The blockchain industry is still moving forward with heavy burdens, but metaverse is booming fast. Especially after Facebook changed its name to Meta, the short-term popularity soared to its peak. In fact, many countries have already begun to actively explore the metaverse, but under the heat, it is difficult to conceal the policy worries. What kind of exploration has each country made on the meta universe? What other policies and regulations applicable to Metaverse have been promulgated?
United States: Take the lead in proposing the concept of “Metaverse”, and supervision is concerned about data security
Americans are very rich in imagination, and their confidence and optimism for the future are driving Americans to continuously explore and innovate. It is these elements that created the soil for the metaverse to take the lead in the United States.In order to further explore the metaverse, the United States established the first metaverse company Roblox. This company believes that at least 8 key characteristics must be met to construct the metaverse:
- identity
- friend
- Immersion
- Anytime, anywhere
- Diversity and low latency
- economy
- civilization
The concept of metaverse has been further refined because of the existence of this company.
After taking the lead in establishing Metaverse, the current CEO of American Internet giant Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced at the Facebook Connect conference last month that Facebook was renamed Meta, detonating Metaverse on a global scale. In the United States, after Facebook changed its name, American companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia announced plans to deploy Metaverse.
While embracing Metaverse, US regulatory agencies focus on data security and privacy protection issues. After all, in Metaverse, whether it is directly provided by users or indirectly generated information data, such as biological characteristics, location and banking information, consumption habits, game habits, etc., belong to the category of data security and privacy protection.
In order to curb data abuse and privacy leakage, US regulatory agencies have taken enforcement actions. In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission imposed a fine of $5 billion on Facebook’s consumer data breaches and imposed stricter privacy restrictions on the social media platform. The heavy blow of the regulatory authorities has forced Internet companies to treat user data more cautiously.
While taking enforcement actions, US regulators put forward ideas about data security. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Brian Quintenz suggested that if the smart contract code is clearly and predictably used by Americans to violate CFTC regulations, the code developer of the smart contract may be prosecuted. This proposal of the regulatory authority has aroused widespread concern about data security during the development of blockchain projects.
The United States is a pioneer in the field of metaverse. Moreover, US regulatory agencies focus on data security and privacy protection issues.
South Korea: The government has the fastest response to the metaverse and is actively exploring the metaverse
On a global scale, the South Korean government has the fastest response to Metaverse and has established the Metaverse Association. According to October data, more than 200 Korean companies, including Samsung, have joined the association.
In addition, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the capital of South Korea, recently announced that it will create a “Metaverse Platform” to provide public services to citizens. By then, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will become the first local government in South Korea to provide a Metaverse service platform.
The South Korean government is also exploring ways to apply Metaverse to the tourism industry. According to the “Recovery and Leap Forward Plan for the Tourism Industry” recently finalized by the Korean government. The South Korean government will use the Metaspace platform to build a “Korea Tourism Universe Platform” that integrates South Korea’s main attractions and locations for popular film and television dramas. And promote the “dual track” system of virtual tourism such as Metaverse and smart tourism of actual visitors.
With the support of the government, the Metaverse ETF is booming in South Korea. Data show that in October this year alone, South Korea launched four new ETFs focused on metaverse. In addition, this year the Korean Won Universe ETF attracted a total of approximately US$300 million in capital inflows. By the end of this year, the scale of these funds is expected to exceed $600 million.
South Korea is an excellent student in the field of Metaverse, and the government’s active exploration has created good policy conditions for the development of Metaverse in this country.
Russia: Putin pointed out the direction for the development of Metaverse and regarded the formulation of the law as a challenge
In the view of Russia’s current President Putin. The value of Metaverse lies in allowing people to communicate, work, learn, and implement joint innovation projects and commercial projects together no matter how far apart. It is not a destination for people to escape from the imperfect real world.
In his view, in order for Metaverse to play its due value, it is necessary to regulate the economic and social relations of this “new world”. For legal scholars, this is a real challenge. The safety of individuals in cyberspace, as well as the safety of individuals’ virtual avatars in the metaverse, also require legal protection.
Putin has pointed out the direction for the development of the metaverse and expressed his determination to face the challenge. He provided greater imagination for the development of Metaverse in the country.
China: Enterprises are intensively deploying meta-universe, and speculation of risks becomes the focus of supervision
According to the data, as of November 17, China had applied for 4368 “Metaverse” trademarks, involving 689 companies. Among them, 4366 applications were filed in 2021, involving 688 companies. In other words, 99.9% of the “Metaverse” trademarks were registered and applied in 2021. Looking at each month, there were 1995 applications for the “Metaverse” trademark in September of this year, and 1,515 applications for the “Metaverse” trademark in October. This is the peak month for applications this year.
In China, although there is currently no fund product directly named after Metaverse. However, there are 7 yuan universe theme funds in total. Among them, China CSI Animation Game ETF, Cathay Pacific CSI Animation Game ETF, and Huatai Bai Rui CSI Animation Game ETF are the most popular.
It is worth mentioning that, following the establishment of the Metaverse Association in South Korea, the China Mobile Communications Federation’s Metaverse Industry Committee held an unveiling ceremony. It marks the official inauguration of China’s first approved Metaverse Industry Association.
Meta Universe exploded in China, giving birth to many Meta Universe concept stocks. However, when the metaverse concept sector is gaining momentum, regulators have issued letters of concern to companies such as China Qingbao and Tianxia Show that are suspected of being popular with the metaverse, indicating that Chinese regulators are highly concerned about the risks of metaverse speculation.
China’s way of exploring the universe is still on the squatting of trademarks related to the universe. Similar hotness behavior has attracted the attention of regulators.