KuCoin CEO: the metaverse tokens market is in its early stage

According to Bloomberg, digital metaverses’ market volume could clock about $800M in the next 3 years. The total value locked in metaverses is breaking financial records, turning into a multi-trillion dollar ecosystem. Following the statistics, it would only seem like it's the right time to develop efficient and reliable metaverse platforms. Hence, KuCoin has decided to grace the financial world with a metaverse trading section.

The KuCoin exchange, although not as stacked as the likes of Binance and OKEx, is making big moves towards innovating the crypto-verse. The exchange will give metaverses the opportunity to showcase their metaverse tokens to the world with genuine reliability. I talked to Johnny Lyu, KuCoin CEO, to find out why metaverse is the technology of the future and why it’s worth keeping an eye on it.

1. In your own terms, what is an ideal metaverse token?

Metaverse is still in its infancy, and not a single ideal metaverse has been established. So the definition of a metaverse token and how it works have not been clearly defined yet, which also means that it is full of possibilities. 

For instance, NFTs in metaverse can be the unique identities of all members. And a token can also be a current medium of exchange which can be accepted as payments for virtual goods, empowering the entire virtual ecosystem. 

We keep hearing about what a metaverse is all about; given the current ‘metaverse’ landscape, are projects doing enough to live up to the word metaverse?

The time is nigh to accept the fact that metaverses are the future. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that he wants Facebook to be perceived not as a social network in the near future, but as a metaverse. In simple terms, a metaverse is a real world that is completely virtualized. 

The metaverses of the future will be built on four pillars – video technologies, social networking, data storage and exchange, and economics. Modern technologies currently allow us to create just social networks and games, but those do not contain all the necessary elements that would allow such environments to fully replicate even half of the real world for any of us. 

2. Based on all the metaverse tokens present in the financial scene, What do you love the most about these projects/tokens?

I admire the boldness and ambition of the projects that are tapping into the possibilities of metaverses. It is much too early to expect any grandiose results from the technology that is at the nascent stage of development, but I am sure that many companies are already shaping that future. These are companies like Nvidia that is developing visualization technologies used within these ecosystems. Facebook and Snap are doing a great job giving AR and VR exposure. Microsoft and Sony are establishing the future framework of cloud gaming, and blockchain platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox are experimenting with the ability to move, buy and exchange items in virtual space.

3. Would you recommend anyone to invest in a Metaverse ETF?

Although I prefer to refrain from giving investment advice, I’m pretty sure Metaverse ETF is a big milestone for the metaverse industry that will trigger further the development of the market and streamline it both financially and legally. The good thing about this fund is that it allows people to invest in a bunch of public companies that are either already making the metaverse happen or are positioned to do so in the future.

If an investor wants exposure to a particular category of metaverse projects such as gaming or art, but doesn’t have the expertise to pick all of the individual stocks, they can outsource that decision making to this index.

4. KuCoin recently launched a metaverse trading board. Does this mean the exchange is ready to support the development of Metaverse ETFs?

What are the key strengths of metaverse projects and their biggest shortcomings currently? How can KuCoin solve the problems hindering the development of these projects?

Considering the metaverse industry is still in the early stage and there are still a lot of uncertainties, we are open to all possibilities, and we did consider ideas like Metaverse Index Token on KuCoin as a market trend indicator for our traders. 

In the future, having a crypto address will be as important as having an email address. Today, many metaverse projects have learned to transfer financial value to the virtual world through the use of NFTs. These provide guarantees that when we buy a virtual house or a painting, we will receive the product we are paying for, and have the real ownership of it.

One problem we are facing in any industry which rapidly evolves is a lot of people who utilize buzzwords and do not apply them properly. As a result, we see incorrect assumptions, NFT created for hype, or wrong predictions of the future. Moreover, it’s still unclear how real-world laws will interact with virtual worlds, how intellectual property and brands will be protected, and how long it will be before regulators want to intervene.

5. How does KuCoin plan to change or improve the efficiency and productivity of metaverse projects?

As one of the major altcoin exchanges, KuCoin always supports projects listed in multiple ways. Except for bringing the projects to our 8 million users globally, we also contribute to the liquidity of their native token. Also, KuCoin Labs, our research & investment arm, can help early-stage metaverse projects in terms of financing, marketing, and MVP development. KCC, the public chain we are supporting, can also provide a fast and reliable platform for metaverse projects to build on. We are also discussing with some projects that maybe KuCoin can join the metaverse they are developing and become an active entity there. 

6. Do you see KuCoin and metaverse tokens changing in the next three years? And how do you see yourself contributing to that change? 

What may set metaverse apart from other sectors in crypto is that many internet giants are very willing to, and can very easily step into it. In the next three years, I suppose almost all big internet firms will have some bets on metaverse. 

7. Can you possibly share with us the KuCoin exchange’s future plans? 

We are always thinking about what can facilitate the wide adoption of crypto. For crypto exchanges, almost all players are focusing on developing better trading tools, as trading is one of the most basic needs of the crypto industry. But we believe that the best way to bring crypto to the masses is to go beyond trading, better meeting people’s social needs. Social and trading can be combined and somehow create a magical synergy. Therefore KuCoin is gradually transforming into the first and biggest Social Trading platform in the crypto field. Crypto is new to many people, and we believe the best way for a person to learn something new is from someone he trusts and in a way he can understand. By building a platform beyond trading, a place where you can communicate with traders all around the world, sharing experience and asking questions, mass adoption can be expected in the near future.