Apple is scheduled to release its highly-anticipated mixed-reality headset in the coming weeks, a development that some believe could breathe fresh life into the metaverse industry.
In January, the native tokens of blockchain-based metaverse projects Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND) witnessed significant surges in price, due partly to swirling rumors about Apple’s venture into mixed reality.
This trend was pointed out in a May 15 tweet from independent developer Udi Wertheimer, who in a backhanded comment to the absurdity of influencer-driven memecoins, spoke of the upcoming release as a potential driver of metaverse token prices.
CT is completely oblivious to the fact that Apple is about to launch a mixed reality headset in 3 weeks
Metaverse shitcoins are going to pump so hard it’s not even funny
But you morons keep buying influencer coins
Ok
— Udi Wertheimer ♂️ (@udiWertheimer) May 15, 2023
In conversation with Cointelegraph, eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert believes the new headset will set the markets ablaze, owing in large part to Apple’s proven ability to deliver high-quality, market-shifting products, stating:
“When Apple does it, they usually do it right.”
That being said, the analyst cast some doubts that the launch of the new headset will be the “crucial moment” that would revive metaverse-related cryptocurrencies.
It’s also worth mentioning that while many crypto market participants immediately correlate the concept of virtual reality with “metaverse tokens,” Decentraland is still in the process of building out its VR capabilities and The Sandbox previously told Cointelegraph it has “no immediate or future plans” to build out VR.
Speaking to this point, Gilbert, like many others notes that a fully immersive metaverse experience is probably still a “long way off” especially when looking at the gap between the initial launch of the iPhone and the availability of apps that fully realized the hardware’s potential.
In his view, the performance of metaverse tokens like MANA and Sandbox’s SAND token will be more dependent on the widespread uptake of the metaverse amongst everyday users.
“The bottom line is that we are still very early in the metaverse world, and their performance will rely heavily on the popularity of the Metaverse in the future.
The metaverse and the cryptocurrencies associated with it, including MANA and SAND exploded in popularity during the 2021 crypto bull run as a myriad of projects…
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