LONDON — Global markets have had a rough start to the year as the prospect of tighter monetary policy prompts investors to dump risky assets — but the fast-moving world of Metaverse investing is running on its own schedule.
Metaverse-related assets, such as currencies that can be used in virtual worlds and NFTs that represent virtual land, suffered only minor setbacks as risk appetite eased in January while trading volumes in the broader digital commodities market increased.

As it turns out, Facebook’s rebranding to Meta Platforms Inc. has driven investment in the Metaverse more than general financial market conditions.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have surged in popularity over the past year and growth shows no signs of slowing, with sales in the biggest market OpenSea hitting a record $5 billion in January despite tech-heavy Nasdaq Grams added to its biggest monthly drop since 2018.

NFTs are a niche crypto asset that uses blockchain to record ownership of digital files such as images and videos. Some enthusiasts see them as an integral part of a major hypothetical version of the internet known as the “metaverse,” in which properties such as virtual lands, clothing and artwork can be owned as cryptoassets.

A handful of enthusiasts have been driving sales growth. According to market tracker NonFungible.com, there were about 400,000 active wallets in the NFT market on the Ethereum blockchain over the past month — one person can have multiple wallets, making transaction volume data unreliable demand indicators.

Metaverse Token

The prospect of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in late January spooked investors, and Bitcoin fell as inflation data rose — contrary to the theory that the highly volatile cryptocurrency could act as a store of value like gold.

Blockchain-based Metaverse worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland have their own cryptocurrencies that players can use to buy assets like land or wearables for their avatars.

The popular Metaverse token Decentraland’s MANA and Sandbox’s SAND are volatile, but seem to be driven more by the business sentiment around Metaverse than by central banks.

Complete News Source : NDTV