Facebook's metaverse "Horizon Worlds" tests the sale of virtual assets, shocking the public with a hefty 47.5% tax, leading to ridicule from the cryptocurrency community.

Meta recently announced that it is testing the feature of allowing a small group of creators to sell virtual assets in its virtual world "Horizon Worlds." However, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that Meta will charge up to a 47.5% transaction fee on all trades, a move that has sparked widespread mockery in the crypto community.

Testing Metaverse Sales Features

According to the announcement, Meta is actively testing several sales tools to provide creators in the virtual world "Horizon Worlds" with revenue streams, where users can purchase not limited to digital assets, NFTs, services, or experiences on the platform.

Meta emphasizes that the metaverse is fundamentally not limited by physical space constraints and will bring different levels of creativity to creators.

Currently, citizens over 18 years old in the United States and Canada can purchase goods in Horizon Worlds, and some U.S. users are also invited to participate in the creator reward program Horizon Worlds Creator Bonus.

Plan to Take 47.5% Cut

A Meta spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that they will take a 47.5% cut on each transaction, including a 30% cut on the Meta Quest Store platform, similar to Meta's own App Store, which sells apps and games in the virtual reality world to users.

The remaining 70% profit for creators will be subject to a 25% cut by "Horizon Worlds," resulting in creators having to pay a 47.5% fee to Meta.

Such a high percentage of fees has drawn harsh criticism from the crypto community towards Meta.

Community Reactions

Renowned NFT investor Pranksy:

For Meta and its NFT platform plans, 47.5% is a remarkably competitive fee, possibly the most exaggerated case of disconnect from reality I have seen. It's so unbelievable that I had to double-check the news for its authenticity.

NFT collector 6529:

Presenting the Meta economic model to you: 1. Fake NFTs are essentially centralized in-game items. 2. Charging a 47.5% transaction fee.

Both Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former executive Fidji Simo have publicly criticized the 30% cut in the App Store as severely impacting creator economies and promised that when introducing a fee model on the platform, it would be far lower than Apple's 30% heavy tax.