Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently addressed misconceptions regarding the Metaverse during his time at the BUIDL Asia conference in Seoul. Buterin believes that the concept of Metaverse is largely misunderstood. According to him, the metaverse is more of a “brand name” rather than a cohesive product. 

Buterin went on to state that the metaverse is usually envisioned as a virtual space that is accessible to all but owned by none. He claimed that people often associate the metaverse with the much simpler virtual reality experience. The Ethereum co-founder believes this is like wanting to use a laptop for its basic utilities rather than its technological advancements.

According to Buterin, the metaverse sector needs a more integrated approach. He claimed that the complete metaverse must incorporate elements from various virtual worlds, including cryptocurrency, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Virtual reality is an important component, but it does not encompass the entire concept of the Metaverse, he added.

During the conference, Buterin also touched upon Ethereum’s account abstraction, emphasizing its potential to balance security and convenience for developers and users. Account abstraction is a process that aims to simplify on-chain interactions by hiding technical details. Buterin expects this to make the network more accessible and easy to use for non-tech-savvy users. 

He outlined Ethereum’s current limitations, including the lack of features for improved security and convenience, and pointed out that Ethereum does not yet support essential security features, like the ability to change or revoke private keys. Further, the network also does not allow users to pay gas fees with ERC-20 tokens or even automate payments.

As such, Buterin’s vision for Ethereum includes significant user-level upgrades over the next decade. His goal is to make the platform usable on a global scale, including in lower-income countries. He focused on the importance of evolving the ecosystem to meet the needs of a wider audience, suggesting that account abstraction could play a crucial role in achieving this goal.

Butrein’s comments come as the community eagerly awaits the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF. As reported earlier, Grayscale Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Craig Salm expects the investment product to be approved by May.