## The Next Big Thing?

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [The Next Big Thing?](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2023/june/book-review-singh.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2023/june/book-review-singh.pdf.md)
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### Definition and core thesis
- The book defines the metaverse conceptually, breaking it down "concept by concept" and using analogies to explain networking, computing, virtual world engines (game engines), interoperability, hardware, payment rails, and blockchain.
- The author argues a scalable, interoperable metaverse is coming and will be transformative.
- Emphasis that “uncertainty and confusion are the features of disruption.”

### Technical components and accessibility
- Metaverse technologies covered: networking, computing, virtual world engines (game engines), interoperability, hardware, payment rails, and blockchain.
- Role of Web3 and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) explored; author concludes these are "mired in technical, legal, and cultural barriers."
- Ball clarifies the metaverse will be browser based and accessible via gaming consoles, PCs, and smartphones, offering “an individual sense of presence” (a digital twin alias/avatar) without requiring a VR headset.

### Economics and scale
- Gaming industry characterized initially as a "$180 billion leisure industry."
- Author claims gaming is "poised to alter the $95 trillion world economy" by making economic sense for virtual worlds to share data and interoperate.
- Demographic and platform statistics preserved from the review:
  - "some 75 percent of American children now playing on a single gaming platform"
  - "140 million potential gamers born each year"
- Ball highlights the smartphone duopoly (Google and Apple) as constraining virtual world platform margins and impeding interoperability and integration, which hinders metaverse-focused technology development.

### Governance, standards, and policy implications
- Author calls for regulatory action to loosen Google and Apple’s control over payment systems and app stores.
- Argues for governance and standards for the metaverse analogous to the internet’s common protocols around visual presentation, file loading, graphics, and data.
- Recommends seizing the opportunity to work on regulations and standards for the emerging parallel virtual economy "sooner rather than later."

### Critiques and limitations noted in the review
- Review notes the book mixes historical anecdotes with forward-looking analysis; it's "as much about the past as it is about the future."
- Some critics would argue the absence of an introduction to a functioning metaverse reduces the book’s practical value.
- Author issues caution: "technology frequently produces surprises that no one predicts."

### Key publication details and review attribution
- Matthew Ball, The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 2022, 352 pp., $30.
- Review authored by POOJA SINGH, a senior financial sector expert in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department.

*Review by POOJA SINGH; Matthew Ball, The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 2022, 352 pp., $30.*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2023/june/book-review-singh.pdf_