How Apple’s Purported Mixed Reality Headset Could Boost Metaverse Tokens

Apple Reality Pro, the company’s rumoured mixed reality (MR) headset, is expected to be unveiled by the company in the coming weeks. While the Cupertino firm is yet to make any official announcement regarding such a wearable device, a developer has claimed that the purported device could cause metaverse-related tokens to rise in value to a great extent in the coming weeks. Recent reports suggest that Apple will launch the Reality Pro headset at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that begins on June 5.

“Apple is about to launch a mixed reality headset in three weeks. Metaverse s—coins are going to pump so hard it’s not even funny,” blockchain developer Udi Wertheimer claimed in a tweet. It is worth noting that Wertheimer is hardly the first to predict the arrival of Apple’s purported headset. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and other tipsters have been [revealing several details of the mixed reality wearable for several months, including its expected arrival at WWDC 2023.

Metaverse technology is the latest entrant to the online gaming ecosystem, and could benefit with development in the MR, Virtual Reality (VR), as well as Augmented Reality (AR) sectors. As a virtual universe built on decentralised blockchain networks, the metaverse will enable people to exist in a parallel world. Metaverse natives will be able to meet, work, party, and play in the virtual world as digital avatars.

At present, some popular brands working on metaverse offerings include Decentraland and The Sandbox, both of which offer native crypto tokens — MANA and SAND, respectively. As of Tuesday, SAND’s value fell by 2.36 percent to trade at $0.5007 (roughly Rs. 41) whereas MANA was trading at $0.4701 (roughly Rs. 38) as per CoinMarketCap data.

As per SoftwareTestingHelp, there are currently over 237 cryptocurrencies listed as “metaverse tokens”. These altcoins allow metaverse users — especially from the gaming community — to make in-game purchases and engage in trading. The market opportunity for the metaverse could reach $800 billion (roughly Rs. 59,58,700 crore) over the next two years, research reports suggest estimate.

With the arrival of Apple’s purported MR headset, the prices of metaverse tokens could shoot up, according to Wertheimer. It is worth noting that this is a situation that could be exploited by scammers or hackers to fish for unsuspecting victims with malicious metaverse projects or rug-pull schemes.

Meanwhile, other tech firms have also been working on developing metaverse technology, including Facebook parent firm Meta. In 2021, Mark Zukerberg rebranded his social networking company Facebook to a more metaverse-centric name, Meta.

Despite Zuckerberg’s claim that the technology would be mainstream in five to 10 years, Meta’s Reality Labs unit recorded its largest quarterly loss that amounted to $4.3 billion (roughly Rs. 35,222 crore) between September and December last year, and the company recently cut the prices of its Meta Quest Pro and Quest 2 headsets in select regions after it faced a drop in revenue at the Reality Labs unit.