The past month has been brutal for Facebook…
The tech giant is down 11% since September 7. That translates to a loss of $116 billion – a huge one-month move for a company of its market size. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is only down 1%.
The company was already in the crosshairs of lawmakers who wanted to dismantle what they consider a monopoly… but the mainstream media attributed the pullback to Congressional testimony from a company whistleblower.
She said Facebook became the 5th-largest U.S company by routinely putting “profit over people” and allowing hate and misinformation to spread among the 2.8 billion users on its platforms… including WhatsApp and Instagram.
With its corporate reputation tarnished, it’s no surprise Facebook is making changes. But one change it’s about to make is particularly significant…
According to a report in the Verge, Facebook plans to “rebrand” itself and announce a new name next week.
Now, this isn’t the first time a major corporation rebranded itself in the wake of controversy…
In 2003, cigarette maker Philip Morris changed its name to Altria to distance its association with tobacco and focus on its consumer brands like Kraft.
And ValuJet changed its name to AirTran after one of its planes crashed in 1996…
So, you may believe Facebook is changing its name because it’s becoming a national scourge… Much like Big Tobacco in the 1990s.
But the real reason is to position itself as the leader in an emerging megatrend… One that will make early investors life-changing gains.
Goodbye, Social Media – Hello, Metaverse
According to reports, Facebook is changing its name to reflect its focus on building the “metaverse.”
The metaverse encompasses all types of virtual worlds many of us already use… things like video games… eSports… social media… digital collectibles… cryptocurrencies… blockchain… and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
And at PBRG, we believe the metaverse will become the next multitrillion-dollar trend in technology.
So, while the Verge is just now reporting that Facebook is ready to make its official splash into the metaverse… this is old news for us.
Nearly three months ago, PBRG analyst Grant Wasylik wrote that Facebook was already positioning itself to be the leader in the metaverse.
Here’s an excerpt from Grant’s essay…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is preparing for the metaverse:
You can think about the metaverse as an embodied internet, where instead of just viewing content – you are in it… It’s going to be accessible across all our different computing platforms; VR and AR, but also PC, and also mobile devices and game consoles.
And my hope, if we do this well, I think over the next five years or so, in this next chapter of our company, I think we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.
Did you catch that?
One of the world’s most well-known companies – and the fifth-largest U.S. company by market cap – plans on becoming a “metaverse” company in five years.
Not only did Grant report on Facebook’s strategic plans to enter the metaverse… but he also said Facebook and “Big Tech” players like Amazon, Google, and Roblox would give you exposure to this emerging trend.
But while these companies will give you a great entry point into the metaverse… if you really want to make life-changing gains from this tech trend, you need to consider asymmetric plays outside of the stock market.
Asymmetric Gains Ahead From the Metaverse
Before I get to this idea, let me show you how asymmetric investing works…
Symmetric risk is when you invest $100 for a chance to make $100. That’s a 100% return. But triple-digit returns are rare in the stock market…
So, when you make a bet like this, you’re risking way more than what you’re potentially getting in return.
In contrast, positive asymmetric risk means you invest $100 for a chance to make $1,000, $10,000, or even $100,000 in value…
Positive asymmetric risk is how our paid-up subscribers have turned $1,000 into $151,550 on bitcoin… and $1,000 into $1.5 million on a crypto called NEO.
But bitcoin and cryptos aren’t the only asymmetric bets you can make…
In December 2020, Daily editor Teeka Tiwari began recommending what we believe could be the biggest asymmetric play in the metaverse: NFTs.
In the future, it’s my belief every asset will be tokenized. That means stocks, bonds, titles of ownership, music rights – everything of value – will have its ownership rights secured by a blockchain. And you’ll be able to exchange that value with a click of a mouse – just like you do when you send an email.
Remember, NFTs are digital tokens that allow you to trade all types of assets… and many have been exploding in value.
One example is the CryptoPunk craze. They’re a series of 10,000 NFTs, each depicting a unique, randomly generated character. Essentially, they’re digital collectibles similar to real-world trading cards.
Crypto Punk #2338
In August, this digital image, called “CryptoPunk, #2338,” sold for 1,500 ether (ETH) worth $4,379,924.93 at the time. And the last time CryptoPunk #2338 changed hands, back in November 2018, it sold for just 3.5 ETH worth $443.
That means this digital caricature handed its previous owner a 988,596% return in less than three years.
To put that figure into context, consider that over its first 39 years as a public company – from its IPO in 1982 through 2021 – Apple’s shares rose a little more than 98,000%.
That’s what we mean by asymmetric gains. And that’s why Teeka is so bullish on the NFT trend. They’ll be key to owning a stake in the metaverse.
Now, we don’t suggest you just run out and buy any NFT. Each is entirely unique and could easily plunge in value… or experience a meteoric jump. And you shouldn’t invest any amount of money you can’t afford to lose.
But we do recommend buying the crypto projects that allow you to create, trade, and exchange NFTs… As they’ll play a major role in building the architecture of the metaverse.
Look, I understand if you’re skeptical and think that NFTs are pointless or “crazy.” That’s exactly what people said about bitcoin in 2016 when Teeka began recommending it at $428.
But just yesterday, bitcoin hit a record high of over $66,000 – a gain of more than 15,320% from that first recommendation.
That’s the power of using asymmetric plays to position yourself early in a megatrend.
Facebook is about to put a spotlight on the metaverse. But we’re still early in this trend. That’s why Teeka is positioning his readers in asymmetric plays now.
Earlier this month, he put together his first set of recommendations to play this trend, including a crypto project connecting the real world to the metaverse.
Paid-up Palm Beach Letter subscribers can access them here.
And if you’re not a PBL subscriber, you can still learn which cryptocurrency Teeka believes will be the next trillion-dollar coin… And how it’ll be the backbone of the entire metaverse movement.
Regards,
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Chaka Ferguson
Editorial Director, Palm Beach Daily