In October 2024, FINRA released its blueprint for the securities industry’s use of the metaverse — the metaverse report. The metaverse, often framed as “the next evolution of today’s internet,” is a loosely defined term used to refer to several different immersive digital technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Its global revenue opportunity has been forecast in the hundreds of billions, with some expecting it to contribute more than $3 trillion to global gross domestic product by 2031.
With younger generations driving the adoption of the metaverse, financial institutions are exploring ways to use it to reach a new generation of investors. Firms can engage and educate these young investors by meeting them in virtual spaces. For example, firms could use digital currencies, which many metaverse users already use, to provide the building blocks for financial concepts such as earning and investing. Firms can then use these interactions to build brand awareness with these potential future customers.
FINRA’s blueprint highlighted some other ways firms are considering using the metaverse, for example by creating virtual spaces for customers to access financial services or by enhancing data visualization tools to help investors better understand complex financial topics. The blueprint also identifies challenges firms may face when using the metaverse, such as high adoption costs and concerns with data privacy.
With the metaverse’s impact on the securities industry being relatively unknown, FINRA’s blueprint contained few instructions. But FINRA’s main instruction seems to echo what it, and other financial regulators, are saying about artificial intelligence: FINRA’s rules, and the securities laws, are technology-neutral and continue to form part of the building code for securities-related metaverse operations.
