How hot is real estate right now? Even the virtual markets are on fire.
A virtual plot of land in the online reality platform Decentraland sold this week for a record $2.4 million in cryptocurrency, according to a release from the crypto investment company Tokens.com and Decentraland.
Decentraland is a virtual world where users can buy land, visit buildings, stroll around, and interact with other avatars in the virtual world.
People have spent more and more time online during the pandemic. As a result of Facebook’s name change last month, interest in virtual reality products for the metaverse skyrocketed.
Decentraland is a blockchain-powered metaverse. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a type of crypto asset, are used in Decentraland to represent land and other assets. A cryptocurrency called MANA is used to buy land in Decentraland as a speculative investment.
A cryptocurrency called MANA is used to buy land in Decentraland as a speculative investment.
According to a statement from Tokens.com and a spokeswoman for Decentraland, the Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com, purchased a piece of real estate for 618,000 MANA on Monday, which was approximately $2,428,740 at the time.
According to Decentraland, it was the most expensive purchase of a virtual property on the site to date.
“We are happy to make history by closing the largest public metaverse land acquisition to date. These assets will complement the existing portfolio of metaverse real estate already held at Metaverse Group. We are excited to have our subsidiary successfully close this landmark digital real estate transaction,” said Andrew Kiguel, Tokens.com CEO, in a release.
Tokens.com said the land would be used to organize digital fashion events and sell virtual clothes for avatars. It is located on Decentraland’s “Fashion Street” map.
There are 116 smaller pieces, each measuring 52.5 square feet, totaling 6,090 virtual square feet.
Some retailers have already invested in the virtual landscape. Luxury brands like Gucci, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton entered the metaverse earlier this year with their designer NFTs. Nike, among other businesses, has stated that digital footwear would be released in “Nikeland.” Tokens.com will continue to develop Fashion Street through Metaverse Group, providing additional chances for fashion brands to present new digital items in the metaverse.
The price of MANA fluctuates dramatically. According to Coinbase, it’s gained roughly 400% this month, after Facebook’s name change.
