What is Metaverse?
The idea of the Metaverse has been floating around for decades, the term was coined in the 90s by Neal Stephenson in his book called Snow Crash, a science fiction novel in which Stephenson introduced ideas such as Metaverse and Avatars. Metaverse can be thought of as a parallel digital universe; a first-person computer-simulated world with an immersive experience that encompasses different layers of reality including virtual reality or VR and augmented reality or AR and tries to mimic the real-world experience by employing advanced software and hardware gadgets. Different aspects of the physical reality are integrated into the metaverse ecosystem to create a more realistic environment for users. So it is crucial for the metaverse economy to be as real as possible. There are many options for investment in the metaverse to choose from, such as trading cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and stocks, and investing in virtual real-estate. The last one is probably the most realistic aspect of the metaverse economy to such an extent that there are virtual real-estate agencies that act as the third party for buying and selling metaverse real-estate such as opensea.io and nonfungible.com.
Why buy Metaverse land?
Just like in the real life, you buy a metaverse land parcel for either one of two main reasons. The first reason for buying land in a metaverse ecosystem, or any other type of real estate for that matter, is putting that parcel of land to use and your options are endless. The most obvious example is building a house and becoming a permanent resident of that metaverse. But you can also use the building for a business project, such as creating your own art gallery and showcasing your NFT artworks, and charging people who wish to visit the gallery.
The second reason is making a passive investment. If selected carefully and intelligently, any piece of land has the potential to grow in value. The surrounding environment contributes the most to the value of the virtual real estate. For example, someone paid $450,000 for a land parcel, just to become Snoop Dogg’s neighbor in the Snoopverse district of The Sandbox metaverse!
Many companies are eying the metaverse economy and making enormous land acquisitions. Republic Realm, for example, paid a record $4.3 million for land in the largest metaverse real estate platform, Sandbox. The company is developing 100 islands called Fantasy Islands, with their own villas and a related market of boats and jet skis. Ninety of the islands sold on the first day for $15,000 each and some are now listed for resale for more than $100,000. In general, however, the merits on which land acquisition is based must be more careful and thought-through. The fusion between the metaverse and the blockchain technology might make the process safer against hacking attempts but there are still many technical details that must be taken into consideration before making a purchase. If you intend to make a sizable purchase, it’s not a bad idea to consult an expert and other people who have made such acquisitions.
How to buy metaverse land?
The concepts of the metaverse and the blockchain technology are deeply intertwined and the metaverse economy runs on cryptocurrencies. Most major metaverse projects have their own native tokens and users must get a hold of them to make purchases and deals within a metaverse. The digital assets in the metaverse are in the form of non-fungible tokens or NFTs and this includes the land parcels. So when you buy a piece of metaverse land, you are basically buying an NFT. There are 4 stages to any land purchase inside the metaverse:
1.Choosing a metaverse platform
If your goal is to buy a piece of metaverse land, you must select an ecosystem where lands and real estate are a part of the experience. Some of the most notable and popular metaverse platforms include Decentraland, The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and Bit Country. Decentraland is specifically focused on land acquisitions, while a metaverse platform like Axie Infinity is more oriented towards gaming and creating in-game characters. Such differences must be taken into account before moving to a new world.
2.Buying cryptocurrencies
As mentioned before, you need to possess cryptocurrencies to make transactions inside a metaverse. Many metaverse projects have their own native cryptocurrency. For example, MANA is the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland, which is a fungible Ethereum token or an ERC-20, meaning the tokens are interchangeable with other ERC-20 tokens. All the transactions inside Decentraland are executed using MANA in Decentraland’s marketplace where you can trade for in-game goods, services, and land parcels. Exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, or KuCoin allow you to purchase metaverse tokens such as MANA, SAND, and ETH. Your cryptocurrencies must be stored on a blockchain-based digital wallet, which takes us to the second stage.
3.Setting up and connecting your wallet
A wallet can be physical hardware that connects to your computer, or it can be a computer program that acts as the key that gives access to your digital coins. Your wallet of choice must be compatible with your selected metaverse and its native token, so be sure to double-check. Wallets such as MetaMask and Binance Chain Wallet can be added to your web browser and have a more convenient experience. Your wallet must then be connected to the metaverse marketplace to make purchases possible. The process depends on which metaverse you choose but it’s an overall straightforward procedure.
4.Selecting and Buying metaverse land
Based on your intentions, and short-term/long-term plans, you can choose a land parcel that’s up for sale at the metaverse marketplace. The surrounding neighborhood is probably the most influential indicator of how much potential is associated with a land parcel. All that’s left is paying up the price, confirming the transaction, and having your new land transferred to your wallet in the form of an NFT.
Take away
Acquiring possessions in the new realm of metaverse is becoming a more lucrative idea, even for large corporations and serious investors. Metaverse tokens are finding solid ground in the cryptocurrency market, such as MANA and SAND with market caps of over $1.5 billion and $1 billion, respectively. All of this, plus the growing hype behind the NFT markets, contribute to the potential behind trading metaverse lands. Metaverse real estate is steadily gaining value and turning into an important asset class for future investors who want to diversify their portfolios.
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