Mark Zuckerberg Launches Meta Pay, the Digital Wallet for the Metaverse

Meta has rebranded its Facebook Pay digital wallet as Meta Pay, calling the change the “first step” toward the company creating a wallet for its version of the metaverse.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a post on Facebook, saying that Meta Pay would replace Facebook Pay and have additional features.

The wallet will be used for Meta’s metaverse platform; users will be able to “securely manage your identity, what you own, and how you pay.” It will still allow users to transact on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other supported platforms.

Zuckerberg lists out specific ways that users will be able to use Meta Pay in the metaverse. These include buying art, videos, music, digital clothing, tickets to virtual events, and experiences. 

“The more places you can easily use your digital goods, the more you’ll value them, which creates a bigger market for creators. The more easily you can transact, the bigger the opportunity for creators should get as well. We’re looking forward to building this out,” he said.

There was also a hint that Meta could introduce non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the future. “Proof of ownership will be important, especially if you want to take some of these items with you across different services,” added Zuckerberg. 

Meta is now firmly a metaverse first company, even if it is experiencing heavy expenditure in the short term. The company has poured billions into metaverse research and development but has little to show for it so far.

However, that might change soon, and the company is already trialing some aspects of the tech with pilots in Hong Kong. The company and its executives seem to firmly believe in the potential of the technology and will work hard to be the first mover.

Earlier in the week, Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, and 33 other companies agreed to collaborate on open standards for the metaverse. Called the Metaverse Standards Forum, the group will work on forming open, interoperable standards for augmented and virtual reality, geospatial, and 3D tech.

The primary goal of the group is to discuss where a lack of interoperability is holding the emerging metaverse industry back. It is not surprising that these tech giants would want to collaborate on fundamentally interconnected technology, and the business potential itself is high, with over $600 billion in value projected by 2026.