Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_62460863a52b9" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>To reach such a scale, however, developers will need to improve on clunky Web3 infrastructure</li>
 <li>Citi analysts dubbed the metaverse “the next generation of the internet”</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Citi has high expectations for the metaverse, with the bank’s analysts projecting the Web3 economy to reach between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030.



“We believe the metaverse may be the next generation of the internet,” analysts wrote in a <a href="https://ir.citi.com/gps/BGrBay2thaQaH9HYofo3Uf3ThNldHDse_iJbe_md8Xk2SX5N3rdCq70nBWVa5mRqVYO3BHcw4Htuf7ihwIzrP6f0AN2kKVQZ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research note</a> released Thursday. “Combining the physical and digital world in a persistent and immersive manner.”



Though the idea of the metaverse has been around for years — first presciently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;state=default&amp;module=styln-metaverse&amp;variant=show&amp;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&amp;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">introduced in a 1992 novel</a> — booming interest in a Web3 future have led to scores of practical new use cases.



“Today, the most popular way to experience the metaverse is via a video game played on a virtual reality (VR) headset,” the note said. “But.. [there is the] possibility that the metaverse is moving towards becoming the next iteration of the internet, or Web3. This ‘Open Metaverse’ would be community-owned, community-governed, and a freely interoperable version that ensures privacy by design.”&nbsp;



The use cases and growing user base are what is going to drive the industry, analysts said, citing commerce, art, media, advertising, healthcare and social collaboration as some of the ways an estimated five billion people will eventually embrace digital versions of themselves.&nbsp;



The note echoes a broader sentiment in Web3 — it can be difficult to imagine the future of the metaverse in the context of the current dominance of Web2.&nbsp;



“Fundamentally, one of the mistakes that I see a lot of projects and designers making is projecting Web3 technology on Web2 experiences,” said Calvin Chan, CEO of Legitimate, an ecosystem that links physical products to digital identities, during the Avalanche Summit in Barcelona.&nbsp;&nbsp;



If built correctly — which most analysts deem a big “if” that depends on significant infrastructure improvements — people will be able to tap into the metaverse on computers, gaming consoles and smartphones, wherever they are.



“The definition of what counts as money in the Open Metaverse is also likely to be very different from what counts as money in the real world today,” the note said. “Interoperability and seamless exchange between underlying blockchain technology are critical to ensure a frictionless user experience.”



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Citi Projects Metaverse To Capture Five Billion Users and up to $13 Trillion

<div id="highlights-block_62448fe98ea31" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Avalanche conference brought 3,600 developers, investors and industry leaders to Spain for four days of content</li>
 <li>Institutional players made an appearance, many for the first time at a crypto event</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



This year’s Avalanche Summit, hosted by Ava Labs, the team behind the layer-1 blockchain, brought more than 3,600 developers, investors and crypto-curious to Barcelona.&nbsp;



Passes, which went for around $600 each, granted participants four days of conversation, most of which took place over cocktails and tapas, either inside or outside the conference venue. It was a sold out event, with many ticket-less hopefuls lingering around the entrance trying to catch a glimpse of the action or grab the attention of a speaker. 



Talk of price, either of Avalanche’s native token AVAX, which is down about 26% year-to-date, or any other currency, was practically non-existent.



“I was surprised to see as many enterprise folks there, there were probably half a dozen people from Fortune 500 companies, recognizable big banks and other corporate funds, and this was their first crypto conference,” Snickerdoodle Labs’ CEO and co-founder Jonathan Padilla said, who traveled from California to speak on a panel at the event.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I talked to the head of Bank of America&#8217;s digital asset and blockchain group…seeing them at this event, their first real crypto event, there&#8217;s a strong sentiment about how people are looking at the space.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



Even with a greater institutional presence, the event bore little resemblance to a typical financial conference, a strategic move from the Ava Labs team. The start time was late (noon), the dress code was casual (presumably it would have been even more relaxed if the weather had been nicer) and the alcohol was flowing. The main expo area, dubbed the “eco dome” had DJs performing almost non-stop.



“I’m working on a project that’s going to be huge,” one attendee said, shouting over electronic dance music at an afterparty event hosted by Trader Joe, an Avalanche decentralized exchange, at a club in downtown Barcelona. “It’s going to be bigger than Morgan Stanley.”&nbsp;



The official conference events, hosted at the Poble Espanyol, an open-air architectural museum and exhibition space sprawling 50,000 square meters, included three stages and more than 250 speakers who covered everything from the future of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to building liquidity pools.



The venue was complete with a zen garden, a private area with massage tables, aerial yoga and green juice reserved for VIPs, speakers and hackers participating in the hackathon on the final conference day.&nbsp;



Devon Ferreira, senior vice president, global head of marketing at Ava Labs, was keen to note that almost half of the panel and keynote discussions included women.



“Still not enough, in our view — a great start, nonetheless,” he added.&nbsp;



Talk of Web3 infrastructure improvement seemed to dominate the conversation.&nbsp;



“In many discussions with node operators, liquid staking providers, application developers…it became clear that reliable, resilient and performant infrastructure is the next frontier for Web3,” said Renjie Butalid, vice president of business development at Metrika, a blockchain intelligence company.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“We’re still early. Network degradations and outages occur and will continue to happen until blockchain networks go through the maturity curve.”</blockquote>



Speakers at the event agreed, adding that many of the Web3 experiences users have today might not exist in the future as infrastructure continues to evolve.&nbsp;



“Fundamentally, one of the mistakes that I see a lot of projects and designers making is projecting Web3 technology on Web2 experiences,” said Calvin Chan, founder and CEO of Legitimate, an ecosystem that links physical products to digital identities, during a panel discussion.



There was a strong sense of community, which can be rare at events with a focus on a single blockchain, like Bitcoin Miami or Eth Denver. Many attendees attributed the jovial mood to a mix between joy of being back in person after two years of mostly virtual events and a growing optimism about the future of crypto and Web3.



“If the strength of a network is measured by the strength of its community, the Summit was a tour de force that suggests we are well-poised to lead the industry in 2022 and beyond, with a vibe that speaks to collaboration and inclusion,” Ferreira said. “[It’s] a welcome change from the tribalism typical of crypto.”&nbsp;



Attendees included Ethereum team lead Péter Szilágyi and well-known Bitcoin advocate, Udi Wertheimer, Ferreira pointed out, both of whom took to <a href="https://twitter.com/peter_szilagyi/status/1507033234152042513?s=21&amp;t=hJYY6tRcfjxuRrlE_bSwVg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a> to share positive experiences from the event. Udi added the <a href="https://twitter.com/udiwertheimer/status/1507775183691685899?s=21&amp;t=qBq_tqwbX4vqgrzBOVn-Sw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">red triangle</a> to his Twitter profile name — a marker for Avalanche community members — after the event.



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3,600 Flock to Barcelona for Flashy Parties and No Price Talk

<div id="highlights-block_623c9bb88d929" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Panelists say brands&#8217; use of NFTs must be authentic, as they think beyond marketing</li>
 <li>Regulatory challenges may stymie progress for practical application of NFT</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The future of NFTs is going to be centered on items, according to Calvin Chan, founder and CEO of Legitimate, an ecosystem that links physical products to digital identities.&nbsp;



“We work with brands…to see not just how we can bake Web3 into your retail strategy but also into your retail products,” Chan said during a <a href="https://live.avalanchesummit.com/day2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">panel discussion</a> at the Avalanche Summit in Barcelona. “It’s so often that a brand’s attempt to come into the NFT space is inauthentic, it’s marketing.”&nbsp;



Chan pointed to recent attempts by companies like Clinique and Asics to use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for branding initiatives. Brands should think beyond marketing, he said, and look at NFTs as a tool to revolutionize how consumers think about authenticity and identity.&nbsp;



“If we think about blockchain technology as a whole, most folks assume blockchain is great for privacy, it is great for ownership,” said Jonathan Padilla, CEO and co-founder of Snickerdoodle Labs, which provides data and privacy services, during the panel.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“It’s now economically viable to produce something that you can have the provenance for, for a few cents, that’s really the benefit of NFTs.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



Creators now have an entirely new way to verify their work with blockchain technology, something that previously would have been a lengthy and expensive legal process, Padilla added.&nbsp;



Beyond ownership, Chan said, is the ability for individuals to create digital identities through NFTs.&nbsp;



“There is this idea that ownership enhances enjoyment of an asset,” said Harold Eytan, CEO of digital art collection Particle, during the discussion. Seeing art in a museum is a great experience for many people, but it pales in comparison to the joy of owning the work, he added. 



But as great as it all sounds, there are challenges associated with establishing proof of ownership, the panelists acknowledged.&nbsp;



“It comes down to the friction point that’s endemic across all blockchain; it is the technology advancing at light speed, and legal and regulatory advancements moving at the speed of glaciers,” said Padilla. “Once you have adjudication in the courts and other types of bodies that can verify this, this is going to be super critical.”&nbsp;



It’s a major infrastructure problem as well, Chan said, pointing to the recent issues with Twitter’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/twitters-new-nft-verification-tool-does-not-confirm-authenticity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">authenticity tool</a>.&nbsp;



“Fundamentally, one of the mistakes that I see a lot of projects and designers making is projecting Web3 technology on Web2 experiences,” Chan said. “Using any profile picture as an avatar, that might not be what NFTs look like in the next few years.”



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