There is a lot of capital in circulation. But the diffidence towards stock lists is even more so, judging by the opinions disseminated by the main international brokers, skeptical about the prospects of the markets in the face of rising inflation and, consequently, interest rates. Hence the search for alternatives to stock exchanges, albeit with paradoxical results. The Wall Street Journal reports the singular fortune of a Brooklyn coffee shop, Blank Street Coffee, which in the space of three months successfully closed two capital operations for a total of 60 million dollars to be allocated to the development of the commercial network.
The paradoxical example can act as a prologue to one of the most nagging questions: how much is the Metaverse worth in terms of business, the new immersive reality launched with great fanfare by Mark Zuckerberg? Will it be just a trend, destined to attract investors who are not satisfied with cafés and pizzerias on their doorstep, or will it be able to translate into a new wave of investments and profits? And how, possibly, to participate in the new wave of the new economy?
At this point, it is necessary to attempt a summary definition of Metaverse, a concept so far developed more from science fiction and cinema (see Matrix) than from everyday experience. In the words of Mark Zuckerberg on the day he renamed Facebook to Meta Platform, the Metaverse is “a collection of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who are not in the same physical space as you. You will be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more. It's not necessarily about spending more time online - it's about making the time you spend online more meaningful." In essence it is a world that works like the Internet, to which we are accustomed, but in which our avatars (our virtual replicas) can move, create and participate. A world between physical and digital reality. with an economy of its own and with impacts still to be evaluated.
And here, as always happens in the face of news, opinions are divided. For the analysts of Bloomberg, the Metaverse will generate, by 2024, an 800 billion dollar business, with a double-digit growth rate, equal to 13% per year (about 480 billion in 2020). A good part of the turnover will derive from the production of contents starting from the world of fashion as well as from gaming. Almost all the fashion brands are already participating in the great race, but also a large consumer giant like Nike. The phenomenon has undoubtedly broken through in the world of gaming, creating phenomena such as Roblox and virtual cities where virtual boutiques are already sprouting where clothes are sold that can be used in the metaworld, in every virtual situation that can be experienced here from the home to the office .
All of this, in truth, is more a prediction than a reality. As much as it is possible to participate in this world with a simple PC, it is evident that iThe leap in quality requires new tools to transport us to a new world perhaps through augmented reality to simulate realistic situations with the help of headsets, gloves, VR viewers. In short, it is difficult to think of a take-off without convincing tens of millions of consumers to acquire Google glasses or helmets produced by Oculus, the company bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars. For now, theand sales figures are top secret but according to IDC at the end of 2021 Facebook would have sold between 5,3 and 6,8 million pieces, a sharp rise compared to 3,5 million last year. We must then consider the Sony helmets (5,5 million) which now represent 12% of the overall turnover of the Playstation. Interesting numbers, but not sufficient to trigger the "spreading" effect that Zuckerberg predicts in five years, the time to create "his" metaverse that will face fierce competition.
Meanwhile, according to Ruchir Sharma, head of investment strategies at Morgan Stanley, there is no need to rush. “Digital natives – writes the author of a successful essay on the future of nations – can look to the virtual world but need physical investments. The question of Generation Z and millennials this year will be on the subject of the house or the change from the car to electric. Money is what it is and behind every avatar are human needs. And before racing on a virtual highway we will have to solve the problem of shortage truckers: the requiem for physical economics is premature".
Despite calls for caution, however, brokers have already fine tuned ETFs and certificates (see Goldman Sachs) to ride the theme by concentrating purchases on the main companies involved in the metaverse development process: Meta Platforms, Roblox, Nvidia, Microsoft, Unity Software, Amazon, Autodesk.
