Facebook’s name change to “Meta” boosts cryptocurrencies; understand

With Facebook’s rebranding announcement made last week, a little-known cryptocurrency is already reeling in anticipation of an expanding metaverse.

On Saturday, the cryptocurrency mana, used in games to buy and sell virtual land, hit a record high of $4.16, more than 400% above where it was valued earlier in the week. Its total market value peaked at $7.52 billion.

It has since dropped to about $2.99 ​​per token by Monday afternoon, with a total value of about $5.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Little-known encryption was established in 2017 as the national token for Decentraland, a virtual reality platform where users can buy and sell digital properties to browse and build.

Investing in the metaverse

The peak hit by the mana currency came just days after Facebook announced that it is changing the name to Meta as part of its focus on developing the metaverse, an as-yet-unrealized virtual reality ecosystem where users can interact with each other. others through avatars.

Metaverse is a generic term for all types of virtual reality platforms and multiplayer game worlds, such as Oculus VR and Fortnight headphones.

The change announced by Facebook means “there will likely be a lot of development time spent on [Meta] building some version of a metaverse where these tokens will find value,” says Chris Kline, COO and co-founder of Bitcoin IRA, to CNN Business. “So, you’re seeing a group meeting like mana.”

“This is great news for the cryptographic ecosystem because it’s the other layer’s dominant understanding of ‘what cryptography’,” added Kline.

Bitcoin prices soared in October, reaching an all-time high of nearly $67,000, before falling later in the month.

Some investors then turned their attention to the dogecoin-inspired shiba inu, another cryptocurrency meme, achieving a record valuation of about $26 billion.

The craze for lesser-known alternative cryptocurrencies is not just limited to shiba inu, dogecoin and mana. There is no shortage of cryptocurrencies that are advancing into new registrations.

Sand, the token for The Sandbox, another virtual world that allows users to create, buy and sell digital assets, also rose over the weekend to $2.38, an increase of nearly 200%.

Sand’s total market value peaked at $2.13 billion on Saturday. It’s another sign that investors are interested in capitalizing on the metaverse economy.

“The Facebook announcement has caught investors’ attention, in my opinion, on the economic potential here,” Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at Genesis Trading, told CNN Business.

Technological developments in recent years, including a focus on the metaverse, combined with cultural shifts that were accelerated by the pandemic, have left investors eager to find the next bitcoin or ethereum, according to Acheson.

“Obviously, nothing will boost bitcoin or ethereum per se, but this kind of return [é o que os investidores] are looking for it,” Acheson said.

“In other words, we know bitcoin and ethereum have fantastic returns, so let’s go a little further down the risk curve — with risk being a relative term here — and go for some of these more volatile but more potential tokens. ”

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