\n<\/p>\n
Joe Lubin, the Ethereum co-founder and CEO of crypto software giant ConsenSys, is confident that the metaverse will one day encompass the full human experience. But he\u2019s equally confident that day is still years away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think [using the metaverse today] is a little bit like logging on to the internet in 1994,\u201d Lubin told <\/span>Decrypt<\/span><\/i> in an exclusive video interview earlier this month. \u201cWhere you would dial the internet, and I used to go get a coffee and breakfast and then I\u2019d come back, and my email would be downloaded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Though Lubin acknowledges that the user experience currently offered by metaverse projects is comparably clunky, he\u2019s adamant that the metaverse\u2014a future, immersive version of the internet\u2014will become as ubiquitous as email.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe experience of being in Web3 isn’t as compelling as it will be pretty soon,\u201d Lubin said. \u201cThat’s when the masses will be there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The ConsenSys CEO\u2019s comments come during a period of unprecedented interest in the metaverse from some of the most powerful companies in the world. Meta, formerly Facebook, has fully reoriented its efforts towards <\/span>dominating the metaverse<\/span><\/a>; <\/span>Apple<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Disney<\/span><\/a> are quietly exploring the space; even traditional brick-and-mortar brands like <\/span>WalMart<\/span><\/a> are diving in, head-first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite forays into virtual worlds by mega-corporations and <\/span>web3-native companies<\/span><\/a> alike, however, the metaverse still has yet to catch on as the accessible, entertaining, and smooth-functioning virtual haven it was initially promised to be.<\/span><\/p>\n For example, despite going all-in on the metaverse, Meta has only <\/span>staggering losses in the tens of billions<\/span><\/a> to show for its work. A report surfaced <\/span>earlier this month<\/span><\/a> that the division responsible for building Meta\u2019s virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds, has entered a \u2018quality lockdown\u2019 until the end of the year, as the platform is so unpopular and difficult to navigate that even Meta\u2019s own employees won\u2019t use it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some have attributed these early bumps in the road to the simple fact that technology<\/span> needs to spend a few years catching up<\/span><\/a> to the ambitions of metaverse builders before immersive online worlds can truly flourish. Lubin\u2019s Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin <\/span>has stated<\/span><\/a> that while he believes the metaverse will one day dominate commerce and culture, he doesn\u2019t believe \u201cany of the existing corporate attempts to intentionally create the metaverse are going anywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lubin similarly thinks that current understandings of the metaverse, and attempts at building it, may not end up working out the first time around. But that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s any less bullish on the promise of platforms that facilitate an immersive online existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCall it the metaverse, we will spend a lot of our time online,\u201d Lubin said. \u201cAnd our money and our work and our activities will be realized in either augmented reality or virtual reality, or at least with tools that enable us to live rich and hopefully compelling experiences online.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n