Metaverse News: Virtual real estate is as valuable as physical real estate

Now that we’re getting closer to a reality where virtual lives can be as rich as ‘real’ ones, virtual real estate is, for lack of a better term, poppin’ off the charts. Recently, a plot of land in Decentraland (which is an online world) sold for a cool USD 2.4 million (or Rs 17 Crore ). Decentraland is a world where you can walk around, interact with other people’s avatars, visit buildings, and presumably live your entire life as the technology continues to evolve. With Facebook developing haptic sensors that will let you feel items you touch in the metaverse, the next phase of human colonisation may not be Mars - it might just be the internet. 

Why are people buying land in Decentraland?

Of course, we’re still a bit further away from Ready Player One becoming a reality. As of now, people are buying land in this virtual world as a speculative investment. The parcel of land that sold for USD 2.4 million was purchased by the Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com. It has been purchased in an area called Fashion Street, where one can attend digital fashion events and buy clothes for one’s avatars.

This isn’t the first time virtual real estate has been sold in Decentraland - in June, a buyer purchased a plot of land with the intention to build a shopping mall. This was priced at around USD $913,228 (roughly Rs. 6.7 crore). 

What is Decentraland?

Land and other investment assets are sold in the form of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and fall under the umbrella of crypto assets, making them a worthwhile investment particularly now that Meta has plans to speed up the creation of the Metaverse. MANA, which is the digital currency used in Decentraland, however, is rather volatile when compared to other cryptocurrency coins, and may suit investors with a high risk appetite. 

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