A look into the intermediaries of the Metaverse. Halfway between the Present and the Future

The metaverse is a rapidly evolving concept in the business world, representing an inclusive dimension of innovative elements such as technologies, marketplaces, and social interactions. The financial industry is paying close attention to this concept, since it offers limitless potential for virtual customer interactions. Banks are increasingly utilising technology to offer their services and are therefore interested in exploring the metaverse as a natural evolution of their industry to build closer relationships with their customers. However, the added value for banks needs to be carefully evaluated, and the lack of clear regulation could cause hesitation. Additionally, the metaverse could amplify potential risks of cybercrime in the financial and banking sectors. This chapter explores banks’ approaches to the metaverse as a new way to exploit the potential of distributed ledger technologies and presents a summary framework on the development opportunities (and related hazards), for financial intermediaries.