Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin doesn’t seem to believe in Meta’s metaverse. He’s not alone

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said on Twitter that someday, a metaverse would definitely be created. Still, as you can understand from his statement, the current attempts to deliberately create this technology may not lead to anything. In particular, the Ethereum creator doesn’t believe in the success of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse. And Meta’s colossal losses have nothing to do with it. 

These statements were made amid the news of huge losses of Facebook Reality Labs (FRL), a division of Meta, which produces software and hardware for the metaverse. In the second quarter of 2022, the division incurred a loss of $2.8 billion. As a result, for the past Q1 and Q2 combined, this figure exceeded the mark of $5.77 billion. We should also remember that in 2021 FRL went into deficit by $10.2 billion. 

In reaction to this, Buterin criticized the methods by which venture capitalists are trying to develop the virtual world. The developer then joined the discussion and said that Meta’s efforts would lead nowhere and were destined to fail. He noted that his criticism was more profound than mere dissatisfaction with the actions of large companies. 

“My critique is deeper than ‘Metaverse Wikipedia will beat Metaverse Encyclopedia Britannica.’ We don’t know the definition of ‘the metaverse’ yet; it’s far too early to know what people want. So, anything Facebook (means Meta) creates now will misfire,” he said.

It turns out that, according to Vitalik Buterin, it will be impossible to create a metaverse until we understand what it is and what it should be. Don’t we already know that?

What is a metaverse? 

The first concept of a metaverse appeared in 1992 in Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash. According to the book’s plot, in the XXI century, corporatocracy reigns on Earth — all authority belongs to large corporations — and in addition to the real world, which is wrapped in chaos and split into several states-corporations, there is another — virtual. These people interact with each other in the same way. The natural and virtual worlds are intertwined: events in one can influence what happens in the other. The same book was the source of the term “avatar.” 

The idea of creating a similar place, a kind of better parallel world, is exactly what many companies are doing now. Among them are: 

• Meta;
• Microsoft;
• Binance;
• Epic Games;
• Tencent;
• Google. 

The metaverse should: 

• be unlimited in time;
• reflect real life without dependence on external factors;
• have its internal economy;
• exist separately from the real world, but at the same time be woven into it;
• be able to transfer content from one platform to another;
• allow users to create content for the metaverse.

So, it turns out that the first one to fulfill these conditions is the one who will take over the market. The main question is when. 

Not soon? 

Buterin’s latest comment about the metaverse agreed with his June’s tweet where the Ethereum co-founder said that people are still having trouble defining the metaverse. 

“It feels like it’s still in the stage of being a brand name that anyone can claim to describe their thins if the thing feels ‘meta’ or virtual enough,” said Vitalik Buterin. 

Moreover, a fully working metaverse that any virtual user can access does not yet exist. Creating an immersive metaverse will require innovative types of display technologies, which may not be possible at the moment. Moreover, developers would have to integrate spacious sound and high-quality holograms. 

Buterin also notes that the metaverse attempts to reproduce “some aspects of reality” in the virtual world, although these aspects are “opposites.” 

However, the head of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg clearly believes in the success of his venture. He is sure that despite all the expenses and difficulties, the investment will pay off often. We are talking about hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars. It’s undoubtedly worth it. 

Who else doesn’t believe in the metaverse? 

Satya Nadella (Microsoft) 

The Ethereum co-founder is not the only one who does not believe in the metaverse. For example, Microsoft previously left the “metaverse race.” The company’s CEO Satya Nadella said he did not believe in virtuality, and the development of HoloLens 3, a mixed reality smart glasses, was halted back in 2021. 

Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX) 

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also expressed his opinion on the idea of the metaverse. The businessman doesn’t believe in a bright future for technology, at least in the form in which it is presented now.

“I can’t imagine anyone walking around all day with a screen strapped to their face,” he said.

He dislikes that people have to be in virtual reality helmets for a long time (or maybe all the time) because otherwise, there is no way to get into the metaverse. The businessman also mocked the assumption that users would willingly wear headsets during the day to wander the futuristic virtual space.