JPMorgan has become the first bank to enter the metaverse, opening a lounge in the popular blockchain-based world, Decentraland – one of the most popular metaverses. This marks the banking giant’s entry into the metaverse, as it eyes the potential financial gains.
JPMorgan said that there is a lot of client interest to learn about metaverse and they are attempting to highlight what the current reality is, and what needs to be built next in technology, commercial infrastructure, privacy/identity and workforce to maximize the full potential of our lives in the metaverse, the bank told CoinDesk in an email.
The metaverse is made up of not one, but various virtual worlds—popular ones being browser-based Decentraland; the Sandbox, owned by Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands; and Roblox, which is favoured among kids and teens. Users use digital avatars to explore these virtual lands, where they can socialize, play games, purchase real estate, browse the art, or go shopping.
JPMorgan begins its assessment of “metanomics” by pointing out that the average price of a parcel of virtual land doubled in the latter half of 2021, jumping from $6,000 in June to $12,000 by December across the four main Web 3 metaverse sites: Decentraland, The Sandbox, Somnium Space and Cryptovoxels.
The JP Morgan report also noted that between June and December last year, the average price of virtual land doubled from $6,000 (€5,000) to $12,000 (€10,000). It also predicted that in-game advertising spending will reach $18.4 billion (€16 billion) per year by 2027.
