Nonfungible token-based projects like Loot and The N Project have helped spike interest in the Metaverse to an all-time high, raising hopes again that blockchain will finally break through to the masses. Will it, or is history doomed to repeat itself? The problem is that the very things that capture the imagination of the public are the very same things that ultimately degrade the performance of the underlying platforms and raise barriers to entry higher than ever. In this article, I’ll explore the fundamental issues responsible for creating this dynamic with the goal of helping address these issues once and for all.
The fundamental problem is that legacy blockchain technology — specifically Ethereum — introduces massive barriers to entry that hinder the ability of the Metaverse to onboard new users. These issues are then exacerbated by the failure to allow users of the network to statically price their network usage.