NFTs — Pillar of the Metaverse
With Nouns DAO and Exclusible as Case Studies
As advances and augmentations in the internet and other high-end technology continue to happen daily, the next logical step in its evolution looks to be a global interoperable virtual community or an amalgam of many different communities, wherein users can communicate, transact, play games, work, trade, create opportunities, network, and enjoy many other types of interactive digital experiences.
This evolution is called the Metaverse.
It is a constantly evolving entity, limited only by our imaginations. Although it has no clear definition yet, for a project to be classified as a Metaverse some key pillars need to exist. The first and most important pillar comes from the web3 arsenal and has now become the cornerstone of any modern conception of the Metaverse — the NFT.
NFTs serve as building blocks of many aspects a Metaverse offers its users. Beginning with decentralized proof of ownership over digital and physical assets present both inside the Metaverse, and out, and all the way down to mechanisms of funding Metaverse projects as well as individual projects inside Metaverses. Let’s explore the importance of NFTs in real-life Metaverse examples.
The Nouns DAO Metaverse
With the help of RZLT’s NFT & Metaverse team lead Josip Vlah, we were able to get an in-depth understanding of the Nouns ecosystem — where he is an active contributor.
Basically, Nouns DAO is a group of people who share the same beliefs regarding a fully decentralized ecosystem owned by the community that offers — through the platform’s forkability — anyone a chance to work on the project and easily spin their own project out of it. The NounsDAO model is a simple one: NFTs serve as governance tokens in the DAO, only one NFT is sold every day and the money that is used to purchase the NFT goes into the treasury.
The origin story of the Nouns DAO starts with NFTs. Established with the capital raised through Nouns NFT sales, we now see the interconnected system where users can build through Nouns whatever they desire. So essentially, the Nouns DAO mechanism that allows for these forks and unrestrained development is what makes it a Metaverse.
Here’s why:
- Everything is decentralized and on-chain.
- Anybody can fork the project for free.
- Enables an endless number of creators from all over the world to build upon it.
- It connects both the physical and virtual worlds.
- Everyone involved is part of the system and builds upon it
According to Josip, “literally anybody anywhere can build anything on the Nouns DAO system with the Nouns Builder and other similar tools without fear of copyright issues. Nouns Builder is a tool that allows any DAO to form and govern completely on-chain, in the format of a Nouns DAO. I believe the core principle of the Metaverse is being able to constantly create, share the same values with the creators, and not be platform or technology-dependent. This way, you’re creating a virtual space of common interest. Hence, a community.”
Although Nouns DAO isn’t fully focussing on the virtual space or multichain interoperability just yet, it has underlying values that will be crucial when they decide to head in that direction.
A Metaverse needs to have a shared value within its user base around which the community is built. Unlike Sandbox and Decentraland, where the NFTs are currently only virtual land parcels and in-game assets, in Nouns DAO, NFTs are the foundation of the ecosystem, from the artworks to the auctions. NFTs grow liquidity for daily operations on the system, and daily operations build further upon the shared idea, and additionally, each auction is a generative NFT created from your artwork layers.
The Exclusible Metaverse
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Exclusible. They focus on the more visual, high-end side of the Metaverse.
Exclusible is an NFT marketplace focused solely on luxury items. With luxury brands trying to key into the NFT market, Exclusible is creating an exclusive marketplace for these brands to bring their products and services to the NFT ecosystem. On Exclusible, you can buy, sell, and negotiate luxury digital products, and NFTs minted by luxury brands can also be resold on Exclusible’s secondary market.
Exclusible aims to gain the advantage by being the first NFT marketplace solely dedicated to luxury brands, as well as providing luxury brands with new ways of connecting with their clients or users in the Exclusible Metaverse, powered by the Spatial platform.
Similar to the general Metaverse ideals, Exclusible is creating a community that connects luxury brands with buyers of luxury goods in their own ecosystem. They will be there to help these luxury brands develop, design, list, and sell their minted NFTs. Exclusible’s portfolio is filled with notable brands such as Hogans, Asprey Bugatti, Alpine x Obvious, Stage 11, and several others.
RZLT’s NFT & Metaverse team has purchased and designed a virtual penthouse where we can meet, organize events, display ours and our friends’ and partners’ NFTs, and just enjoy the virtual Miami high-top vibes. Check it out below and build one for yourself or your team. Stay tuned for events organized at RZLT penthouse.
Significance of NFTs for the Metaverse
Here’s three key impacts NFTs have in the Metaverse
Firstly, with NFTs being a unique, programmable record of assets, they will operate concurrently with the Metaverse and provide massive participation powered by the creative work of millions of people.
Merging NFTs with games has seen major success for creators and gamers alike. The fact that this art and other types of user-generated content have actual functionality is the first step toward building the Metaverse and not just a game.
NFTs provide a way to monetize assets for the further creation of the Metaverse. This is the case with both NounsDAO and Exclusible as their NFTs help to fund the creation of new content. For a more commercial platform like Decentraland and Sandbox, NFTs can also be used to create income streams for businesses in the virtual world.
To sum it up
The union between NFTs and the Metaverse will not only proliferate mass participation but will also give users their individuality and the opportunity to exist independently in the Metaverse. And much like in Ready Player One, players’ NFTs, avatars, and assets will allow them to uniquely stand out even more than they do in the physical world. NFTs and the Metaverse will work synchronously to build the limitless digital future of our dreams.
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