The ambitions of Meta (formerly Facebook) in terms of the metaverse are well known. But has the tech giant set the bar too high in terms of commissions taken on sales? That’s what you might ask when you see that non-fungible token (NFT) transactions in its Horizon Worlds virtual universe will be taxed at up to 47.5%…
Meta plans to charge nearly 50% commission for NFT sales
As reported by media outlet CNBC, Meta confirmed on Monday that some creators of its Horizon Worlds virtual world may now sell digital assets – including NFTs. The company’s metaverse project has been in the works for some time, so it makes sense that a buy and sell system would be tested bit by bit.
But what Meta hasn’t officially announced is how the company will make money from these sales. The group confirmed to CNBC that it could charge a 47.5% commission on each NFT sale. This exorbitant fee includes a 30% “hardware platform fee” if the player chooses to sell on the Meta Quest Store. As well as the “classic” sales fee applied by Horizon Worlds (17.5%).
For comparison, the commissions applied by OpenSea, the leader in NFT sales, are 2.5%. LooksRare, one of its rivals, takes only 2%. The nearly 50% taken by Meta has therefore drawn particularly negative comments from the crypto community.
The ‘pretty competitive’ 47.5% sales fee for @Meta‘s planned NFT platform is perhaps the greatest example of being completely and utterly out of touch with something that I have ever witnessed. ZuckBux Hopeless – article via @BusinessInsiderhttps://t.co/RpqwE4EJ0E
– Pranksy (@pranksy) April 13, 2022
Vivek Sharma, Horizon’s vice-president, confirmed, however, that he did not see what the problem was:
We think it’s a pretty competitive rate for this market. We think the other platforms will be able to have their share. “
A new digital currency for Meta?
Last week, it was also reported that Meta wanted to launch a new digital currency, also dedicated to the metaverse. The company seems to have been scalded by the total fiasco that was the Libra/Diem project. It would therefore seem that it is not planning to use the blockchain.
Instead, the currency (nicknamed “Zuck Bucks” by employees) could be offered in the form of internal tokens and strictly controlled by the company. It would therefore be more of a video game currency as can be found in the sector.
Meta is also said to have ambitions in terms of loans. Again, this will certainly not be decentralised finance (DeFi), but Meta Financial Technologies is working on a way to offer loans to small companies.
Meta is currently trying to diversify its offerings, as traffic on its flagship Facebook is down sharply. But of course, one wonders if the company will be able to attract users with such high user fees…
