[A Sip of Books] NFT, P2E, Cryptocurrency, Virtual Real Estate... The Era of 'Meta Rich'

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly resonate with the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. Here, we excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from the book. - Editor’s note

This is Professor Kim Sang-yoon’s first solo-authored book, who has led research and consulting on the ‘digital transformation’ of major industries. It analyzes and conveys the investment outlook and current risks of virtual assets such as NFT, P2E, cryptocurrency, and virtual real estate, which are essential to understand in order to seize the ‘wealth’ opportunities brought by the metaverse era. Additionally, through business integration cases, it explores which companies will lead the future market and are worth investing in, and introduces wealth management cases of emerging wealthy individuals creating a second pipeline by utilizing metaverse platforms like Zepeto and Roblox.

Economic activities in the virtual world, such as digital clothing, are intangible digital goods. Therefore, unlike physical goods in the real world, they do not physically exist and can be infinitely replicated, so a process of assigning value and certifying ownership is necessary for trading. This is where NFTs are utilized. The clothes worn by my avatar in the metaverse virtual world become a ‘genuine purchased product’ rather than a ‘fake copy.’ NFTs satisfy the human desire to own a unique product even in the virtual world.

Considering many NFT uses such as artworks, avatars, fashion designs, memes of famous celebrities, and limited edition product certifications, the NFT craze is likely to continue. Also, current Ethereum-based NFTs have technical interoperability that crosses multiple metaverse platforms. However, for the reasons mentioned above, it is thought better to approach NFTs prioritizing collection and aesthetic value over investment and monetary value.

Microsoft’s moves are also noteworthy. In January 2022, Microsoft acquired Blizzard, a globally renowned game company well known in Korea for StarCraft, for a whopping 82 trillion won. Many interpret Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard as securing capabilities to launch a VR-based metaverse game platform in the future. Currently, Microsoft owns the console game platform XBOX, so by acquiring Blizzard, it appears to be aiming to have all the capabilities of software-platform-device for the metaverse era.

In the case of NFT artwork trading, one can price the work based on their subjective evaluation of its value, but virtual real estate trading tends to be strongly linked to the growth and fate of the platform itself. The value of virtual real estate is largely determined by platform updates and public recognition. Purchasing an NFT artwork can be recognized as buying the artwork itself, but purchasing virtual real estate can only be perceived as investing in the platform company.

The Era of Meta Rich | Written by Kim Sang-yoon | Forest Books | 248 pages | 16,000 KRW