Decentraland, The Sandbox and Meta are leading the Metaverse charge in the bid to become the most dominant virtual world.
As the industry is so incredibly early it is leading many people to ask whether the Metaverse can make a user money, and whether the Metaverse can make you rich.
It can be argued that the Metaverse has already made several people very rich indeed, but is it still possible?
The Metaverse has the potential to make many people rich. There are different ways to achieve this such as investing in Metaverse shares or tokens, speculating on digital real estate, opening a Metaverse based online business, creating a Web3 Start-up and more.
Many methods require capital and investment, whereas some can lead to wealth by trading time to provide freelance services or a Web3 Start-up service.
The Metaverse is such a new and exciting industry that no one quite knows how the story will develop, or which Metaverse will become the dominant company.
Decentralized platforms such as Decentraland and The Sandbox are front runners in the race right now, and a decentralized industry is how the Metaverse is imaged – or will the brand recognition of Meta and its billions of users be enough of a market strength to take control.
If Meta do dominate the Metaverse industry it will do so not under decentralization, but corporate control. The very thing Web3 technology is against.
Whichever Metaverse wins out, there are plenty of opportunities to create either a regular income or enough wealth to retire and live out your dreams.
Let’s look at the top 8 ways to become rich using the Metaverse.
Investing in Metaverse Shares or Tokens
Like investing in traditional and web-based startups, it is possible to invest in to the Metaverse.
Whether you are resonating with a particular Metaverse and want to invest all your investment capital in to one business or spread your investment capital across the current main Metaverse players to increase the chances of a good return, it’s up to you.
To invest in the former Facebook company, Meta’s Metaverse, will require purchasing Meta shares (NASDAQ: META).
With Meta’s ever growing social media presence in platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, which continue to grow, being the main company behind the Metaverse and it’s expected $1,600 billion industry value within the next 10 years, it could mean significant share price increase for the company.
Meta has a worth of $538 billion as of 2022, and with increasing ad revenue across their platforms, the imminent launch of NFTs on Instagram plus their all-in view of the Metaverse, could see this powerhouse dominate.
On the other hand, Web3 technology which includes the Metaverse was constricted on the foundation and vision of a decentralized ecosystem.
This meant instead of the power of data, privacy and platform decisions being made by a handful of monopolistic companies, it would be in the control of the people and its users.
Those people who hold tokens in the platform would decide it’s future. Changes made by the people for the people, not corporations for the benefit of shareholders.
Both Decentraland and The Sandbox operate this way.
Those who hold tokens in the platform have voting rights. Changes on the direction of the platform and major decisions are built into smart contracts and put to vote. The option with the highest votes is immediately put into action by the contract.
It is beautifully simple.
Buying either the MANA (Decentraland) or SAND (The Sandbox) cryptocurrencies is like investing in the stocks and shares of a business.
If either platform becomes the main dominant Metaverse you can expect the cryptocurrency price of both tokens to significantly increase in value.
Metaverse Land and Real Estate Portfolio
With land in any Metaverse in finite supply it means the scarcity creates demand and value.
Land is available to be purchased in both Metaverses but at an already eye watering amount.
Many investors, speculators and entrepreneurs bought up all the Metaverse land on the belief it will be worth much more in the future.
If the Metaverse becomes the popular virtual world it is expected to be and has millions and millions of users these users will need to hang out somewhere. They will also want to potentially live in the Metaverse, buy accessories of either productivity value or as a status symbol of their wealth – just as they do today in the real world.
Not all land will be equal of course.
Some land is based within downtown type precincts and neighborhoods, where other land is based within the outskirts or suburbs.
If we compare the virtual world with the real world then downtown areas will be concentrated with more businesses, more people, workplaces, entertainment etc. whereas the suburbs will be geared towards residential.
Businesses who set up where the highest footfalls will be will more than likely be more profitable and therefore land and real estate in those areas will naturally be more expensive.
It isn’t possible to buy land in either Metaverse for less than $10,000, with some plots exceeding $200,000!
If though these plots could be leased to corporate businesses desperate to be found in the prime positions within the Metaverse, then even a $200,000 investment could be incredibly good value for money.
On the other hand, the Metaverse may not take off or another Metaverse becomes more dominant, and these land grabs and real state purchases become worthless.
Launch a Web3 Startup
Web3 is essentially a collection of innovative technology services and solutions using blockchains and tokens, and by creating a decentralized ecosystem around them. The Decentraland and The Sandbox are Metaverses built around a decentralized ecosystem.
If a startup is using blockchain technology, it is generally considered to be a Web3 company.
For comparison Web1 companies include MySpace and Blogger, and Web2 (or commonly known as Web 2.0) included companies such as Facebook, Flikr, YouTube and WordPress.
Web1 were the early innovators in the web space, Web2 – much of the web we see and use today – was the next generation of startups.
Web3 is the vision of the future for the online space. Companies in this space are expected to see the successes the Web2 companies have had.
If you believe in the hype of Web3 and believe it is the future of the internet, you could be the next innovator.
Billions of dollars have already poured into this ecosystem and investors continue to look for those companies that could go on to become huge enterprises and become the next Amazon, Google, Facebook, or Apple in the Web3 space.
Are you within an industry or have excellent knowledge of a niche that could lend itself very well to blockchain and Web3 technology?
Have you ever considered launching a business?
If you have answered yes to both questions, you could potentially build out the next major Web3 company.
The industry is very new and only a small number of niches are catered for, and even these are in the early days.
Early accelerator Techstars recently showcased a several startups looking for further investment in the Web3 and blockchain space, such as Barterchain, Crowdclass, Staxe and YourDiamonds.
These are great case studies to see how innovative startups are leading the way to make game changing businesses in this exciting Web3 space.
Learn Solidity and Provide Services
HTML is the programming language behind the internet, and Solidity is the programming language behind blockchain smart contracts on the most popular blockchain, Ethereum.
The concept of Solidity was first conceptualized way back in 2014 and created as a programming language shortly after.
Although Solidity has been around for several years now, it does not have the huge developer pool behind it as other more popular programming languages such as Python, C++, SQL etc.
If the Web3 space does indeed take off, then blockchain contracts will need to be created, audited, and deployed.
There are current opportunities to spend time now and have the skills and knowledge to create a service type business, or even freelance services on platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr to provider Solidity based coding services, or contract auditing.
There are many in-depth courses teaching Solidity on teaching platform Udemy, or even free YouTube videos providing tutorials and education.
Build a Metaverse Business
If the expected millions of users pour in to the Metaverse they will need places to spend their tokens and other reward assets.
Businesses have already started to open their virtual doors in the virtual worlds.
JPMorgan have a Metaverse bank ready to speak to customers, fashion shows from major designers have appeared in pop up like events and on a recent visit to the Decentraland Metaverse I had the option of going to the cinema to watch a film and even buy virtual 3D glasses, all using MANA which is Decentraland’s token and monetary currency.
There are many businesses that could flourish well in the Metaverse.
Entertainment venues such as cinemas, escape rooms, museums and art exhibitors, sports stadiums, sports bars are all expected to become part of the Metaverse.
Brands selling home furnishings, personal accessories, clothing brands and anything wearable could also do very well in the Metaverse.
There are limited numbers in the Metaverses as of now. It’s still a new technology but users are growing.
People are already digitizing their space and spending money on digital items.
If you could create a business that perfectly lends itself to a virtual world, you could get in early and be ready if the wave of people arrives as predicted.
Educate Others
If high scale investments or launching businesses is not for you, then perhaps educating others is.
With such a new industry such as this there are many questions asked.
It doesn’t take long on community driven platforms such as Quora or Reddit before you see a large volume of questions people have about the Metaverse.
There have been a few courses launched lately on the Udemy platform teaching people about the Metaverse, but they are largely very generalized.
A large audience who wants to know more about the Metaverse and Web3 technology and are hungry to find out more.
As the technology and audience grows the number of people seeking for information will only increase alongside it.
Creating a course takes time and understanding the subject in detail enough takes longer.
If educating others is something you have a passion for then learning either about the Metaverse or a sub-niche within the industry such as land, real estate, launching a Metaverse virtual business etc. and creating a course around this can yield a very good return.
Many popular courses on Udemy have over 50,000 students but some of the top courses have nearly 1.5million students.
A student number of this size would net the course creator over $1million!
NFT Buying
There are some NFTs that were created based on having a benefit within the Metaverse.
These are a combination of land, real estate, accessories and more.
Finding the right NFT in the right project could result in a long-term return on the investment of the NFT purchase.
Although there are several NFT collections that in some way create an investment opportunity within the Metaverse, there are new collections launching every day.
Some of the NFTs that will go on and make incredible returns in the Metaverse may not even be created yet.
Keeping an eye on future NFTs using a calendar such as Upcoming NFTs on Rarity, that have a utility or benefit related to the Metaverse, could be the key here in making a good return.
It is important though to carry out full due diligence when researching any NFT collection before you make a purchase.
Launch Your Own Metaverse!
This method is the most speculative on the list, but you could create your own Metaverse!
Right now, Decentraland, The Sandbox and Meta may be the frontrunners in the race for Metaverse supremacy, but the list is not finite.
The Web2 space changed dramatically throughout its inception and the Web3 space – including Metaverses – are no different.
A new Metaverse could launch, one not yet established or built, and become the goto Metaverse of the future.
The current Metaverses are not without their faults.
Someone could come into this space, create the next big Metaverse and become very rich indeed!
