Citi forecasts that the metaverse economy’s overall market value would reach between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030. Additionally, the global bank anticipates that the metaverse’s user base might reach five billion.
Citi Declares the Metaverse a Potential $8 Trillion to $13 Trillion Opportunity
Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) launched a new paper Thursday titled “Metaverse and Money: Decrypting the Future.” The world’s largest bank currently has around 200 million customer accounts and operates in over 160 countries and jurisdictions.
The 184-page paper delves deeply into numerous facets of the metaverse. They cover the following topics: what a metaverse is; its infrastructure; digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the metaverse; money and defi (decentralised finance) in the metaverse; and metaverse-specific legal issues.
Concerning the metaverse economy’s magnitude, Citi stated, “We believe the metaverse may be the next generation of the internet, fusing the physical and digital worlds in a persistent and immersive manner, rather than being a solely virtual reality world.”
Citi wrote: “A device-agnostic metaverse accessible via personal computers, game consoles, and smartphones might result in a very broad ecosystem.”
We anticipate that the metaverse economy’s entire addressable market will increase to between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030.
Additionally, Citi predicts that the overall number of metaverse users might be in the neighbourhood of five billion.
According to Ronit Ghose, global head of Banking, Fintech, and Digital Assets at Citi Global Insights, the report’s co-author:
According to the report’s expert authors, the number of users might reach up to 5 billion, depending on whether we use a broad definition (mobile phone user base) or a narrower definition (VR/AR device user base) — we use the former.
Additionally, the study describes how users might gain entry to the metaverse. “Consumer hardware manufacturers will serve as gateways to the metaverse and possible gatekeepers,” the authors said. “As is the case now, there will almost certainly be a division between a US/international and a China/firewall-based metaverse, as well as a spectrum of technology and economic models, i.e., metaverse centralization against decentralisation.”
Additionally, the paper notes that “the future metaverse will have a greater number of digitally native tokens, while old forms of money will remain imbedded,” adding:
Money may take various forms in the metaverse, including in-game tokens, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and cryptocurrencies.
“Additionally, digital assets and non-fungible tokens in the metaverse will enable users/owners to exercise sovereign ownership because they are tradeable, composable, immutable, and mainly interoperable,” the Citi paper states.
The writers also considered how the metaverse would be regulated, concluding that “if the metaverse(s) is the next version of the internet, it would attract intense scrutiny from global regulators and policymakers.”
Additionally, they cautioned that “all of the issues inherent in the Web2 internet, including as content control, free expression, and privacy, may be amplified in the metaverse,” elaborating:
Additionally, a blockchain-based metaverse will run afoul of many governments’ still-evolving regulations governing cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance (defi).
Goldman Sachs, a multinational investment firm, stated in January that the metaverse might be worth up to $8 trillion. Morgan Stanley, another prominent investment firm, anticipated the same magnitude for the metaverse in November of last year. Bank of America, on the other hand, stated that the metaverse represents a big opportunity for the entire crypto industry.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
