Educational Spotlight
The bear market is hard. Many individuals lost their cash made during the bull market. This time is likewise hard for our psychological wellness. This is particularly valid for individuals who are new to crypto. This is a cyclical market. We have ups and downs. Wealth creation and destruction. Hope and sorrow. Figuring out how this market functions can give you the edge. Click Here To Read More
When Facebook changed its name to Meta in October 2021 to represent its emphasis on the metaverse, it caused quite a stir. Despite this, there is no question that investment in the metaverse will skyrocket in the next years, with Bloomberg forecasting that it will reach $800 million by 2024.
Corporate events are one of the areas where the metaverse is predicted to have a particularly large influence. Click Here To Read More
It’s impossible to avoid - even if you tried - the words cryptocurrency, NFT, and the metaverse. It's as if these futuristic concepts are knocking – no, banging – on our front doors. The world is abuzz with thoughts, curiosities, and judgments about the industry, both in theory and in practice; turning once-fringe ideas into cultural talking points, the punchline of a million jokes, and the booze-fueled party conversation that everyone hates to love. Click Here To Read More
Understanding The Metaverse
Cutting Through the Myths Surrounding the Metaverse
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came out and announced that the company would be changing its name to Meta, millions of people worldwide were left scratching their heads. The confusion was amplified when he described Meta’s mission: “Our overarching goal across all of these initiatives is to help bring the Metaverse to life.”
People wondered, “What is the Metaverse, really, and what does it have to do with Facebook?” After all, the only exposure many people had to the concept before Zuckerberg’s announcement was movies or books like Ready Player One… and that exposure didn’t really help.
Did Zuckerberg envision the Metaverse as an alternate, virtual reality? As a fully immersive video game? Did he think people would live in the Metaverse as if it was a real-world version of the Matrix? As these questions filled Facebook feeds and Reddit pages, countless people responded with their own ideas about the Metaverse, cobbled together from consumed media and their creative imaginations.
Unfortunately, this led to much misinformation and myths about the Metaverse. So, what’s the truth about the Metaverse? Is it a massively multiplayer online video game? Is it an advanced video chat platform? Or is it something else entirely – something that combines features from dozens of current platforms, hardware, and applications in an exciting new way?
Let’s separate fact from fiction and find out.
Myth #1: The Metaverse is a single thing
The first myth that needs to be busted is the idea that the Metaverse is necessarily a single entity. The reality is much more complicated.
While there is plenty of debate about what the future holds for the Metaverse, most people believe that it won’t be a single application. Instead, it’s likely to be a larger concept that encompasses a variety of technologies, including VR, AR, video, and more. It's best to think of it as the next internet iteration. It won’t necessarily be in a single location, like in front of a computer screen. It will extend in every direction and involve a wide array of hardware and applications. In fact, some futurists believe there will be multiple Metaverses without any kind of central hub. Can anyone say "parallel universe"?
Right now, it’s impossible to say with certainty what the Metaverse will look like once it’s arrived. In fact, we may not be able to even say, “It’s arrived,” as it’s likely to be an ever-evolving technology that never reaches an end.
Myth #2: The Metaverse will be optional
Right now, many people think of the Metaverse as a kind of niche video game or social media platform. As a result, they assume it will be optional. To a degree, they’re right. But imagine trying to live a normal life without access to the internet. While it's possible, it also makes life much more difficult. The Metaverse will be the same way.
Also, once you realize that the Metaverse isn’t a single thing, but an integration of various technologies, you’ll start to see why it won’t be optional. You won’t necessarily log into the Metaverse like people used to log into America Online. It will be something so pervasive that you simply won’t be able to avoid it.
Myth #3: The Metaverse won’t have much of an impact
Because of all the misconceptions surrounding the Metaverse, there are still millions of people who doubt whether it will have much of an impact on their lives. But once they see it in action, those misunderstandings will vanish.
Consider this. The city of Seoul, South Korea, recently announced the creation of a Metaverse-like interface where citizens can take care of governmental business by visiting virtual offices. Imagine going to the DMV in a virtual space rather than driving there and sitting in a waiting room.
That’s a taste of what the Metaverse holds. But it’s only a taste. The real entrée is yet to come. And when that arrives, nothing will ever be the same!
What Is Decentralized Finance?
The Basics of Decentralized Finance & Where It’s Headed
Everyone is talking about decentralized finance (or DeFi). The DeFi optimists can’t stop sharing its incredible potential, including the ways it could disrupt our world for the better. Pessimists, on the other hand, find just as many opportunities to discuss their fears and worries about the subject.
Unfortunately, like most new technologies, DeFi (and the innovations related to it) is misunderstood by a large swath of the people talking about it. That’s why it’s so important to educate ourselves on the subject before we open our mouths.
If you’ve been wondering what DeFi is, how DeFi works, or where DeFi is headed, you’re about to get a crash course. Here are the basics of decentralized finance and where it’s going:
What Is Decentralized Finance?
Before understanding DeFi, a quick review of traditional, centralized finance is needed.
Under the traditional model, money is held by banks or other financial institutions (i.e., corporations). Most transactions are facilitated by third parties, each of which takes a cut from the transfer (i.e., fees). When something is purchased with a credit or debit card, the store isn’t the only one getting paid. Third parties are getting a slice simply for taking a buyer’s money and handing it to the seller. And that’s just one of the issues with centralized finance.
Centralized finance introduces unnecessary complexity and actors into every financial transaction, whether it’s a grocery store purchase, a loan, or something more obscure. The system is designed without efficiency or transparency in mind.
Decentralized Finance turns all of that on its head. Taking advantage of modern blockchain technology, DeFi allows money to be held rather than putting it in the hands of a bank. When the money is ready to be used, there is no third-party needed to facilitate the transaction. In addition, decentralized finance is available to anyone with an internet connection. There’s no need for reams of paperwork or complicated applications to get started saving or spending.
To put it simply, DeFi removes the middleman and puts control of personal finances back to the owner of origination.
How Does DeFi Work?
The big question is “how does DeFi work?”
Many are wary of DeFi because of security concerns, including the worry that one data leak or cyber attack will produce empty accounts and terminally lost finances. The only way to assuage that fear is to understand how DeFi really works. In actuality, decentralized finance is a far more secure and transparent way of doing business.
DeFi is built on blockchain technology. Digging a little deeper, blockchain is like a giant, digital ledger that’s shared by thousands of people across a network. Every time a transaction is made, it’s recorded and verified by users across the network. If it’s legitimate, the block holding the transaction is closed and encrypted. Then, another block is created that includes a hash from the previous block, immutably tying the two together and ensuring no individual transaction can be tampered with without altering the entire blockchain. This makes it virtually impossible to traditionally hack.
And since DeFi is built on a networked blockchain, it opens up dozens of possibilities that could never work under centralized finance. As the technology matures, blockchain developers will identify even more creative ways to benefit the masses – not just the wealthy elite.
So, what will that look like when it finally happens? The decentralized finance model will permit all the same actions seen currently in centralized finance: making purchases, sending money around the world, taking out loans (with or without collateral), buying insurance, conducting crowdfunding campaigns, and investing in companies and cryptocurrency. All of this can be accomplished while working on a secure and completely transparent platform. This is the future of personal and institutional finance!