The concept of the metaverse has gained a lot of prominence in recent years, with web2 and web3 projects alike starting to build immersive virtual worlds with ambitions of changing how we interact with each other online.
When it comes to web3 projects, we’re commonly seeing crypto tokens and NFTs being used to foster virtual economies and give users ownership of assets in the metaverse. This has created some interesting opportunities to invest in the metaverse sector.
If you think the metaverse has a lot of potential in the future, there’s quite a few different ways that you can get exposure to the growth of this sector. In this article, we’ll show you 5 ways to make money in the metaverse. However, you have to keep in mind that the metaverse is a relatively new sector, which means there’s a lot of uncertainty and volatility in investments related to it.
How to make money in the metaverse?
First off, we should clarify that there’s no sure-fire to make money in the metaverse. As is almost always the case, you’ll have to take on some risk if you want the chance of making a profit. We’ll present a range of methods in which you can invest in the metaverse or speculate on the growth of specific metaverse projects.
Most of the methods outlined below are related to web3 metaverse projects, but we also highlight one way of you can potentially profit from the metaverse efforts from traditional tech companies.
Without further ado, let’s get started by explaining the best 5 ways of making money in the metaverse:
- Trade metaverse NFTs
- Invest in metaverse real estate
- Trade tokens associated with metaverse projects
- Play-to-earn opportunities
- Invest in metaverse-related stocks
Trade metaverse NFTs
The vast majority of web3 metaverse projects have NFTs associated with them. This can include things like avatars, clothing, items, land, real estate, membership passes, and more. It’s possible to make profit with these NFTs if you buy NFTs from a project you believe will gain traction in the future, which could result in the project’s NFTs increasing in value.
You can trade metaverse NFTs on marketplaces like OpenSea, where you’ll find a wide range of NFTs listed for sale. In addition, some metaverse projects like The Sandbox and Decentraland have their own marketplaces.
Some examples of metaverse NFTs to trade are Otherdeeds for Otherside, Otherside Kodas, The Sandbox NFTs, Decentraland NFTs and RTFKT NFTs. When choosing which metaverse NFTs you’re going to trade, it’s important to stick with projects that have sufficient liquidity. If you’re buying NFTs from a collection that has low trading volume, it could be difficult to sell the NFTs when you choose to do so.
Invest in metaverse land and digital real estate
This way of investing in the metaverse is similar to the previous method we highlighted, although it involves a more long-term buy and hold approach. Just like in the real world, it’s also possible to digital real estate and land in the metaverse.
In many metaverse worlds, land owners can create customized experiences on their land and showcase them to other users. In addition, some projects offer land monetization options which can potentially represent a form of passive income in the metaverse.
In most cases, metaverse land and digital real estate is represented with NFTs. Some examples of metaverses where you can buy land include:
- Otherside
- Decentraland
- The Sandbox
- Voxels
- Somnium Space
When buying land in the metaverse, it’s important to keep a couple of things in mind. The first is liquidity—avoid projects that are not seeing a lot of trading activity, as that’s an indicator that interest from users is low. You should consider the location of the virtual plot of land you’re buying. Ideally, the plot would be near points of interest that other players are likely to visit.
If you’re interested in learning more about buying digital real estate, we provide a guide on how to find and buy land in the metaverse.
Trade tokens associated with metaverse projects
Many metaverse projects have tokens that are used for various purposes—in most cases, these tokens function as in-game currency, governance tokens, loyalty tokens, or a combination of all three. For example, The Sandbox has the SAND token, and Decentraland has the MANA token.
Such tokens can perform well if there’s growing interest in the specific project, or even the metaverse sector as a whole. We saw an example of the latter scenario when tech giant Facebook rebranded to Meta, which provided a boost to practically all crypto tokens related to the metaverse.
There’s also tokens that aren’t directly connected to a specific metaverse world, but are instead related to projects that are involved in the metaverse and related sectors. Examples of such tokens include Enjin Coin, Magic and Ultra. On CoinCodex, we provide a detailed list of metaverse tokens.
Invest in metaverse-related stocks
If you’re interested in investing in the metaverse outside of the crypto and blockchain space, you can buy stock in companies that are involved with the metaverse. Perhaps the most obvious choice here would be Meta, which has been allocating a significant amount of resources to the metaverse. Other examples of publicly-traded companies that could benefit from the growth of the metaverse include tech companies like Apple and Nvidia, and even some less obvious picks like Nike.
If you want to get exposure to multiple companies simultaneously, there’s a number of metaverse ETFs that you can choose from. Due to the improved diversification offered by such products, metavserse ETFs might be the best option for anyone that’s looking to gain exposure to the metaverse through stocks.
Play-to-earn opportunities
The concept of play-to-earn refers to games where users can earn something valuable, for example tokens, while playing. Such models are typically used as an incentive to attract players, and tend to become less “lucrative” over time. However, it’s possible to make a nice profit if you’re an early participant in a play-to-earn game that grows in popularity later.
Generally speaking, you shouldn’t expect to earn major profits with play-to-earn games. However, it can be a nice bonus if you already enjoy and want to play the game that’s offering play-to-earn rewards.
The first play-to-earn game that made a major impact was Axie Infinity. However, there’s now dozens of games where players can earn tokens.
Making money in the metaverse — a breakdown
Let’s take a look at a breakdown of the different ways of making money in the metaverse that we’ve highlighted in this article.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| Metaverse NFTs |
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| Metaverse land |
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| Metaverse tokens |
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| Metaverse-related stocks |
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| Play-to-earn |
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The bottom line
Hopefully, our article has provided you with some ideas of how to make money in the metaverse.
As you can see, there’s quite a few ways in which you can potentially make a profit. The choice of which method to use will depend on your risk tolerance and the amount you’re looking to invest. The simplest way of making money in the metavers is by buying metaverse-related NFTs and tokens and hopefully selling them at a higher price later. Alternatively, you can explore investing in the stock of companies that would benefit from the growth of the metaverse.
As always, conduct your own research before making any investment decisions and never invest more than you are willing to lose. Good luck in your metaverse journey!