Metacoin (MTC) exists to leverage as many emerging concepts as possible. Despite building on IBM’s much-touted Hyperledger platform, Metacoin brings little innovation to the table. The name evokes virtual worlds and advanced technology – but the reality falls far below this lofty ideal. MTC is ostensibly a Layer-1 protocol built using Hyperledger, with the bells and whistles one would expect from such a project. Yet, they miss the critical component of a new platform.
For Metacoin to compete with other blockchain platforms, they would need either innovative new functions or drastically superior technology. Ethereum created smart contracts and the Binance SmartChain wields Binance’s considerable power. Metacoin, in contrast, is a new project with nebulous goals and no clear backing. This leaves their native “MRC-10” protocol in the unenviable position of trying to pry market share away from two of the most dominant forces in cryptocurrency.
What is Hyperledger?
Hyperledger is an ongoing open-source project originally launched by the Linux Foundation. Over time, prominent tech giants IBM and Intel joined the platform – for better or worse. Hyperledger offers an increasingly wide array of tools for developers looking to expand into blockchain technology. While these tools are critical for creating a healthy blockchain industry, their use alone is not enough to keep a project like Metacoin in the limelight.
If Metacoin wants to succeed long-term, they must branch out into new use cases – or develop technology on top of Hyperledger that would allow considerably faster or more secure transactions. Currently, they offer neither of these features, while simultaneously possessing no features related to the similarly popular “metaverse” concept.
The Metaverse Challenge
The concept of a metaverse is not new, but Facebook’s pivot towards the technology brought unintended side effects. A major subset of the blockchain industry followed suit, announcing metaverse and metaverse-adjacent projects to capitalize on the associated hype. Ultimately, these actions are not sustainable and unlikely to bear fruit.
The metaverse is a complex, massive system that requires considerable financial and political capital to realize. Projects focused solely on the metaverse – including Sandbox and Decentraland – positioned themselves in a way to capitalize on metaverse technology. Blockchain technology itself is not a key component of the metaverse, and Metacoin offers little that would benefit metaverse users.
