Quick take:
- The person who coined the word “metaverse” is building one.
- Neal Stephenson has partnered with Peter Vessenes, a Web3 expert to create a metaverse-focused blockchain called Lamina1.
- Vessenes will be the project’s CEO while Stephenson will serve as chairman.
Neal Stephenson, the person who coined the word “metaverse” has jumped on the metaverse train proper, after teaming up with crypto expert Peter Vessenes to create their own metaverse-focused blockchain called Lamina1.
The science fiction author came up with the world metaverse in 1992 when writing the novel “Snow Crash”. And now 30 years on, he’s taken the leap to join in what has been the trendiest terms in the world over the last eight months.
Stephenson and Vessenes said on Wednesday they are launching Lamina1, where Vessenes will be the project’s CEO while Stephenson will serve as chairman.
The project will focus on integrating virtual and augmented realities to create open metaverses. Although Stephenson credits Facebook for bringing the term to the mainstream, he acknowledged that the idea had been building behind the scenes for some time, highlighting the important role played by smaller companies.
“While big companies like Microsoft became interested, what also happened was lots of smaller players became interested, too. There are a lot of people who want to get in on the metaverse and build their dreams, build their ideas, realize their creative notions or their commercial ambitions.”
The duo plan to launch the testnet and betanet versions of Lamina1 before the end of the year, with the final product featuring an immersive 3D metaverse world based on the novel.
The project has attracted popular blockchain veterans, with Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, Geoff Entress, Matthew Roszak, Patrick Murck and David Johnston, among its backers.
Vessenes said that although plans are fully set on partnerships, Lamina1 may leverage the next iteration of Web3, which could possibly be “somewhere between a friendly fork and a partnership of Avalanche.”
The metaverse segment of the crypto market has been affected by the overall collapse of cryptocurrency prices with its market cap plummeting below $15 billion. In March, metaverse tokens topped $41 billion in total market value.
Commenting on how projects could navigate safely through the crypto downturn, Vessenes said: “When I look at the things that have made the top chains work, it’s really just how successful they’ve been at getting their communities all the resources they need, and just helping them succeed.”
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