Citi: Metaverse could grow into a $13 trillion economy

Citi’s ‘Metaverse and Money’ outlook suggests the virtual world ecosystem could grow to encompass 5 billion users.

Citi has released a new report that predicts the Metaverse could grow to reach a total addressable market (TAM) of up to $13 trillion in the next few years.

In its Global Perspectives & Solutions (GPS) report released on Thursday, the bank’s analysts say the spike in interest in the Metaverse has the potential to push the virtual world’s economy to more than ten trillion dollars in the next seven or so years.

A ‘device-agnostic’ Metaverse

As the next iteration of the internet, the Metaverse will combine both physical and digital world reality. The immersive experiences will not be purely Virtual Reality-targeted, but one that’s “device-agnostic.” Per the GPS report, this will allow access via various devices, including smartphones, PCs, and game consoles.

Such a Metaverse could expand quickly and count up to five billion users, the report noted.

“Based on our definition, we estimate the total addressable market for the Metaverse economy could grow to between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030,” the bank said in the report.

A few issues to address 

The concept of the Metaverse is not entirely new, although ‘real’ interest in it only began to take root last year following the explosion of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and other Big Tech companies’ entry into the ecosystem only served to jump the interest across the world.

In 2022, developments in the virtual world space are moving to a stage where a lot is coalescing into Web3. Use cases that continue to gather momentum are in areas such as art, media, and commerce among others.

But while Citi analysts see the Metaverse as “the new iteration of the internet,” they believe there are issues that might need addressing to aid further innovation and growth. 

This will likely be driven by greater attention towards the ecosystem from governments and other global regulators, and the bank believes players within the Metaverse space need to be ready to address issues around money laundering, property rights, and the use of digital assets and decentralised finance (DeFi).

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