Lamina1, the layer-1 blockchain co-founded by science-fiction writer Neal Stephenson and early Bitcoin investor Peter Vessenes, has launched its betanet and Hub to help creators design the building blocks of a future open metaverse. Stephenson, who coined the term metaverse in 1992, has envisioned a cyberpunk future where the digital and physical worlds are intertwined.
Today, Lamina1 has expanded on Stephenson’s vision by launching its betanet blockchain alongside its new Hub for Web3 builders and developers. The betanet period will allow partners, world-builders, validators, and developers to trial aspects of the network and tinker with its toolkit. Lamina1 CEO Rebecca Barkin said the betanet is an evolution of its testnet, which had over 47,000 participants experience their burgeoning metaverse concept.
The platform now features a simpler authentication process to help users create new blockchain wallets without needing to preserve their private keys, while the Hub serves as a dashboard for a user’s profile, transaction history, and as a tool for discovering new experiences built on Lamina1. Users will soon be able to send, receive, and upload digital items like music and 3D objects, and can use those items to build on-chain experiences in a more stable and realistic environment.
The idea that we’re working on [the metaverse] with Lamina1 feels to me like it’s kind of more foundational; it’s not one particular interpretation or product – it’s kind of a base layer of functionality that anyone ought to be able to use to build experiences, said Stephenson.
In addition, the company is committed to its core values of interoperability and data ownership. Barkin said that people should have privacy and prosperity as they move through online spaces, control over their identities, personal data, and assets, and get paid fairly for their creations.
While there’s no defined date for the Lamina1 mainnet launch, Barkin said they are not far and are aiming to put out a product that can be used broadly and publicly by early next year.