Apple's Vision Pro comes out, is the Web3 metaverse facing revival or destruction?

Written by: Sander Lutz

Compilation: Deep Tide TechFlow

Image source: Generated by Unbounded AI tool

The metaverse is dying. Some say it's dead. Then Apple appeared.

On Monday, the tech giant unveiled its Vision Pro head-mounted display, a cutting-edge, immersive mixed reality device that Apple claims will single-handedly usher in a new era of "spatial computing."

During its 46-minute presentation, Apple didn't use the term "metaverse" once. It doesn’t mention blockchain, nor does it delve into Vision Pro’s compatibility with tokenized digital assets (NFTs) — an obvious use case designed to bring virtual objects to life. Instead, it portrays head-mounted displays as a natural extension of the iPhone or Mac into the third dimension.

In Web3 circles, however, such signals do not go unnoticed. Apple can design product launches any way it sees fit, but we take for granted that the most valuable company in the world is entering the Metaverse.

“It’s a virtual reality head-mounted display, they don’t call it ‘virtual reality,’” Danny Greene, director of Yuga Labs, the parent company of the Meebits NFT brand, told Decrypt. "It's not that different from what Meta has been building and talking about — but it's positioned differently."

When Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021 and soon poured tens of billions of dollars into Metaverse infrastructure, the move was met with anger and outright hostility from many of the decentralized Metaverse builders. Web3 creators have long dreamed of developing a virtual utopia in which businesses would finally be forced to relinquish control of user assets and data.

Many of these builders, who call themselves "open metaverse" advocates, see Meta's ambitions as an existential threat to the decentralized fantasy world. Jeff Zirlin, Web3 executive and co-founder of Axie Infinity, described the open Metaverse advocates' battle with Meta as "the battle for the future of the Internet."

However, many Web3 builders this week welcomed Apple's announcement as an extremely positive development for the Metaverse, one that looks poised to give much-needed legitimacy to the concept of the Metaverse as a viable technological reality.

"With this product, Apple is creating a mass adoption bridge to the Metaverse," said Brian Evans, founder of Web3 venture studio BDE. "As digital assets become more accessible, Web3 can now become a household term."

Other open metaverse advocates express similar enthusiasm.

Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of "The Sandbox" metaverse games, mentioned, "For The Sandbox and the open metaverse, this is a 100% good thing."

Yemel Jardi, executive director of Decentraland, another well-known decentralized metaverse game platform, also expressed the same view.

"I think it's a positive for the industry," he said. "The Open Metaverse needs to be based on hardware. We want to have better hardware."

But those platforms often work against giants like Meta, which seek to be the gatekeepers of metaverse experiences. The defining feature of an “open” metaverse is that digital assets — virtual clothing, props, or data — can flow in and out of it freely, as NFTs or digital collectibles that live on the blockchain, rather than any company’s platform .

The flip side of this model is the current state of the game: For example, any asset you buy in Fortnite can only exist within Fortnite. Many worried that Meta would build a similar virtual proprietary wall around its Metaverse.

Apple has hinted at its willingness to allow on-chain assets to flow through apps that live on its devices, though the company has made no promises about its yet-to-be-debuted visionOS app store guidelines.

After years of resistance to apps that integrate NFTs, Apple last fall officially allowed the trading and purchase of NFTs in iOS apps, but with one important limitation: Apple will impose a tax of up to 30% on any such transactions. Just like for other types of in-app purchases.

The decision drew widespread condemnation in the crypto community. Apple's guidelines currently state that apps must not "use their own mechanisms to unlock ... encrypted currencies and encrypted wallets." Developers developing NFT-based iOS apps must effectively abstract away cryptographic elements and bundle fees into asset prices.

If Vision Pro becomes the primary means by which people access the Metaverse, Apple will decide how much decentralization is allowed within this novel virtual space by controlling the apps in its visionOS app store.

Many factors, such as the rapidly deteriorating U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory environment, could easily force Apple’s leadership to evict on-chain assets from the visionOS app store. And Web3 builders don't have any way of fighting back, at least on Vision Pro.

Some Web3 metaverse builders, such as Justin Mellilo, are addressing these potential problems by ensuring their metaverse platforms are not limited to Apple.

Mellilo is the co-founder and CEO of Monaverse, a decentralized metaverse platform and social media network. While he's excited about Apple's announcement and plans to bring the Monaverse to Vision Pro, he's also wary of making his startup dependent on Apple.

"We definitely look forward to continuing to maintain web accessibility," Mellilo said. "I think it's really important for decentralization."

But what if Apple is right? What if this week really marks the dawn of the spatial computing age?

This is where the double-edged sword of Apple's entry into the metaverse lies. After a year of general metaverse disillusionment, many Web3 creators seem to be counting on Vision Pro to reignite interest in the immersive internet.

But the more people get excited about Apple, the more "spatial computing" becomes synonymous with "Vision Pro," and the more unfettered power Apple will have to dictate this in the same way that "smartphone" is replaced by "iPhone." How decentralized the future version of the Internet is going to be.

Some open metaverse advocates, like The Sandbox's Borget, argue that the Vision Pro will be so entangled in Web3 apps and blockchain-powered experiences that Apple has no choice but to embrace the technology.

"The more [Web3 use cases] there are, the more Apple is forced to recognize the importance of users actually owning their assets," he said.

If one looks at the reaction to the Vision Pro, Borget's ideas seem to be well conveyed in crypto circles. We may need you, Apple, but you need us too. This sentiment is certainly a shift from the idealistic rhetoric of the early Web3 movement - at its core, dreaming of weakening the grip of centralized Web2 tech giants on market share and user data by creating a host of new products and projects controlled by users themselves .

That future isn't quite there yet, at least not on a massive scale. Perhaps some compromises may have to be made in order to achieve that future. Maybe you need a Vision Pro to give the public access to the Metaverse. And who can make the Vision Pro, except Apple.

“The power of encryption and blockchain is that it’s trustless and doesn’t require an intermediary,” Meebits’ Green said. “But when you use a headset that’s been created by a centralized company that’s invested 10 years of research and hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, there’s some kind of compromise.”

Maybe the Web2 giants won't be destroyed by the Web3 revolution. Maybe they're just temporarily in it. But the key advantage of Web3 over Web2 is always being one step ahead. The reassuring crypto tagline: "We're very early."

It is no longer early days. A $2.8 trillion company is knocking on the door. Once you let it in, who ultimately owns the house?