How Can Consumer and Industrial Blockchains Power the Metaverse?

The blockchain continues to remain relevant amid the ongoing cryptocurrency ‘winter’ hitting markets. The rise of the industrial metaverse has also explored new use cases for cryptographic technologies.

The Metaverse is a shared immersive platform combining spatial communications and the internet. It also relies heavily on blockchain technology to enable peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges and engage others in decision-making.

How does the Blockchain Develop the Metaverse?

Blockchain is the underlying technology that keeps a distributed ledger of all transactions in the Metaverse. This shared, immutable record provides the framework for creating ‘trustless’ digital relationships and transactions.

Each transaction in the Metaverse is recorded via the blockchain, providing a complete history of all activity to ensure transparency and security.

This also enables the development of unique identity verification systems and voting authentication mechanisms to facilitate decentralized autonomous organisational (DAO) governance.

The Industrial Metaverse as the Next Blockchain Frontier

Additionally, numerous multinational corporations like Siemens have begun exploring use cases for the blockchain related to the industrial metaverse.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the industrial blockchain holds promising use cases. These include supply-chain monitoring, counterfeit detection, identity management, asset tracking, and quality assurance.

These technologies have become instrumental in boosting regulatory compliance, offering a transparent, automated alternative to lengthy audit processes.

The World Economic Forum also explained in July last year how the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs could boost applications for the Metaverse. At the time, forum members said the Metaverse was “already here” and could potentially revolutionise workforces. Doing so could help boost connections between businesses and communities.

At an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) event in October last year, a GE Digital executive further outlined the industrial blockchain’s benefits.

Dr Colin Parris, Chief Technology Officer for GE Digital, explained at the time how the blockchain, digital twins, and IoT could help facilitate the industrial metaverse. These would integrate across virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) devices to visualise data for enterprise users.

Top Blockchain Platforms Leading in the Metaverse Development

Currently, several blockchains have helped build popularity among many Metaverse platforms:

Ethereum

Ethereum is the most popular blockchain, and its decentralized platform utilizes smart contracts or applications that run to minimise fraud or third-party interference.

It is also home to several non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital assets linked to the blockchain which verify ownership. They have also been used to create digital art, gaming experiences, and even entire virtual worlds. Some examples of metaverse platforms based on Ethereum are Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and The Sandbox.

Ethereum received a massive $33 billion USD upgrade to its Shanghai blockchain algorithm ecosystem in April. The recent upgrades aimed to reduce energy-intensive mining by adopting a proof-of-stake system for traders.

Cardano

The Cardano blockchain is an innovative contract platform under development that addresses some of the issues faced by Ethereum linked to scalability and sustainability.

Cardano powers the Pavia metaverse platform, which uses blockchain technology to create a decentralized environment for its users with a minimal carbon footprint and lower gas fees.

Solana

Solana was developed to power the next generation of metaverse platforms and powers the Star Atlas metaverse and others as a scalable, secure, and energy-efficient tool.

It also provides an immersive and interactive experience where users can interact with each other and their environment, with a focus on virtual land exploration.

Metaverse avatar giants Ready Player Me integrated the Solana blockchain for creating interoperable assets for the Mini Royale: Nations. The additional took place in March and included avatars, data, and other digital content.

Polygon

Polygon is an Ethereum scaling solution designed to make it more scalable and efficient. It uses a technique called Plasma to achieve its high scalability.

The blockchain borrows from Ethereum and operates as a Layer-2 protocol. This adds improvements and bespoke tools to the Ethereum blockchain, without eliminating its core features.

Binance Chain

Binance Chain has been developed by the team behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to create metaverse platforms such as the Ultiverse.

Players can import and customize their own NFTs and virtual environments, and an artificial intelligence (AI) engine also adjusts non-playable characters (NPCs) based on player activities for a more immersive experience.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cracked down on Binance and other crypto exchange platforms in May, citing alleged securities violations.

Platforms such as Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, and others have sharply denied the allegations.

XRP Ledger

This blockchain was developed to power the next generation of metaverse platforms and has been designed as a scalable, secure, and energy-efficient technology for several metaverse platforms, including XFLOKIVERSE, a brand new NFT game and collection initiative.

The project is a combination of XFLOKI currencies to build a comprehensive metaverse with many characters with the aim of becoming the most popular platform and meme coin on the XRP ledger.

Benefits of Using Blockchain Technology for the Metaverse

The blockchain is crucial for the Metaverse for the following reasons:

• Security – Secure metaverse storage and transmission has become more complex because they store data in exabytes (1 billion gigabytes). Blockchain technologies are crucial for decentralized environments, allowing users to manage their data independently.
• Trust – Tokens are safe storage devices that communicate information, personal data, and authorization keys in encrypted form. It also boosts user trust in the ecosystem by restricting other parties from accessing critical information.
• Integrate with the global economy – Cryptocurrencies and digital assets are integral parts of the blockchain, However, they are also a technical analogue of traditional money and carry out metaverse transactions.

Evolution of ‘Green’ Metaverse Blockchains

One of the most exciting trends in the blockchain is the proliferation of ‘green’ NFTs. As the world aims to reduce its carbon footprint, it will likely see a move towards more energy-efficient blockchain technology.

This is important for metaverse platforms as they often require large amounts of energy to run. Some of the most promising energy-efficient blockchains include Solana and Cardano.

Conclusion

Many blockchain projects are still under development, but a few examples lead the charge in this emerging industry. In the future, they could power platforms for the next generation of online experiences.