There is no bigger believer in metaverse technology than Mark Zuckerberg, who changed the name of Facebook’s parent company to Meta and pivoted its entire strategy to build for this new and growing world.

But policymakers, who are starting to see the different ways blockchain technology can be leveraged to make financial services easier and more secure, are still struggling to solve the equation of how to set rules for it.

In a recent blog post, which is presenting a discussion paper for the different ways policymakers should be approaching the metaverse, Edward Bowles, Meta’s Head of Fintech Policy, notes that “the metaverse presents a promising new arena of economic opportunity,” one that will be “potentially contributing more than $3 trillion to global GDP by 2031.”

The blog post continues, “it also presents an opportunity for policymakers to set fair rules for web3 technologies that keep people safe and promote innovation,” advising that the “rules should adopt a technology-neutral approach, recognize the importance of decentralized systems and embrace greater collaboration between the public and private sectors.”

Finally, he adds that blockchain technology has uses far beyond financial services, such as NFTs, which can go to form the very basis of the metaverse economy.

To break it down, he explains that making the metaverse an economic success comes down to two main components: interoperability and portability, and then lays the core principles that policymakers should consider while setting up rules for web3 technologies.

1. Policymakers should adopt a technology-neutral approach that focuses on “same risks, same rules.”
2. Policymakers must acknowledge that decentralized systems can help create new economic opportunities by encouraging competition, innovation, interoperability, and the mobility of ownership and identity.
3. Policymakers must embrace greater collaboration between the public sector and the widerindustry as a critical foundation for any future regulatory frameworks.