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An intriguing aftermath of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is the increase in popularity that online shopping has received. Yet, despite e-commerce demands skyrocketing, the underlying infrastructure remains relatively unaltered — until now.
A new platform called Highstreet aims to take e-commerce to the next level by merging online shopping with games in the metaverse, a 3D virtual world that provides users with amazing VR or AR experiences with the use of a special headset. If you haven't heard about it until now, no worries. We'll explain to you how exactly Highstreet bridges the virtual with the physical and look at the associated benefits for its users.
Highstreet is a digital platform that aims to change the way consumers approach the virtual world, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). Highstreet World’s metaverse combines virtual reality, crypto, gaming, virtual shops and physical items into a seamless and fun retail experience. Besides the usual MMORPG experiences such as battling monsters and completing quests, you can shop for real-world brands to purchase items that exist both digitally and physically. The brand products are integrated as part of the creative narrative in MMORPG game quests, so that you’ll stay immersed in the entire metaverse experience.
Highstreet was created by Travis Wu and Jenny Guo, who are also co-founders of a virtual reality company, LumiereVR, which has worked with established brands such as Victoria’s Secret and J.P. Morgan.
Highstreet World is the MMORPG section of the Highstreet ecosystem which can be played on VR and on PC. It’s made of different elements, including the Highstreet Market for trading NFTs and "phygital" items, and Highstreet Homes, which can be bought via initial home offerings (IHO). One significant difference from other MMORPGs is that some in-game items in the Highstreet Market have physical iterations as well.
The primary feature of Highstreet Market is the limited-edition items it has for sale. The market has a variety of celebrity partnerships, and agreements with social media influencers. Additionally, community members themselves are encouraged to submit items for purchase within the market. It’s an excellent place to help build a brand, or to give new life to an existing property.
Highstreet presents the future of retail with its unique "phygital" business model, which will also revolutionize the NFT sphere. For years, NFT detractors have asked, "Why would I pay for a digital file when there's no physical component to it?"
Although this question demonstrates a lack of understanding about NFTs as a whole, even the most ardent NFT opponents will have to admit that it doesn't apply to Highstreet Market. As the system grows in popularity, it may change the way people think about the idea of NFTs.
The term "phygital" is a portmanteau of the words "physical" and "digital." Phygital items consist of two parts: a digital asset that can be used as clothing or to decorate your metaverse home, and a physical version of the same item, which is then mailed directly to your real-life home.
The two parts are divided into fractions within the NFT, and can be bought separately. Hence, you can choose either to buy the digital item, or the item as a whole and possess it digitally and physically. The physical item is then mailed to your home. Marketplace purchases are made using the STREET token in-game currency, which we'll discuss in more detail below.
The Highstreet Market’s metaverse functions like real-life department stores, with both crypto and traditional brands establishing virtual storefronts. Unlike traditional department stores, however, users can receive both in-game and real-world benefits from making a purchase.
Limited edition items are delivered via phygital drop, a two-part process. First, the user buys a product token by staking HIGH tokens into the bonding curve's reserve pool. After purchase, the user can decide whether to keep the token and resell it for a profit back to the marketplace at a later time.
Highstreet Market’s StreetSmart bonding curve determines prices for items to ensure a fair trade for all. Through the bonding curve, if a product runs limited in quantity, the price of the item will be raised to show that it’s more valuable. Therefore, people who buy the same product earlier stand to gain as they can resell that item for profit. Brands can also tailor their bonding curves to be steep or flat in order to drive either more transactions or redemptions. The bonding curve ensures constant liquidity as all deposits made are stored in a smart contract vault.
If you decide you want to use the item instead of reselling it, the associated product token acts as a redemption voucher, which is then burned. You can then use the minted NFT in the metaverse, and the physical product will be shipped to you.
To avoid problems such as resource hoarding and game bots mining for tokens, which would cause inflationary issues and eventually render the token worthless, the Highstreet World operates with two distinct tokens.
The first of Highstreet’s two coins is known as HIGH. Within the Highstreet ecosystem, HIGH is used for staking and to purchase in-game real estate and limited edition products. It has a hard cap of 100 million tokens, and comes in both ERC-20 and BEP-20 versions.
At present, Highstreet World is run by the Highstreet development team. After the game becomes more established, governance of the system will be handed over to holders of the HIGH token, who will also be able to participate in the governance of the metaverse and vote on merchant matters.
The second token is called STREET Credit, or STREET token, which is the in-game currency of Highstreet World. You can earn STREET by completing in-game quests, fighting monsters, watching advertisements, betting in matches and more. STREET tokens are used in a variety of ways, including purchasing items from NPCs, bidding for your favorite song to play in a club, and upgrading or repairing your ship or hoverboard, which are the means of transport in Highstreet World.
The STREET token works as an inflationary currency, with the number in circulation constantly increasing as new users join the system. As the STREET token only exists in the Highstreet World universe, its value will always be tied to HIGH and it cannot be used outside of that game world.
As of Mar 20, 2023, HIGH’s price is $2.41, up 2% from its 24-hour low. Its all-time low was on Jan 1, 2023, when it hit $0.845. It reached its all-time high of $38.42 on Dec 17, 2021.
Experts at DigitalCoinPrice believe that the HIGH coin will reach $8.71 by the end of 2025 and soar to $25.34 by 2030. PricePrediction experts hold a more conservative stance for the short term, but have an even more positive outlook for its price in the long run. They believe HIGH will reach a maximum price of $6.80 by 2025 and skyrocket to $41.22 by the end of 2030.
Although all investments carry a certain amount of risk, in our view, Highstreet could be an excellent long-term investment. Even the most conservative predictions expect its price to increase at least 900% by the end of the decade. This is likely due to Highstreet’s innovative concept of marrying the digital with the physical, which will evolve the e-commerce landscape in exciting ways. As the adoption of the Highstreet World metaverse increases, HIGH tokens are expected to rise in price. It may take a while before this massive boost takes place, however.
Note that this is not investment advice. Always remember to do your own research before investing in any cryptocurrency, as their prices tend to be volatile.
HIGH is available on many top crypto exchanges, including Bybit. HIGH can be purchased by creating an account and funding your wallet with USDT. After your account has received funding, you can trade HIGH as a USDT Perpetual contract (HIGHUSDT) on Bybit’s easy-to-use trading terminal.
Highstreet World isn’t the first metaverse, but it has the potential to become the most successful. Its novel phygital business model will also be a huge boost to the perceived value of NFTs. As time goes on, the price of the HIGH token is expected to increase significantly.
As an MMORPG game, Highstreet may or may not rival World of Warcraft in popularity — but we can be sure that the Highstreet game world is a major step forward for both the metaverse and MMORPGs in general. Just as Second Life became the model for virtual reality-based gaming over 15 years ago, Highstreet World may soon become the standard on which all subsequent AR and VR experiences are based.
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