Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman Yat Siu said his firm will continue to “drive companies into Web3” to accelerate the evolution of the Internet into an open Metaverse.
Sioux has long advocated a broader concept of an open Metaverse, as opposed to a closed one dominated by large, centralized Web2 companies. Sioux’s central argument is that decentralized Web3 platforms and technologies like NFT offer users the ability to retain ownership of their data and content online, instead of being controlled and used by firms like Meta (formerly Facebook).
Sioux made his final comments while speaking at the third day of the Australian Blockchain Week event today. Hosted by Caroline Bowler, CEO of local cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets, the NFT proponent touched on several topics, including the true value of Yuga Lab’s BAYC NFT, the limitations of Web2, and Animoca’s ever-growing portfolio of companies and investments.
Also, I just chatted with @ysiu and @ajamesbragg in the same week. Which. A. Buzz.@BTCMarkets @BlockchainAUS @animocabrands #BlockchainWeek2022 https://t.co/HoVFOAlIQ4 — Caroline Bowler (@CaroBowler) March 23, 2022
When asked about Animoca Brands’ roadmap, Siu said the firm is still “very early” in achieving its long-term goal of an open Metaverse, but emphasized the importance of speeding up the process due to the risk of large, centralized firms. dominance in the virtual realm:
“You will continue to see us use this approach as we, as you know, try to move companies to Web3. This is largely driven by the question “how do we speed up the adoption of web3?” because one of the biggest risks, as we see it, is that if people do not move into space fast enough, then inadvertently we may also create another kind of elite.
In addition to his point of view, Siu sounded the alarm to large firms that do not want a decentralized and open Web3 movement, as he argued that many of their business models are built on the monetization of user data.
“There are very large centralized organizations that do not want this to happen because they are making money from our data.[с их точки зрения] The data is not a property that we should own. Data is a property that they have to own and they can manipulate it because that’s how the whole business works,” he said, adding that “from our point of view, we should be concerned about it.”
Related: How NFTs create a ‘beautiful cycle’ between artists and fans
The main way to counter the Metaverse’s centralized firms, Sioux says, is to connect as many people as possible to Web3 until it becomes a kind of “global trading structure” as users become accustomed to the freedom and ability to own a stake in Web3. space.
He again warned that the opposite move would strengthen centralized firms and give them greater control over metaverse space in the future, prolonging what had already happened in the web2 era:
“If most of us decide, you know, to just exist in a closed metaverse or a completely closed ecosystem, then we are actually living by their rules. And it would be hard to break out because they end up kind of manipulating and controlling that network effect, as we’ve seen today with some of the big tech companies.”
Why are #NFTs the backbone of the #OpenMetaverse? In case you missed @pgbiz London 2022 in February, here’s a recap of the meeting with Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chairman @ysiu. Available on YouTube: https://t.co/LPvr5HqT1m pic.twitter.com/RTDf46Ozb9 – Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) March 21, 2022
