Why is Ethereum said to be infinitely close to the "metaverse"?

Author: Seventeen Base 16

Who are the righteous sects?

Everyone has a dream of being a hero, so everyone has their own martial arts world.

Everyone has a fantasy world, so everyone has their own metaverse.

So who are the "righteous sects" in the metaverse?

Facebook, as the traditional big brother of the internet world, has directly changed its banner to "Meta."

Although this has brought popularity and influence to the metaverse, this behavior is somewhat like the Six Doors from the court, directly coming to the metaverse to seize the "leader of the martial arts world."

Naturally, many people are unhappy about this.

Bah, Zuckerberg, you black-hearted person, do you even deserve to play in the "metaverse"?

This pattern is clearly too small; the "metaverse" does not belong to anyone's brand.

The more sects there are, the more diverse the martial arts world becomes.

Recently, a picture of "Nine Sects of the Metaverse" has been circulating online.

It is obvious that this picture was created by a lousy informant from the court, clearly misreporting military intelligence.

Let’s pick a few questions at random:

1. How could the Coin Sect be Binance? This exchange operator is simply not qualified;
2. The Sci-Fi Sect is not cyberpunk; they are just using algorithms to make money;
3. How can the VR Sect and XR Sect be separated?
4. What the hell is the Meta Sect?

Many people are still making a fuss about this picture, and their understanding of the metaverse is really far behind your spouting robot, little Zuck.

Blockchain Sect VS Internet Sect

The metaverse world can essentially be divided into two major sects.

One is the Soul Sect based on blockchain technology, and the other is the Body Sect based on the internet system.

One wants to enter the path through the soul, while the other wants to ascend directly with the body.

The differences between these two sects are as follows:

The Soul Sect emphasizes building a "free temperament," while the Body Sect emphasizes "immersive experience" in the human body;

The Soul Sect reinforces personal private property, while the Body Sect prioritizes technological development;

The Soul Sect focuses on "decentralization," while the Body Sect focuses on "feasibility."

……

This logic is easy to understand:

The blockchain sect originally wanted to break free from the internet. Back in the day, Mr. Tim Berners-Lee wanted to create a fair competitive stage for the internet, but it was later turned into an oligopoly by internet speculators, harvesting wave after wave of leeks. Now you want to come and seize the blockchain territory; naturally, that won't fly.

The logic of internet tycoons coming to seize blockchain territory is also very simple: I have the most advanced VR/AR/XR technology and the most users; why shouldn't I come? Is the blockchain your family’s? Is the metaverse your family’s? The internet world is so "inward-looking"; what’s wrong with me opening up a new battlefield? Besides, without us, we would just be a bunch of LOSERS self-indulging in a small circle.

Of course, there are some sects that have been quietly working in the dark.

They are secretly trying to link blockchain and the internet, but for various reasons, they cannot make it public.

Some games have already laid out their plans, with gaming mechanics belonging to the internet and financial systems belonging to blockchain.

Overall, the blockchain sect has a more elite temperament; they believe they understand blockchain, so they think Meta is "anti-metaverse," and little Zuck is a big bad guy.

Is Meta an "Anti-Metaverse"?

The blockchain sect scoffs at Meta:

Facebook is building a digital version of hell.

In their minds, there is a true metaverse:

That is the self-contained Ethereum, which is the "brave new world";

They believe that Ethereum is the real metaverse, as it carries the core spirit of the "metaverse."

In the eyes of crypto pioneers, the VR/AR/XR that Meta promotes is merely the appearance of the "metaverse," not its essence. No matter how many flashy hardware connections there are, they merely put a layer of armor on people, unable to provide any spiritual uplift.

The metaverse is indeed a fusion of technology:

Brain-computer interfaces break the immersive boundary between the virtual and the real;

Artificial intelligence provides high interactivity for digital characters;

Cloud computing and edge computing solve the efficiency issues for the metaverse;

5G / 6G provide broad data channels.

However, the core that connects these technologies is blockchain.

It provides trust and collaboration mechanisms, breaking the situation of scattered sand, and with the power of cryptographic mathematics, it solves the problems of wealth ownership identification and transaction from an economic perspective, thus initiating the creation of the "metaverse."

Ethereum is the righteous sect among the blockchain sects and is the "chosen one" in the metaverse.

Comparison of Ethereum and Meta:

It is metaverse vs. pseudo-metaverse;

It is open source vs. closed;

It is mathematics vs. psychology;

It is transparent vs. opaque;

It is permissionless vs. real-name permission;

It is community autonomy vs. central authority.

Decentralization VS Centralization

For the three teachings and nine streams in the martial arts world, they will never understand the geek's obsession with "decentralization."

But for the blockchain fundamentalists: decentralization is a value system, it is an ideology.

If they lose the purpose of "decentralization," they will sit down and sing:

Burn my remains, the holy fire blazes.

What joy is there in life, what pain in death?

To do good and eliminate evil, only for the sake of light.

Joy and sorrow, all return to dust.

Everything is for the people, with no thought of self.

Pity the world, there are many worries!

This is also why they are so sensitive to Zuckerberg's Meta; the traditional internet's "centralization" has caused people to lose trust in the world, and the concentration of wealth and data has torn society apart. More people want to migrate from the "internet world" to the "blockchain world," or upgrade from the "traditional world" to the "metaverse."

Here is a fairer world, where data belongs to oneself, wealth cannot be deprived by anyone, and initiated transactions are hard to roll back.

And you, a notorious monopolistic oligarch on the internet, your Meta just wants to ride the wave of the metaverse to upgrade your social empire, attempting to become the digital world's overlord ahead of time, becoming a central node in the world of "metaverse," which fundamentally violates the decentralized essence of the metaverse.

Why does the blockchain sect's "metaverse" firmly believe it stands on the moral high ground?

Could you be Left Cold Zen, or Yue Buqun?

Because in their hearts:

The underlying cornerstone of the metaverse is blockchain, and the underlying logic of blockchain is "establishing trust," and the method of establishing trust is based on fair mathematics.

In the eyes of blockchain believers, the operation of the "metaverse" will exist in the form of smart contracts, which are more trustworthy than anyone else. This is why many people believe the "metaverse" is a just and fair world.

So, they always feel like they are the Shaolin Dharma crossing the river on a reed.

The TCP/IP Protocol of the Metaverse

How will the metaverse be created?

Look at how the internet was created early on.

Most people talk about the metaverse today in terms of the scenes from "Ready Player One," which is somewhat like how everyone thought about sending emails when the internet first started.

The internet was not built because emails existed first; it was built on the unseen TCP/IP protocol beneath the emails.

Don’t just look at the surface; look at the underlying.

With the protocol, computers can communicate with each other. Without the TCP/IP transmission protocol, there would be no internet.

The metaverse also needs to be thought of from this perspective; the metaverse first requires a protocol that everyone agrees to follow.

And this is exactly what Ethereum is doing.

If the metaverse adheres to the blockchain "decentralization" value, then it will certainly need a new protocol that transcends TCP/IP. We can call this protocol super public chain & cross-chain, which is also the "Bright Summit" in the martial arts world.

No.1

What is a super public chain?

The metaverse needs a super public chain as the main chain for recording information, where everyone can read on the chain, send transactions, and have transactions effectively confirmed.

From this super public chain, countless sub-chains can extend, representing education, life, healthcare, gaming, charity, professions…

No.2

What is cross-chain?

Under the super public chain, there are countless sub-chains, and these sub-chains are independent; in principle, the value on two independent chains cannot be transferred.

However, there is an important requirement in the metaverse: information and wealth need to flow unobstructed and receive broad confirmation, meaning that the value stored by users on one blockchain can become value on another chain, which requires cross-chain.

Currently, this super public chain is likely to be Ethereum. Of course, since Ethereum still has many issues, but because its founder is the young "Zhang Wuji," unlike Bitcoin's missing "Dugu Qiubai," it is very likely to succeed.

Ethereum: Approaching the "Metaverse"

Why is Ethereum more recognized? Because it is public-oriented.

Compared to Meta's metaverse, Ethereum as a foundational protocol is neutral.

This is very important; after the concept of the internet emerged, AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) subsequently launched the x.25 protocol to compete with TCP/IP for dominance over the core of the internet.

However, the public nature of TCP/IP defeated the x.25 protocol.

Because of Ethereum's public nature, countless ecosystems are already visible, and a "metaverse" is quietly growing.

Ethereum has formed a "pyramid" ecosystem.

The Ethereum public chain stands at the top of the pyramid;

Various protocols like ERC20 (fungible tokens), ERC721 (non-fungible tokens), ERC-1155 (evolution of non-fungible tokens), EIP-1559 (burning protocol), and polygon stand in the second tier.

Then various applications begin to establish their own "small universes" on these protocols or smart contracts.

The "Metaverse" World of Ethereum:

No.1

ETH serves first as the settlement asset, used for transactions, paying gas fees, and flows as basic collateral into the lending market.

No.2

In the "skyscraper-filled" metaverse world, the financial realm of DeFi stands with exchanges like Uniswap, Sushiswap, completing tens of billions of dollars in transaction volume daily; standing like Maker, Compound as "central banks" and "commercial banks," generating tens of billions to hundreds of billions in lending amounts.

There are also ChainLink providing pricing services for AMM, and Insur, wNXM providing insurance services for systemic risks.

No.3

Top-tier NFT applications thrive on Ethereum, with avatar NFTs like CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins rapidly gaining popularity, and the black-and-white LOOT exploded overnight in the entire blockchain world, with NFTs showcasing their unique spiritual charm at an astonishing turnover rate.

No.4

Ethereum still retains many high-quality GameFi projects, such as the money-making Axie Infinity, CryptoKitties, The Sandbox, Decentraland, etc.

Recently, the Polygon ecosystem has also seen the emergence of Loserchick, Tea Virtual, Exeedme.

With addresses starting with "0x," these represent the collection of individuals in the Ethereum metaverse, crossing daily from DeFi to the NFT world, and then from the NFT world to the GameFi small universe, continuously creating a virtual economy worth hundreds of billions of dollars, building a true "metaverse."

Ethereum is infinitely approaching the metaverse.

Everything is still an unknown

The Ethereum ecosystem is currently the most complete "metaverse," which is recognized in the blockchain circle.

However, most people still do not understand the true value of blockchain.

What they can perceive as the "metaverse" is still about wielding an AK47 to "massacre" in a virtual castle.

Who will be the ruler of the metaverse in the future? This is still an unknown.

Is decentralization really the only choice for the "metaverse"? Why did the public ultimately choose Apple, which has built a centralized universe that many people rave about?

Do you really care so much about data privacy? Then why do so many people willingly give up all their information for a five-dollar coupon?

Does Zuckerberg really not understand the value of "decentralization"? The Libra he leads could reveal the basic values of blockchain.

Doesn't Meta know to learn from Ethereum? Facebook's understanding of public chains is not something that happened overnight. Does Luo Yonghao really understand Zuckerberg's underlying intentions?

Question yourself again; it is the so-called issue of public interest dominating public chains.

Isn't Microsoft, which does not talk about public interest, also dominating the underlying computer systems for twenty years?

Is decentralization really a golden rule? Aren't many people yearning for a center to soothe themselves?

Does the metaverse really only belong to pioneers and giants? Not necessarily.

Perhaps a book can become the future "metaverse";

A world setting can also grow into the ultimate "metaverse";

A small game still has the opportunity to expand into the "metaverse."

Our understanding of the metaverse has just begun.

There is no "metaverse" in the stock market

Many people's understanding of the "metaverse" comes from the rise and fall of concept stocks.

You cannot understand the "metaverse" from the stock market because there is no "metaverse" in the stock market, only your and your opponent's greed. The final outcome is bound to be mutual hatred.

You also cannot understand the "metaverse" from cultural seminars because it requires more time to learn various knowledge, rather than believing in mysticism and talking grandly.

The Tenth Sect of the Metaverse: The Comedy Sect

Some say Liu Cixin said the metaverse is the involution of human civilization, and the entropy of a closed involution system will eventually tend to be maximal. So the metaverse will ultimately lead humanity down a dead end.

But who ever said that the "metaverse" is a closed system? Why can't individuals in the "metaverse" control spaceships in the real world? Why must cyberpunk and space opera be opposed to each other? Does that make sense?

Yes, everyone has a metaverse in their hearts.

But I hope the metaverse in your heart truly holds a brilliant starry sky of independent thinking, rather than the dregs of herd mentality.