While many including myself are laughing at Facebook’s rebrand to META, this is a huge sign of validation for the broader web3 industry. For better or for worse, just as memecoins introduce people to what crypto is, Facebook is at the least adding the word “metaverse” to about 2.9 billion MAUs’ vocabulary – and the data shows:

Even if only 1% of those MAUs convert to their Horizon Home platform, that’s still 29 million people engaging in a VR-enabled world, which will eventually cross pollinate into blockchain worlds.

Off the heels of the Ethereum rally which started around the end of September, alt coins as a whole have been on an absolute tear. Pure-Play Metaverses & Supporting Platforms seemed to benefit the most as Decentraland, Decentral Games, The Sandbox & Enjin were all up over 50%, with the broader Metaverse Index (MVI) up over 30% since the October 19th announcement.

Despite Facebook’s $10bn planned CapEx over the next few years & their 2.9bn MAUs, I personally believe the future of interactive technology / metaverse will not be built by bloated dev teams & an infinite balance sheet. It’s going to take skill, passion & nimble leadership, which is why I’d rather bet on the likes of smaller, crypto native players like the ones above. As I said earlier, this is a huge step in the right direction for the broader space, Facebook even got a nice 4% pop on the day of announcement. A lot of institutional ownership & non-crypto native retail will likely add Facebook to their portfolio as a means to get “Metaverse exposure” similarly to how those did buying Coinbase at IPO to get “Bitcoin exposure.”

I’m hopeful & optimistic that this announcement will bring more adoption to Web3, Metaverses & Blockchain Gaming.

If this seems like a lot to grasp at once, I’ve been actively writing aloud on my blog [ manawest.com ] & on twitter @themanawest. You can take a look at a piece I wrote on Why You Should Care About Ethereum here for reference.