Every time the word ‘internet giants’ is mentioned, certain names almost always show up. Think about Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. These are brands offering consumer-facing products that serve hundreds of millions of users.
These giants and many others, depend on the internet to survive because their products are internet-based. For this reason, their laser focus is on how to improve the internet to give their users superior products and services. Therefore, the web has become the battleground where competitive talent and financial wars are fought day and night. The latest tech battlefield is the metaverse.
The introduction of the metaverse concept and its possibilities into the technology discourse, is already starting to have an impact on many spheres including forex trading. For instance, as you invest with the UK’s trading provider, you must look at the technologies they use, the features and possibilities they offer, and the advantages that accrue to you as a trader.
Before diving into the shape and form of the competition the internet giants are locked in, it helps to briefly look at the metaverse concept and how it is likely to disrupt forex trading.
What Is the Metaverse All About?
Think of a metaverse as an online recreation of the physical world. Through technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality, tech developers create a parallel universe online that you can interact with. Virtual reality gives users an immersive experience making them blend with the possibilities of the virtual world. On the other hand, augmented reality doesn’t replace your world but rather layers on it. Objects and features are added to your physical world thus enriching it without carrying you off to a new space.
The reason the metaverse will be powerful is that it combines the virtual world experiences with the augmented reality thus blurring the boundary between the real world and the virtual world. Users will be able to shop, play and interact in the virtual world in the same way they do in the physical world. Current examples that will give you the look and feel of a metaverse are Mirandus, Decentraland, and Sandbox. In these worlds, people interact, collaborate, and create.
How Will the Metaverse Affect Forex Trading
Metaverse being a virtual world, must have a virtual currency. Participants will most likely use tokens such as SAND for the Sandbox metaverse and MANA for Decentraland. These tokens will then be exchanged for fiat such as USD or GBP. In fact, MANA is currently exchanging at US$2.89 on crypto platforms.
Apart from the virtual metaverse currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies are likely to dominate metaverses. Forex trading platforms will therefore have to adapt and accept trading forex with NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and upcoming virtual currencies to survive. Luckily, some trading providers have already began accepting forex trading using cryptocurrencies.
Metaverse and the Scramble for Talent
Based on how the metaverse concept has been structured, every tech giant will have its own metaverse. Meta will develop its separate virtual world, Apple will develop its own, Alphabet, Netflix, Amazon, and the rest will follow suit. While the metaverses will be interconnected so that users can move seamlessly from one world to another, the richness of features will vary from one world to another.
The competition for talent that is building up in the tech space is driven by individual brands looking to outdo one another in developing attractive metaverses. For instance, to secure a frontline seat in the metaverse phase of growth, Meta announced a US$50m investment programme. A huge chunk of this investment will be spent on attracting and retaining the right talent to help build its metaverse. Within the EU alone, Meta has planned to create 10,000 job openings for highly skilled professionals.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Meta has so far hired about 100 engineers from Apple, a move that has sparked talent rivalry in the Silicon Valley. Apple has also hired an augmented reality communications and public relations head from Meta to spearhead the development and launch of its mixed-reality headset.
The talent drain that is currently gathering storm has not gone unnoticed. For instance, to stop its professionals from being lured to Meta, Apple is reportedly giving bonuses to some of its top engineers in the form of restricted stock units with a four-year vesting period. The bonuses range from $50,000 to $180,000. These are out-of-cycle bonuses that Apple is forced by circumstances to give if it is to retain its talent.
Conclusion
The metaverse concept is certainly the next frontier in tech growth and dominance. With none of the internet behemoths willing to be left behind, an intense war for talent is brewing. Every brand is looking at how they can attract and retain talent, especially in virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, smartwatches, and cybersecurity. As the metaverse industry matures and the concept becomes clearer, forex trading providers will also see how they fit in and what they need to provide their traders to attract and keep them.
