According to JP Morgan, you can now make financial transactions in the metaverse. The bank became the first large bank to do so on Tuesday by creating a lounge in the blockchain-based virtual world Decentraland.
You can purchase virtual plots of land in the virtual lounge using NFTs as well as make other cryptocurrency transactions.
Before entering the lounge, you are greeted by a tiger and an avatar of JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. The Onyx Lounge, a virtual setting constructed by the bank, was released together with a document outlining the many business opportunities accessible in the metaverse.
“There is a lot of client interest to learn more about the metaverse,” Christine Moy, JPMorgan’s head of crypto and the metaverse, said in an email. “We put together our white paper to help clients cut through the noise and highlight what the current reality is, and what needs to be built next in technology, commercial infrastructure, privacy/identity and workforce, in order to maximize the full potential of our lives in the metaverse.”
The goal of the JPMorgan paper was to contrast the hype surrounding the metaverse with reality, saying that many areas still need to be improved. Among them include the overall user experience, avatar performance, and commercial infrastructure.
JPMorgan begins its analysis of “metanomics” by noting that the average price of a parcel of virtual land more than doubled in the second half of 2021, rising from $6,000 in June to $12,000 in December across the four primary Web 3 metaverse sites: Decentraland, The Sandbox, Somnium Space, and Cryptovoxels.
The article cites several entertainment providers as well as apps like RTFKT, a virtual shoe designer recently acquired by Nike. The bank expects that in-game advertising expenditures will reach $18.41 billion by 2027.
While many sections of the metaverse require development, the JPMorgan analysis claims many areas do not. Among them are overall user experience, avatar performance, and commercial infrastructure.
