One of the “big four” accounting firms, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), has published its 2023 Digital Asset Predictions. Under the headline 5 Crypto and NFT Trends That Matter Right Now, the company says “trust will be the new killer app.”
Why Trust?
The blockchain and cryptocurrency worlds have been sporting some black eyes lately. Crypto companies have a public credibility problem. The reason isn’t blockchain. Schemes, speculation, and poor business practices are to blame. PwC predicts companies focused on building trust will come out looking good, and doing well.
As PwC explains:
Disruptive new technologies often pass through a cycle of speculative excess — but after the dust settles, businesses will likely transform and world-beating companies will emerge.
At that critical point, PwC expects blockchain-based assets to come into their own and “reinvent much of the digital and physical economy.”
Could Banks Be the “Real Winners”?
Wait. Weren’t crypto assets supposed to be an escape from dependence on banks and financial corporations? Oddly enough, PwC thinks “a few forward-looking legacy financial institutions will likely be among the real winners” of crypto.
Meanwhile, national and international regulations are taking shape for blockchain-based assets.
Established financial institutions know blockchain is an important technology. They know it can streamline financial processes. And they know that a competitive edge may shift to firms that provide familiar-feeling entry points for people to wade in. They’ll develop risk-mitigation strategies, adopt digital assets, and introduce their clients to them.
Fidelity has already stepped into the market of bitcoin and ether for individual account holders.
More Than Memes and Coins?
The metaverse is a new buzzword, but engineers have been working on its technology for years, PwC notes. Using virtual reality (VR) headsets, people are visiting “digital twins” of real work sites and meeting halls. Through their avatars, they’re dressing up, taking tours, touching objects, shaking hands.
PwC sees opportunities for social media companies to use digital currencies and a metaverse presence to connect with digital native generations. Young people, that is. New, blockchain-based protocols could encourage responsible activity, instantly vet online actors, and disincentivize fraud.
Tokens and currencies will be bought, sold, and transferred, without bottlenecks or brokers. They’ll be used for both physical and virtual goods. Companies will offer fungible rewards for the data that customers give them.
Even legacy telecommunications firms will offer blockchain wallets, predicts PwC. In this way, the blockchain-based world will gain strength not based on memes and coin offerings, “but from the rise of practical use cases and carefully constructed business plans.”
Learning About the Metaverse Matters—Even If It Isn’t Ready Yet
Internet advances like artificial intelligence and cloud technology are coming together to make the metaverse possible. And blockchain is making financial automation possible.
Already invested in the metaverse are retail merchandisers, real estate entrepreneurs, celebrities, sports and entertainment companies. The immersive, online world of Web3 also “offers remarkable opportunities for the nonprofit sector,” say the attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
It’s clear that digital identities and verification methods, especially if they travel well between various metaverse settings, will be valuable. Digital signing and verification firms that introduce viable concepts will matter in a Web3 era. Ideas currently being adopted in real estate (like remote online notarization and digital mortgages) also fit in, for those who want to invest in digital property rights.
So, PwC says, it’s time to test the metaverse waters. Companies might start by “recruiting digital native employees already at home with the metaverse’s key concepts.” Minimum-risk applications involve producing virtual goods, offering virtual tours, and creating NFTs that resonate with Web3’s growing leagues of admirers.
Key Takeaways in the Early Days
The metaverse is in its early days. There’s no way to be sure how it’ll play out.
And yet PwC says blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse have game-changing implications.
Who will be most likely to succeed? The companies that offer the most exciting experiences? Maybe. But the ones who really add value are those that respect financial fairness, trust, and privacy rights.
Supporting References
PwC.com: 2023 Metaverse Predictions – 5 Crypto and NFT Trends That Matter Right Now (Dec. 8, 2022).
PwC.com: Emerging Tech – Demystifying the Metaverse (Dec 8, 2022).
And as linked.
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