The metaverse, seen as the next generation of the internet, has been a hot topic recently, especially since social media giant Facebook rebranded itself as Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB).
Benefitting from the hype, Roundhill Investment's Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (NYSE: META), called META, has surpassed $250 million in assets under management (AUM) within the last week. The ETF sponsor announced that META has crossed $50 million AUM in six weeks, $100 million in nine, and this latest milestone in only 18 weeks.
The term metaverse was coined by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 sci-fi novel "Snow Crash," with Stephenson imagining a shared virtual 3D world where users can interact with each other via digital avatars.
Now, the metaverse is no longer a concept of science fiction, and is expected to evolve into a user experience where moving between different metaverses will be like switching between websites on an internet browser today.
"We see some of the world's most powerful and capable companies are focusing on the Metaverse, and rightfully so in our opinion--it is coming and will transform our global economy and human society at large. I'm glad so many investors see this potential and have chosen the META ETF for exposure to what we--and many others--believe is a multi-trillion dollar opportunity," said Matthew Ball, Founder of Ball Metaverse Research Partners, in a press statement.
Current leaders in metaverse experiences include online games like Epic Games' "Fortnite" or virtual concerts hosted by Roblox (NASDAQ: RBLX). Other companies in the gaming industry, like Unity Software (NYSE: U), are also working on a diverse metaverse experience through various platform tools for developers.
Beyond video games, office and productivity companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are preparing for the metaverse, with the tech giant recently teaming up with Meta to integrate its Teams offering to eventually become a virtual workplace for remote employees.
Having near limitless user experience potential, the metaverse also offers a significant investment opportunity for the years to come. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the metaverse's market opportunity is forecasted to reach $800 billion by the year 2024.
META follows an index that consists of a tiered weight portfolio of globally-listed companies who are actively involved in the Metaverse. This classification includes companies that operate in computing, networking, virtual platforms, building interchange standards, payments, content, assets, and identity services, and hardware.
The fund's top holdings include Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Roblox, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Unity Software, Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Tencent (OTC: TCEHY). The fund's expense ratio is 0.75%.