Recent research has shown that metaverse tokens have increased nearly 400% year-over-year amid the crypto market downturn. On the other hand, metaverse awareness has doubled, reaching 74% in March 2022.
A new report on the crypto market by Kraken Intelligence shows that metaverse tokens have significantly outperformed any other category of crypto-assets — their capitalization has grown by 395% year-over-year, despite the bearish sentiment prevailing in the market.
Notably, according to the report, metaverse tokens were one of the two crypto-asset categories that saw year-over-year price growth. Only exchange tokens, which managed to show a 6% rise, still had a positive trend. All other cryptocurrency market categories showed a significant decline. For example, BTC fell by 13%, ETH dropped by 25%, and the DeFi sector was down by 72%.
The most expensive tokens in the metaverse segment, according to the report, were:
- Decentraland (MANA) — 41%;
- Sandbox (SAND) — 470%;
- Axie Infinity (AXS) — 511%;
- STEPN (GMT) — 746%.
The dynamics of metaverse tokens are directly related to the rise in gaming activity on blockchain, which grew by 2,000% in Q1 2022 compared to last year, according to DappRadar.
DappRadar analysts report that the sector has continued to receive funding despite hacking attacks, including a major hack of the Axie Infinity P2E game. For instance, in Q1 2022, venture capitalists invested about $2.5 billion in metaverse sector projects.
Blockchain gaming is showing a steady level of popularity, with an average of 1.17 million unique active wallets (UAW) connected daily in Q1 2022. And a recent analysis of global consumer data by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence found that metaverse awareness has more than doubled in seven months.
The Wunderman Thompson study surveyed more than 3,000 people between 16 and 65 years old from the U.S., the U.K. and China. Respondents’ global awareness of the metaverse was 74% as of March 2022. By comparison, a similar figure was at 32% in July 2021. Thus, the popularity of the metaverse has increased by more than 131%.
Wunderman Thompson analysts were able to deduce several key considerations of respondents about the future of the metaverse and its importance:
- 82% of respondents see the metaverse as a kind of place to socialize and work;
- 74% believe that it has a future;
- 72% cited the scale of the metaverse as something global;
- 68% consider the metaverse “the next Internet”;
- 66% said the metaverse “could change lives”;
- 60% of respondents believe that brands should produce and sell digital products in the metaverse alongside physical products.
However, the survey also revealed several cautions and fears related to the metaverse. For example, a majority of respondents shared a number of concerns:
- 72% of participants said they were concerned about the privacy of children’s personal data in the metaverse;
- 66% said they were worried about the safety of children;
- 57% stated that the metaverse could become a virtual world for criminals;
- 69% were concerned about their personal privacy and protection of privacy.
Recently, at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), there was also discussed the safety of teenagers in the metaverse and the need to create a supportive environment for young users of the space.
