Big Four accounting firm KPMG is entering the metaverse.
KPMG U.S. and Canada are opening a metaverse “collaboration hub” to connect employees, clients, and others with Web3, a so-called decentralized version of the internet built on blockchain, the firm says. It’s collectively making a $30 million investment this year in Web3 experiences, with the metaverse “hub” as the “signature piece.”
“The way we look at it, it’s not just augmented reality and virtual reality. It’s really the next iteration of the internet. It really encompasses everything that the internet would encompass, but it’s more interactive,” Cliff Justice, KPMG U.S. leader of enterprise innovation, told Fortune of the metaverse and Web3.
The “hub” will be primarily centered around “education, collaboration, training, events, and workshops,” Justice said, adding that KPMG is currently using it for such things, but plans to recruit employees to build and scale it more as time goes on. Long term, the firm is looking at health care, consumer and retail, media, and financial services as other potential metaverse use cases.
Other financial institutions, like Citi and JPMorgan Chase, have also taken an interest in the metaverse. In an April report, Citi estimated that the metaverse represents a business opportunity worth between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030.
To Justice, “some of those estimates might be conservative.”
Even if “hype” surrounding the metaverse declines or levels out, Justice sees the technology as something that will endure.
KPMG’s metaverse “hub” comes after the firm’s string of crypto- and Web3-related initiatives. For example, KPMG Canada added Ethereum and Bitcoin to its corporate treasury; it even acquired a World of Women non-fungible token (NFT) in February.
Going forward, KPMG will “continue to explore opportunities” in the crypto and Web3 space, the firm says.
