Vitalik Buterin Call Metaverse Branding Ploy, Metaverse Tokens Under Pressure

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently expressed doubts about the Metaverse, questioning its current portrayal and promotion. Speaking at the BUIDL Asia conference in Seoul, Buterin expressed reservations, challenging the existing interpretation of the Metaverse.

He stated that most of us have the wrong understanding of Metaverse in its current stage. The Metaverse is commonly defined as a virtual decentralized environment that features immersive social interactions and experiences.

Furthermore, it incorporates avatars, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) technologies, all interconnected through blockchain technology. While speaking at the BUIDL Asia conference, Buterin said:

“The Metaverse is poorly defined and often seen more as a brand name than a product. It’s envisioned as a virtual universe where everyone can participate and is not owned by anyone. It’s frequently associated with virtual reality, where needs are simpler, akin to wanting a laptop without the laptop.”

Buterin further contended that although the Metaverse is frequently linked with virtual reality, it does not solely encompass the entirety of the concept. Buterin added that for Metaverse to work effectively, it should combine “all the different virtual world elements we already have, including crypto, virtual reality, and some AI parts, in the right way”.

In addition to his criticism of Metaverse, Buterin also touched on the importance of account abstraction while pushing for mainstream adoption. However, he noted that account abstraction can succeed once it finds the right balance between convenience and security.

Metaverse Tokens Under Selling Pressure

The Metaverse tokens have created a major buzz in the crypto market with this sector alone having a market cap of over $2.4 billion, as per data from CoinMarketCap. The Metaverse tokens have come under selling pressure in the last 24 hours after Buterin’s comments on Tuesday.

However, these tokens have had a solid runup over the last week with most of them delivering 20-70% gains on the weekly chart. The Internet Computer (ICP) tops the chart with 70% gains over the past week. Currently, ICP is trading at $19.80 with a market cap of $9.13 billion.

FLOKI, Axie Infinity, and The Sandbox are some of the other metaverse tokens that have been recently on the radar of investors.