Welcome to 2022, the Meta-Crypto Universe!

Without doubt two of the biggest buzz phrases this year are Metaverse and Cryptocurrency, or just Crypto. While we’ve all heard of them, very few of us know much about it, so I thought I would supply a few helpful hints on the topic.

To quote Wikipedia, “A metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, it is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets.

And according to iTrustCapital, “Cryptocurrency, sometimes called crypto-currency or crypto, is any form of currency that exists digitally or virtually and uses cryptography to secure transactions. Cryptocurrencies don’t have a central issuing or regulating authority, instead using a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units”.

You might ask what one has to do with the other. The primary similarity is that both live in a hypothetical digital AI world of reality and are about to attract billions of dollars in D & R and investments.

But there are plenty of things to review before you jump in with both feet to either of them. The first obstacle may be determining which ones to engage with and which ones to shy away from, because there are many different cryptos and meta platforms being developed, and they are not necessarily transferrable from one world to another.

While companies like Google, Meta, and Apple all working on their own universes, these folks are competitors and typically don’t play well with one another. So, unless you have enormous marketing budgets you could find yourself with quite a dilemma. If you are planning a Meta campaign, do you bank on the sheer subscriber numbers of Meta (formerly Facebook), the power of the web with Google, or the number of billions of devices with Apple? Because in these early stages the price tag to play isn’t going to be cheap and the results and technology aren’t mature enough to justify the ROI in many instances.

Crypto already has many players in the mix but the big boys are just moving into the space. Companies like Target, Walmart and Amazon are working on their own currency, and at this stage have no intentions of intermingling their currencies.

So, what should your business do? You want to be ahead of the curve and one of the first to utilize such technology. After all, these are two of the next technologies to dominate.

My advice is simple. At this time, don’t jump too quickly or you may be jumping right off a cliff. Make sure to take your time, educate yourself, don’t just listen to the ones trying to sell you. And let both areas breath, like a fine wine or give them time to simmer, like homemade sauce.

Both techs are truly still in their infancy stage. They will become more secure and more certain, and eventually more cost effective. Sometimes the smartest decision you can make is to wait, be a spectator and let someone spend their money going first and fail.