Key Insights:
Saudi Govt. launched a Cultural Metaverse in 2024
Differing from metaverses that died during Crypto Winter
Ethereum’s Dencun Upgrade can help metaverse projects operate profitably
Top Metaverse Projects in 2024
The launch of Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Metaverse completes its first week. It was launched by the King of the country to mark the founding day of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Though metaverses are attractive to users, they have been a bad business decision especially due to their operational costs. Metaverses incurred heavy gas fees which were a cause of dislike for several users. However, with the Dencun Upgrade, new metaverses could drastically reduce their operational costs as compared to the costs a few years back.
At the end of the article, we have listed the top metaverses in 2024 and their cryptocurrencies that could help you make money while you have fun in them.
A project by the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia, the metaverse is dedicated to providing a virtual reality-based experience for people to visualize the cultural traditions, historical events, and important aspects of the regional culture.
A Glimpse from the Saudi Cultural Metaverse
It was developed using Oracle’s Hyperledger Fabric 2.5, a private and permissioned blockchain-building platform that is used mainly by companies to build enterprise-grade blockchains. The project was undertaken by the droppGroup, a company known for its Generative AI.
Inside the metaverse, users can freely travel, observe, and listen to the information provided by the tour guide. As of now, the audio is limited to Arabic. However, in later phases, we expect the integration of English audio.
Samuel Huber, the CEO of Landvault, a company that develops Metaverses in the Middle East, has praised the Saudi Government initiative. He says that this project has transcended the initial hype era of the metaverses and is now aiming to boost their economy through this technology.
Though built with a different technology than other metaverses, it could be a beacon of light considering that it could help companies know the needs and demands of users.
Metaverses could be a very attractive usage for virtual tourism like above, where a user could roam around any place in the world while sitting at home. They could also promote virtual social interactions, fun activities, and even entire businesses.
However, something that held back the success of this technology was Ethereum gas fees. Since most metaverse projects were based on Ethereum for the ease of customers, they could not be profitable in the past because of Ethereum’s network congestion, slow speed, and high gas prices.
As of 2 March 2 2024, Ethereum gas fees have reached the skies. A simple transaction on Ethereum could cost as much as $65.
But, the good news is, within a few days, Ethereum is going to implement its Dencun Upgrade. The upgrade will add rollup-like capabilities to the Ethereum blockchain. Rough estimates suggest that gas fees could lower as much as 10 times than earlier. With the usage of Etheruem’s scaling solutions, the fees could be reduced even further.
Since users in the Metaverse are expected to do a lot of transactions, the usage of scaling solutions would help in further lowering the gas fees.
Assuming the reduction in gas prices will rejuvenate several metaverse projects in 2024, here are a few metaverse projects and tokens that you could buy to make decent profits in 2024. While you have fun at the metaverse, these tokens would increase in value as more and more people flock to these metaverses.
Decentraland is a 3D virtual metaverse that lets you do things you wish you could do in real life. It also helps users engage virtually through its platforms. It is built on the Ethereum blockchain.
MANA($0.69) is the native governance token and users get voting rights when they hold this token. In the last month, its price has already gone up by 60% in value.
Sandbox is also a metaverse that allows social interaction among its users in a virtual mode. It has been designed as a place where users buy plots of virtual land and build buildings, offices, and entire cities in it. Several top companies such as Atari Games and Forbes have bought virtual land (as NFT) in Sandbox.
The native token of the platform is SAND($0.7) which also acts as its governance token. Its price has also risen more than 60% in Feb 2024.
SAND Price History Feb 2024
Axie Infinity is a gaming metaverse that allows users to buy characters called Axies, train them, and fight battles with other players to win in-game assets such as NFTs. These assets could be sold to get money.
Axie Infinity’s governance token is AXS($10.45) which lets token holders vote and control decision-making. The cryptocurrency has also risen sharply in the last month, gaining 50% in value within Feb 2024.
AXS Price History Feb 2024
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