would like to ask how did you first get into the Metaverse room?

A:

I am partner emeritus. I was tax partner and semi-retired when many of our entertainment focused clients started doing music NFTs. There were many people building digital businesses.

The best way to learn is to do, so the CEO and I decided to open an office in the metaverse to learn how to do it. I was open to the prospect and we opened an office in Decentraland.

Q:

I saw that during the lockdown there were some lecturers in the UK teaching at universities in Decentraland. But how does that work functionally? Does your team all wear headsets and sit on an AR volcano or something?

A:

No, we’re not that far yet. We have an office and we have some NFTs hanging

Q:

What does the role of Chief Metaverse Officer entail?

A:

There are many things I do, but basically my role is to take the company into the metaverse. Many of our clients come to us for advice and support, and my role is that of the ‘point man’ – explaining the metaverse to them so they understand what to buy and how to get involved. Some of our clients are in the entertainment business.

First and foremost, I am a tax specialist. I have 40 years of experience in real estate taxation and it’s really useful knowledge because there are a lot of similarities in the digital space, the regulation is just more unclear.

Q:

Is it worth building your own Metaverse? How scarce is digital real estate?

A:

Going out and building your own metaverse is insane unless you have a lot of money.

I think there’s scarcity, even if it sounds absurd, because it’s really hard to go out and do that. Decentraland has been around forever and has established itself with a strong community. Sandbox has its own community – Snoop Dogg is part of it. It is extremely difficult to replicate.

We were approached by a group of music industry producers and they thought about going out and building a metaverse for certain musicians, but it’s quite a big undertaking. Digital land is scarcer than you think.

Q:

Does location in the Metaverse matter?

A:

In general, you can decide where you want to go at the click of a button, but other than that, you can build your own neighborhood. We built a space called The Drip Society – a virtual sneaker shop. I think we have 14 packages there. You can almost gentrify your own neighborhood, making the land around you a little more valuable. It’s very similar to real estate.

Q:

Where is the limit of human experience here?

A:

Decentraland opened the world’s first ATM in the Metaverse – you can go there and buy crypto. I think we will end up with a combination of real world and digital commerce. People can join clubs and build communities.

I like to say that Decentraland is a community of communities. There’s a lot of good social stuff happening, the metaverse can be very empowering for people.

There’s bad out there too, but I think it’s pretty healthy in terms of trading and decentralization – DAOs are growing in popularity and it’s fascinating to see.

Q:

Is society ready for this kind of technology? With lockdowns and remote working, people seem to be becoming more and more disconnected from each other. Could the metaverse be a catalyst in making people less empathetic?

A:

I definitely think it could. There are also digital twins of cities in real estate. You can theoretically create a different version of yourself, it would all depend on the integration of AI and how powerful the AI ​​is.

What if we are holograms and the technology is super good?

Q:

I suppose even in that case we would know that the threat of physical violence would be less, so people might still be inclined to push the boundaries further.

A:

In theory, you could have a dystopian society where people have a device on their body that allows them to experience pain.

I agree that lockdowns bring a degree of detachment, but I’m a natural optimist. It seems to me that connection and intimate conversations have become even more important.

Q:

How does the metaverse affect different countries at different stages of development?

A:

It’s interesting. Some of the less developed countries are more concerned with it than the developed ones. Play-to-earn gaming shows how much more important the digital world is becoming.

You could even gamble for real estate, and that could become valuable. Younger people are much more interested in it than older people, and there are many more young people in less developed countries.

Q:

Are we in the metaverse yet?

A:

We’re already there. We could all be on the beach somewhere or on another planet in the metaverse if done right, but the technology is nowhere near that yet.

Q:

Some of the original patents for virtual reality headsets are over 50 years old. Why hasn’t the technology caught on yet?

A:

Because it sucks! You must put on a headset. Technology and user experience still have a long way to go. Wearing it will make you feel nauseous, give you a headache, etc.

We won’t realize the full potential of the Metaverse until the technology is completely seamless. Still, it’s pretty amazing what you can do with it in terms of medicine and education.

Q:

How big could the metaverse get?

A:

It’s all about society here. If your brain is in a digital file, you may not die – you may not have a choice. There was news recently that Google has developed a computer that is sentient.

I don’t even think I’m sentient sometimes! Awareness is crazy, really.

Q:

There are scientists at Cambridge who are mapping consciousness. I suppose if you could do that and somehow store it on a blockchain, could you be immortal?

A:

I think it all depends on the amount of data that can be stored. Once they start mapping everything, there aren’t many limits to what can be achieved.

Q:

One of the core ideas of Web3 is that you own your own digital assets. Aave’s Stani Kulechov is now developing the Lens Protocol, and the idea is that you can own your own data. Do you think there’s hope for something like this, or is there always a risk of being too centralized?

A:

It’s difficult because there are so many strong egos around and too many sheep. To be honest, I’m a very optimistic person, but at the same time you just have to see what happens.

Q:

How is government regulation currently affecting space?

A:

There will definitely be regulation, but at the same time they could screw it up. Not just with coins, but also on how to classify an entity and whether something is a security or not.

They complicated it by not being clear enough.

For example, there are some NFTs that promise returns and these are considered securities and will be delisted from marketplaces like Opensea.

Q:

If the government cracks the whip, can it take down the industry?

A:

Whatever they try, they screw up. Nothing goes away because it’s too big now. Will they create problems? You looked the other way, but now the cat is out of the bag.

It’s just too big to stop.

Relevant news:

• The FishVerse launches its first Ultimate Fishing Metaverse
• Top Metaverse projects on the BNB chain
• Paris Hilton enters the sandbox metaverse to sell NFTs and parties

The post Jerry Eitel: Scarcity, Awareness, and Cautious Optimism appeared first on the Business 2 community.

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