Aside from the fact what is being called a Metaverse isn't truly Metaverses this is interesting. Be sure to check out the videos made by third party reporters.
I few things to note here is while a lot here is true, there are quite a few fictions slipped in that are false, and deceptive. It also shows a complete lack of comprehension of the very meaning of Meta-verse on all of these companies parts.
Yet the source of the word and its description isn't complicated at all. Simply go back to the novel called SNOW CRASH published in 1992 by Neal Stephenson and ignore the movie because it doesn't quiet get it right.
So lets dumb it down to the most basic reality what it really was and why everything being made just slaps on a label for attention grabbing like any other click-bait out there.
A Metaverse is simply the internet experienced in 3D rooms rather than 2D websites like this. It uses 2D content via the UIs (Users Interface), and their ease of usage and navigation is what UX (user experience) is about. That's all there is to it.
Frankly the Old Movie Johnny Mnemonic back in 1995 made the best representation of the concept. VR headset and motion tracking gloves included with a digital keyboard.
Though the digital art was like old Cyberpunk techno-babble given art, the concept is there well enough. But being 'Jacked in' was a reference to the concept of dial-up using a phone jack. (helps knowing these little tid-bits by having grown up while all this was developing).
Kind of how everyone got hard-on over so called Esports (electronic sports) in 2016 over hyping what it was claimed to be vs what it really was, as though it was something new and innovative, when in reality and history its all based on two people as the final contestants playing the same game title trying to get to or break the highest score within a designated period of time. In short; this....
Again, the hype was all because of a movie called Pixels from 2015 representing the above as the foundation for its plot. The only difference is using game consoles and Big flat screens hooked to the internet allow it to be accomplished as multi-player competitions which as part of the hype resulted in this video to make it look all exciting called Warriors as part of the serious of League of Legends promos. Awesome song but in reality its just about what has been stated.
So all these companies are creating are virtual visual world environments which every single digital game has been making since before the public internet back in the days of dial-up, regardless if they were all text, 2D or or 3D mesh based or as most games are today, a combination of all 3. Of course its all being driven by the same HYPE from yet another movie.
Ready Player One that came out after the poorly written book and its unfortunate terrible sequel (I hoped would never become a movie) Ready Player 2. But they did and they are. In any case al these companies are simply creating their own versions based upon a concept from the largely empty old tech (oddly still online) virtual reality (VR) called Active Worlds as a 3D version of text based Chat rooms in 1995.
The concept of digital currency in these virtual rooms and environments were simply an extension of changing points earned from beating challenges or levels to unlock various upgrades or power ups once a certain level and number of points were gained.
The first so called digital currency has been converting physical money to digital records which as a result over 97% of all currencies in the world today actually are. Regardless the source of those funds be it as a credit or something deposited into a personal Bank or Credit Union checking and or savings account, its still digital.
Every game has had some kind of earned points for completing something. They just have no real world value outside of those games.
The change was when such became used as spendable coins as spendable points to unlock specific features such as gear and power ups within those particular game concepts. It was then capitalized on by using the credit/debit card option to buy those points to "hurry along" getting access to various features when it becomes harder to get things at or to a higher competitive level.
Some considered it and still do, as lazy gaming but was used as a means also to help new developers get funding for their games that of course Big Namer Publishers abused and continue to do so playing their "Box everyone in" B.S. through what has come to be called 'micro-transactions' resulting in the Pay to Win thing.
That brings us now to the Crypto Currency scam. Yes its a scam because its using the credit to game coin purchasing inventing fictional concepts designed to be a pyramid ponzi scam so at the bottom of the pyramid the middle to last buyers end up with something completely worthless they can't sell off because everyone has the same kind of currency regardless its many different brands all using the same primary source that has come to be called Bit Coin.
The concept of 'Crypto Currency' actually goes back to anonymous accounts used by the ultra rich hiding money and secret investments in old Swiss Bank Accounts that were accessible only to those with the right "pass" keys and passwords.
Such things as IDs were simply not required to access them. No special pass keys or passwords, and no access. And likewise its real money but the source of the money was simply untraceable because these kinds of accounts don't verify the sources, which makes them also out of the taxed income and the funds could come from anywhere in the world. How these banks make money is simply being paid like any bank, a percentage to "maintain the anonymity."
You see this represented in just about every so called hit man and spy movie out there were the funds can come from ultra rich criminals, mobsters, to government officials.
(Note those pushing this as the first step to universal income without clarifying how that would actually even make sense based on how exchange rates and economics really works is left out of the discussion).
You may as well hand your money freely over to all those tele-scams and tell them to keep their pitch, give them the money and not worry about getting anything back. This video more or less helps clarifying.
The scam is simply using the combination of all the above to put money in the hands of the top 1%-5% duping the world into just give them all more money with no real returns like a blank check from those already struggling.
So for the less cyber savvy or inclined; since its beginning I have said this scam is simply a combined card game of Go Fish and Texas Hold'em.
The go fish part is to see how many cards you can match up first and get from someone else and get rid of first. The one left with the most count off the points as debt.
The Texas Hold'em part is the same thing when the goal is to get the highest hand for the most bets (money) put in and bluff the other player and cause them to challenge or fold.
The buy in part is added "minimal investment' to play the game' to sweeten the pot (winnings) to both and dropped into the public's lap as the 'minimal required investment' to try and get in on the gamble.
The crypto is simply secretly moving that money around from 'Anonymous' accounts (like those so called Swiss Bank or Offshore accounts in every spy and mob movie) to get around gambling restrictions from country to country and hiding who is depositing and using that money for what (legal and criminal) spending.
Then it simply uses the concept of spendable points from video games only able to be used in that particular game title that can't be transferred to say another game, even if that other game title is produced by the same publisher, as the lure and uses the hype to 'advertise' the "opportunities" (the gamble).
How you buy is using the real digital currencies from your bank accounts or credit union accounts via credit or debit cards for those points and the only thing you can spend those points on is whatever the particular publisher already owns (game assets) but in the real world simply use it to jack up the actual costs creating the illusion of value through merchandise in their own owned shops/stores (like game inventories).
The ponzi part comes down to 'getting special rewards (NFTs which are the same as old school game tokens art old school arcades and frequent flyer miles) that you can pawn off on others by either getting them to "buy in and sell to others and the more they sell the more rewards they get" till at the end of the 'Chain' the last one buying can't sell any of them because everyone else already has them making them utterly worthless.
The Winners are those who got rid of them first for more than they put in, and thus the gambling is exposed and the 'champions' are the ones who did it all first (till they get thrown in jail but skate paying off the mega fines that are pocket change to them just to modify it a bit later on for the next big scam opportunity).
Friends don't let friends or family buy crypto or the illusions of the so called Metaverses.