Nowadays, everything is easier when done with technology, especially if it features crypto in the metaverse. Anything from payments to digital services to online retail to communication is accessible through the internet, a smartphone, or cloud services. Thus, it is increasingly challenging to pry consumers away from virtual-first platforms. Consumers not only prefer that interaction more but also expect it in their day to day engagements today.
Technology and innovative solutions aim to provide a remarkable customer experience (CX). Both ensure faster, easier, and more convenient experiences at every point of the buyer’s journey.
Fostering Cryptocurrency Adoption in the Metaverse
Recently, we have seen the development of the internet into metaverses, or the immersive virtual worlds that exist alongside and mirror our real world. The metaverse has its own economy, supported by virtual businesses, entertainment (gaming), and assets. In our physical world, we use fiat or real money for transactions, while the metaverse uses cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency designed to work through virtual networks, making it sustainable without central authorities like governments or banks. It is recorded on online ledgers called blockchains, which also attach unique information to assets and wallets. Consumers who prefer using it do so because digital currency is supposedly impossible to counterfeit, mostly anonymous, minimizes fraud, is decentralized, and very convenient.
Most virtual spaces — including games and marketplaces — require a crypto wallet to maximize what they offer. Users may need universally accepted cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, or use a digital service to help them manage their crypto coins and assets. First-time users may need to use real money first to purchase coins. Then, they may grow their wallets through investing, trading, buying, and selling crypto in the metaverse (or not) assets and tokens.
Meanwhile, some platforms require cryptocurrency exchange for in-game or in-platform finance tokens. These specialized marketplaces work similarly to stock trading services and allow users to buy and sell their crypto and assets. Native token owners may value the exclusivity since the use of the token is contained in the platform. However, other platforms may not accept these tokens the same way more universal coins are. Popular examples of native tokens are MANA (Decentraland) and SAND (Sandbox).
Using Crypto Payment for Better CX
Fiat money or physical currency does not hold power in a metaverse as it does in the real world. Instead, cryptocurrency has purchasing power here, often coursed through available crypto wallets or mobile currency services. One of its favored uses is for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Crypto in the metaverse payment transactions are already booming within virtual spaces, where users can purchase in-game items, virtual land parcels, artworks, and many other forms of minted NFTs. Earnings from selling land parcels or limited-edition branded items can also be cashed out as fiat money. Therefore, for its users, NFTs are not just collected virtual artifacts but investments, which can be monetized once minted.
For example, in Decentraland or Sandbox, two popular metaverses with real estate sections, users can create experiences and games, or build assets on their parcels, which they mint as NFTs to sell, auction, or trade with other users.
Online retail is also adapting from mobile-first to virtual-first to meet changing CX expectations. We see popular real-world brands in fashion, sports, and retail partnering with metaverses to offer exclusive items for avatars, trading, and development. Numerous brands are also starting to offer crypto payment options for virtual and physical items to increase buyer interest and engagement.
Innovating to Engage Consumers
The idea of adapting cryptocurrency and digital wallets is to support painless CX for as many consumers as possible. After all, multi-cloud services require multi-cloud strategies to address differing experiences in virtual spaces. Businesses must be agile to face shifts in CX as cloud-driven initiatives and innovations rally on.
Anything new, especially in the tech landscape, will bring up a lot of concerns, questions, and help needed. And we are just on the tip of the metaverse iceberg. Businesses attaching their names to advancing tech must have a contingency plan on creating an enjoyable and safe CX. Soon enough, there will be a growing threat of fraud, bad sales, and negative user experience on virtual platforms — especially true for online payment portals, including crypto in the metaverse wallets. This is where the CX and robust tools surrounding the tech platforms will mitigate these risks and lead to a continued frictionless user experience.
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