By Sam Boughedda
In a press release Friday, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) said the metaverse offers a "promising new arena of economic opportunity" and could contribute more than $3 trillion to global GDP by 2031.
"Early estimates indicate that the economic contribution of the global metaverse could be valued at more than $3 trillion by 2031," Meta Platforms head of fintech Edward Bowles wrote in the press release.
Meta pointed to places such as Dubai, Seoul, and Taiwan as areas advancing plans to take advantage of the metaverse emergence, adding that there are various opportunities in industries, including education, training, and remote work. Meta also mentioned more opportunities for creators to make new forms of art and entertainment.
Bowles added that the two components for making the metaverse an economic success are interoperability and portability, and they will be powered by the further adoption of web3 technologies.
"Understandably, policymakers are giving considerable attention to the application of blockchain technology in financial services, whether in the form of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies or crypto exchanges, but it is important to recognize that blockchain also has extensive non-financial applications that can be foundational to the metaverse economy," the company explained.
They added that "non-financial blockchain-based assets," like NFTs, are well positioned.
Meta also said policymakers must set fair rules for web3 technologies. They believe the rules should be to adopt a technology-neutral approach, recognize that decentralized systems can play a role in unlocking new economic opportunities and welcome greater collaboration between the public sector and metaverse industry.