Step into the Metaverse

Chapter 7The Creator Economy

A Vibrant Metaverse Economy

Decentralization will play a specific and essential role in the metaverse: to enable secure proof of ownership combined with immutable provenance. For the first time in history, we can undoubtedly prove that someone owns a particular digital asset, including the history of that asset thanks to NFTs. NFTs introduce verifiable digital property rights in a world of abundance, which will create a vibrant metaverse economy.

Similar to the real world, property rights are crucial for an economy to grow because once you can prove that you own something, you can then monetize that asset. Digital proof of ownership protects the owner's rights, ensures the automatic execution of all parts of an agreement using smart contracts, enables the instant and correct transfer of the asset, and prevents fraud as the records are verifiable, immutable, and traceable. As the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, known for his work on the informal economy and founder of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, says, “With titles, shares and property laws, people could suddenly go beyond looking at their assets as they are—houses used for shelter—to thinking about what they could be—things like security for credit to start or expand a business.”²²⁸ The same applies to the registration of digital assets. Suddenly, a digital artwork, a virtual house, or a song can become a security to improve your financial situation.

With a near endless digital ...