JPMorgan Metaverse Has Tiger and Framed Photo of CEO
Metaverse

JPMorgan Metaverse Has Tiger and Framed Photo of CEO

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2 years ago

The Onyx Lounge's arrival coincides with a report where JPMorgan sets out the opportunities provided by the metaverse — giving businesses advice on navigating hype versus reality.

JPMorgan Metaverse Has Tiger and Framed Photo of CEO

Зміст

JPMorgan has established a presence in the metaverse — and its virtual lounge is surreal to say the least.

The major bank has set up shop in Decentraland's Metajuku Mall — tastefully decorating its space with, er, a virtual tiger and a framed photo of CEO Jamie Dimon.

(It's unclear how Dimon will feel about this, not least because he's been a vocal critic of cryptocurrency over the years.)

Despite Dimon's reservations, JPMorgan wasted little time in exploring the space. The U.S. investment bank's analysts are bullish on Bitcoin's long-term value — and it has even launched its own in-house blockchain payments system called Onyx.

Visiting the Onyx Lounge in Decentraland (I see what they've done there) also delivers an opportunity to watch a presentation on the economics that underpin cryptocurrencies.

Listen to the CoinMarketRecap podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts

Crunching the Numbers

The arrival of the Onyx Lounge coincides with the launch of a report where JPMorgan sets out the opportunities provided by the metaverse — giving businesses advice on navigating hype versus reality.

In it, the authors note that $54 billion is now spent on virtual goods every year — almost twice as much as what's spent on purchasing music. An estimated 60 billion messages a day are also sent on Roblox, non-fungible tokens now have a collective market cap of $41 billion, and The Sandbox has inked a whopping 200 strategic partnerships so far — including with adidas and Warner Music Group.

Striking a bullish tone, the bank said "companies of all shapes and sizes" are set to get involved — and now, many businesses are scrambling to establish a coherent strategy so that the trend doesn't pass them by:

"Whether it’s large tech players such as Microsoft planning to create realistic workspaces, or Ariana Grande holding a concert in Fortnite, the opportunities presented by interactive, digital worlds seem limitless. The metaverse will likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years, with the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues."

J.P. Morgan argues that "the costs and risks of engaging early and consistently in order to build internal intellectual property, develop hypotheses about future business models, and identify ecosystem partners and collaborators are relatively low" — especially when compared with the risk of being left behind.

But given how the metaverse sector is continually changing, and there's no one platform that has managed to establish dominance, companies do face the danger of backing the wrong horse and building in a virtual world that might not stand the test of time.

The endorsement has worked wonders for the value of Decentraland's MANA token. On an otherwise flat day for the crypto markets, it's up 7.8%.
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