ThinkTWENTY20

On a bit of a tangent, although still in the broad category of graphics and financial professionals, I want to write about something new, taking from the old, with some tremendous potential. It is a resurgence of virtual worlds and business, sort of a second “Second Life”, called Decentraland. Decentraland takes many of the components of Second Life and brings them into the blockchain era. (Please note, however, this is NOT a recommendation that the reader should get involved, and especially is not a recommendation that anyone should invest in this project. DYOR.)

 I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. … A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you. (Neo, “The Matrix”)

Second Life, if you are not familiar with it, is a 3-D virtual world. It became a business fad in 2007-2008, as major corporations set up their presence within this immersive graphical environment, establishing property, building buildings, interacting with customers, doing business. Tax preparer H&R Block was preparing tax returns there, tech companies held conferences and provided product demonstrations, financial services organizations held interviews of candidates who were tech savvy enough to show up as an avatar for their interviews. People bought and sold, married, danced the night away. And Second Life has its own digital (not crypto, centralized) currency, Linden Dollars. And, yes, you can STILL exchange Linden Dollars for fiat currency outside of the environment, so the tax people are particularly interested.

Second Life was very inspiring. The Maryland (US) Association of CPAs (MACPA) in particular helped accountants understand the potential. With the MACPA, for example, I (as my in-world persona, “Otto Chin”) provided XBRL training for a group of live participants, recorded for posterity at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Kde1RezfM) Although it appears CPA Island is no more, my character survives, my 50 cents worth of Linden Dollars is still accounted for.

One major challenge then and now is system demands and performance; you needed software on your computer specific to Second Life (most recent version is a 111 MB download)/ 

Now in February 2020, Decentraland has opened its virtual gates.  It is accessible with a browser (although still requiring hefty equipment, and rather laggy in use.) As it has just opened its doors, it is difficult to know if business will invest in their presence as they did in Second Life’s prime, but someone has put a million dollars into purchasing land, which can be built upon and monetized. And as a blockchain-based environment, its land, “in-house” currency (MANA) and other in-house items (various collectibles, such as the clothes you might wish to have your avatar wear) are all decentralized, so they can be bought and sold and traded outside of the Decentraland environment.

In my next entry, I’d like to explore the “crypto” side – is that a barrier for the reader?