Metaverse, Multiverse and Chaos in Decentra-land
'The multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little...' - Doctor Strange
When Marvel first toyed with the idea of multiverses in this years series Loki, I must say it all felt dystopian. Since then, 3 different companies, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Atlantic have taken humans (astronauts) to the edge of the atmosphere and it seems like we have boldly embraced the idea that there is more life beyond earth and our universe.
Spoiler alert 🚨, if you haven't watched Spider-Man, No Way Home you might consider going back now 😬.
Return of the Billion
Spider-Man might not be able to return home as he knows or save everyone he cares about, but he sure has saved theatre believers. The movie which was released on December 17th had the 2nd highest opening weekend in Marvel history with $260m behind only The Avengers Endgame. Better yet, the movie has just crossed $1billion making it the first movie since 2019 to achieve that feat.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/26/media/spider-man-no-way-home-box-office-billion/index.html
You might want to have a look at those Disney ($DIS) shares again. And in case you are going to the cinema to watch Spider-Man, stay for both the post credit scenes.
Just how much does land cost in the metaverse? Asking for a friend.
They say change happens slowly at first then all at once. The concept about the metaverse was first mentioned in the novel Snow Crash in 1992 by Neal Stephenson. In the novel, the protagonist Hiro moves in and out of a place called the metaverse, which appears to be a small-scale urban landscape created via code where users can have lifelike experiences. Since then it's pretty much been ignored until this year when it all exploded, driven in part by Zuckerberg deciding that he needed a name change for his massive empire.
Now everywhere you look you might see something close to or related to the metaverse. For instance, are you looking to buy some land. Or maybe to get married.
China has also entered the hype with Chinese search engine giant announcing plans to set up its own version of the metaverse called Xi Rang.
If you aren't looking for some land or you don't really fancy getting married in the metaverse, do not worry we have you covered. Hisa App now has a metaverse focused ETF that holds stocks of companies that are at the forefront of building the metaverse. You can easily buy into these companies.
Decentra-land, but is it?
**Not to be confused with Decentraland, a metaverse which promises a virtual world owned by its users where they can create, explore and trade in.
The whole concept of Web3 is built atop the idea that we need to move from centralized massive organization that own, control and benefit the most from user data like FB, Twitter e.t.c to decentralized platforms with no (or loosely held ownership) that transfer control and ownership back to users.
That's where former Twitter CEO comes in 😂.
Since quitting his job a few weeks back Jack has been on a rampage on Twitter destroying all the Web3 enthusiasts who dared get in his way. You might remember that Jack has actually set up a fund to enable the development and uptake of Bitcoin in developing countries in Africa and India. But Bitcoin is part of the Web3 wave? You might ask. Well, according to Jack, all the other protocols that are saying they are built on decentralization aren't really as such since they are actually funded by massive VC money. Hello Marc Andreseen.
Personally, I believe that people building on Web3 have some valid reasons and we should soon start seeing real world use cases. The discourse has of course also helped to spread the word about Web3 more. Only time will tell which argument was right.
And now for some markets.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange remains closed on Monday 27th December for the observation of Boxing Day holiday, or is it Utamaduni Day holiday in Kenya. Trading will resume on Tuesday 28th December 2021.
The US markets reopen on Monday 27th Dec after closing last week on Thursday 23rd Dec. Stay tuned to see how stocks perform towards the end of the year.
What Other Cowries are We collecting?
This being the last trading week of the year gives us some time to reflect on how the markets have performed over the past year. The Omicron variant has really showed that the pandemic is not gone for good although much of the holiday activities have gone unaffected albeit with lots of flight cancellations.
Big Tech ($AAPL, $AZMN) - Apple, Amazon and the other big tech companies always benefit from the holiday season as people flock to Amazon to buy their loved ones gifts which are mostly electronics and home appliances. Do you know that the most gifted item during Christmas on Amazon over the past decade is the Kindle?
Pharma ($MRNA, $PFE, $BNTX) - with the Omicron variant raising infection rates to new highs in some countries, we expect the main Pharma stocks to keep rising as more people advocating for booster shots and vaccination for children under 18 years.
Semiconductors ($AMD, $NVDA) - the semiconductor shortage looks like it will stretch through 2022 and into 2023, meaning we still expect a lot of activity from both AMD and Nvidia. Sidenote: $NVDA stock is up 127% YTD.
NSE ($EQTY, $BRIT) - Equity Bank recently announced that IFC is acquiring the 4.2% shares held by $BRIT in the bank. All eyes will be on the two counters when markets reopen.
Interested in trading US Stocks from Kenya? Download Hisa App today and own part of your favourite companies.
Disclaimer: The writer of this article owns $AAPL, $AMD, $MRNA, $PFE and $NVDA shares. This article does not constitute any investment recommendations. Investors and the general public are advised to do their own research before making any investment decision.