A lot has been said about the metaverse over the past two years and before we start discussing the subject of payments in the metaverse let’s first define what the metaverse means. The first time the word metaverse was coined was in 1994 by author Neal Stephenson in his sci-fi novel snow crash.
There an immersive, all-encompassing digital world was imagined a world where the boundary between the real world and the virtual world no longer existed. Fortunately for us, we are still far from this vision and have a bit of time to catch up on our sci-fi reading. However, with the advancement of VR and AR, we expect our internet experience to be greatly enhanced. Some might say it will have a comparable effect to the introduction of mobile phones. The introduction of AR and VR to our internet experience is expected to revolutionize every business sector.
We have published articles about the positive effects that VR and AR can have on Healthcare, advertising, and commerce in a series of blog posts about how each industry might adapt its metaverse strategy and we intend to also discuss the benefits of this technological advancement in education, tourism, and manufacturing.
If you are looking to set up an economy in a digital environment then you need digital money. When it comes to money in the digital environment, you have a few options.
You can choose to adopt money models similar to the Game tokens. As an example, we might consider for instance V-bucks, the money of the game Fortnite. With such tokens, users can purchase Game items such as new skins or unlock new features. The value of these tokens is guaranteed by the operator of the game and they are useful to the users as long as the game keeps going. But they also have their limitations. Those tokens are often time game-specific meaning that can’t be used outside of the game, they offer limited interoperability between ecosystems and they would require an e-money license to operate.
You can also choose to power your economy with blockchain-native cryptocurrencies such as the Ethereum token. Those tokens can be used across many different use cases from Defi to NFT, in-game assets, and even real estate in the metaverse. Blockchain networks offer instant settlement and insure the immediate transfer of value from buyer to seller. However, as we have noticed in the last couple of years high volatility is a feature of those tokens and this will always be the case for native currencies as they are governed by the dynamics of supply and demand. Furthermore, with the introduction of the European legislation MICAr, we are still unsure about how companies can comply with AML and KYC requirements when dealing with native cryptocurrencies.
Another option you have is powering your digital economy with Stablecoins such as USDC or UST(luna). Those tokens are very useful for trading, and defi and can also be used for payment use cases in the metaverse. However, as we have experienced with the crash of the Luna ecosystem that took has been responsible for the fall of 3AC, Celsius, Voyager, Alameda, FTX, and a lot of others, those stablecoins come with big collateralization concerns as they are not regulated nor transparent. They also share the same regulatory concerns as Cryptocurrencies and we are unsure about how they can be used by regulated companies in Europe.
And finally, you can also choose to go with more traditional payment networks that currently power the dollar or euro. With these payment networks, you gain access to all the traditional financial services, consumer protection, and credit card compatibility. However, there are huge transaction costs associated with these payment networks, along with the possibilities of chargebacks and some even require weeks for settlement in international transfers.
We have studied this landscape and built out a solution that brings the advantages of blockchain technology while still being regulatory compliant, offering an instantaneous settlement, fully backed by the euro with features that completely abstract the underlying blockchain to the end user including subsidized blockchain transaction costs.
Our stable coin as a service solution is built with 5 pillars in mind. The issuer of the token is connected to the traditional financial system to ensure a seamless flow of value between the real world and the digital world. This relationship is audited and checked to ensure that merchants and customers can interact safely together.
Get in touch to discuss how we can help you
Henri de Jong
Chief Business Development Officer
Quantoz N.V.
Europalaan 100
3526 KS Utrecht
The Netherlands
Registration number: 86401386
Webinar
Quantoz Digital Euro, EURD
Event by: Quantoz Blockchain Technology
Where: Online
When: 13 december 12:00 CET
