## The Next Big Thing

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [The Next Big Thing](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/book-the-next-big-thing-pooja-singh)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/book-the-next-big-thing-pooja-singh/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/book-the-next-big-thing-pooja-singh/index.json)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: POOJA SINGH
- Published: June 1, 2023

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### Book overview and thesis
- Title reviewed: The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball.
- Reviewer: POOJA SINGH, senior financial sector expert in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department.
- Publication context: F&D Magazine, June 2023.
- Central claim: A scalable, interoperable metaverse is coming and will be transformative; the book intersperses pre-Internet anecdotes with contemporary evidence to support this claim.
- Key framing: “Uncertainty and confusion are the features of disruption.”

### Definition and technical components of the metaverse
- The book breaks down the metaverse “concept by concept,” explaining:
  - Networking
  - Computing
  - Virtual world engines (game engines)
  - Interoperability
  - Hardware
  - Payment rails
  - Blockchain
- Web3 and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are examined; the author concludes they are “mired in technical, legal, and cultural barriers.”
- Accessibility point: The metaverse will be browser based and accessible via gaming consoles, PCs, and smartphones, providing “an individual sense of presence” (a digital twin alias/avatar) without requiring a VR headset.

### Economics, scale, and market dynamics
- Gaming industry economics highlighted:
  - Gaming initially categorized as a “$180 billion leisure industry.”
  - The metaverse has potential to alter the “$95 trillion world economy.”
- Demographic and market statistics cited:
  - “Some 75 percent of American children now playing on a single gaming platform.”
  - “140 million potential gamers born each year.”
- Market structure concern: Ball identifies a smartphone duopoly (Google and Apple) that constrains margins of virtual world platforms and impedes interoperability and integration, hindering metaverse-focused technology development.

### Interoperability, competition, and policy implications
- Interoperability argument: Economic logic supports virtual worlds sharing data and interoperating.
- Competitive barrier: Smartphone app store and payment system control by Google and Apple is described as a constraint on metaverse progress.
- Policy recommendation emphasis:
  - Regulatory action to loosen the grip of Google and Apple on payment systems and app stores is called for to promote interoperability and platform development.

### Governance, standards, and future uncertainties
- Governance recommendation: The author calls for governance and standards for the metaverse, analogous to the internet’s common protocols for visual presentation, file loading, graphics, and data.
- Cautionary note: Technology “frequently produces surprises that no one predicts,” underscoring uncertainty about how the metaverse will evolve.
- Reviewer conclusion: The book reinforces the need to act on regulations and standards for the emerging virtual economy “sooner rather than later.”

*F&D Magazine — POOJA SINGH, June 2023.*

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## Content in this bundle

- **The Next Big Thing?**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2023/06/book-the-next-big-thing-pooja-singh_