Metaverse: A Plot of Virtual Real Estate Sells for Around $2.4 Million in Decentraland

A piece of virtual real estate in the online world Decentraland was sold for a record $2.4 million (roughly Rs. 17 crore) in cryptocurrency, according to the buyer and seller, crypto investor Tokens.com and Decentraland.

Decentraland is a virtual world – also known as a “metaverse” – where users can buy land, visit buildings, walk around, and meet other people as avatars.

This year has seen an increase in the popularity of such environments, as the pandemic has caused people to spend more time online.

Last month, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its focus on developing virtual reality products for the metaverse, which piqued people’s interest.

Decentraland is a type of blockchain-based metaverse. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a type of crypto asset, are used to purchase land and other items in Decentraland.

Land is purchased as a speculative investment by crypto enthusiasts using Decentraland’s cryptocurrency, MANA.

Tokens.com subsidiary the Metaverse Group purchased 618,000 MANA (approximately $2,428,740 (roughly Rs. 18 crore) in real estate on Monday, according to a Decentraland spokesman and a Tokens.com statement.

According to Reuters, the land purchase was also recorded on the NFT marketplace OpenSea.

According to Decentraland, it was the most expensive purchase of virtual real estate on the platform.

The land is located on Decentraland’s map in the “Fashion Street” area, and Tokens.com stated that it will be used to host digital fashion events and sell virtual clothing for avatars.

It is made up of 116 smaller parcels, each measuring 52.5 square feet, giving the land a total area of 6,090 virtual square feet.

Tokens.com CEO Andrew Kiguel stated that the assets would supplement Metaverse Group’s existing real estate holdings.

A plot of virtual land in Decentraland sold for 1,295,000 MANA in June, which was worth $913,228 (roughly Rs. 6.7 crore at the time). The buyers created a virtual shopping center to sell digital clothing, but Reuters has visited the site several times since and has yet to see any customers.

MANA is extremely volatile. According to Coinbase, it has increased by around 400 percent this month, with a spike following Facebook’s name change.