How to Buy Virtual Land in the Metaverse (and make money with it)

You may have heard about people rushing to buy land in the digital Metaverse. Getting nervous you’re missing out? Then check out this article covering the 2 biggest virtual worlds that exist at the moment.

Virtual Land is not the Same as Physical Land

Real estate has always been a safe investment. Together with stocks and bonds (and maybe gold) it is considered as one of the safe-haven assets that are great for building wealth over time. Virtual land is different from physical land in that sense that it is a much more risky purchase and should not be considered (yet) as a traditional wealth building asset. Or does that make me sound old? One of the reasons is simply based on supply and demand. In terms of demand we are still in early stages of adoption. Partly to blame on the technical execution that makes some of the experiences buggy, or appear like obvious gaming worlds. Another reason is there is not 1 virtual world (or metaverse). In theory an infinite number of worlds or metaverses can be created. And much as with the rise of the internet, it is often not the pioneering, first movers that will return the biggest return on investment.

Why are people interested in virtual land?

Much the same as with physical land and real estate capital appreciation and the ability to earn money is a big driver for investments. People see the potential of digital universes and can imagine a possible shift where people spend less time on mobile devices with small screens, moving towards more immersive embodied experiences. Add to that the explosive growth of the use of crypto currencies and NFT’s as virtual assets and the FOMO concept (the fear of missing out) and you’ll start to understand why new things can gain popularity fast. Virtual worlds are seeing strong increases in interest. With the COVID-19 Pandemic still plaguing the world, people are looking for alternative places to visit and experience and virtual worlds have benefited from this as well. Land plots in virtual worlds have dramatically increased in price and currencies used in virtual worlds have seen explosive growth as well.

Which virtual worlds allows you to buy virtual land?

There are already several virtual worlds or metaverses that offer virtual land up for sale and with the explosive interest and popularity of all things Metaverse right now, we’re expecting many more to enter the market in the coming year(s). Currently 2 big players and early-movers are dominating the scene and they are Decentraland and the Sandbox.

Decentraland was one of the first virtual worlds

Decentraland has been in development since 2015 and officially launched in 2017. Parcels of land initially sold for 20 dollars a piece and the first part of the map that was “unlocked” was Genesis City. Fast forward a few years later and land plots in crowded central areas such as Genesis City are now sold for prices that can go up as high as several million dollars. The floor price (the lowest price) at which a small plot of land can be bought currently is slightly north of 15,000 US dollars. Decentraland as the name suggests is a decentralized world, which means not 1 company or entity is in control of it. It also means development is up to the community. Decentraland can only be accessed from a desktop computer. A good graphics card is needed, to load all the detail and the world is known to be quite buggy and slow-running, yet it is still one of the biggest names out there and a first-mover.

The Sandbox has grown fast and has a strong gaming focus

The Sandbox is not a decentralized world, unlike Decentraland as it is owned by a Hong Kong-based game development company called Animoca Brands. Animoca Brands is one of the largest gaming companies in the world, focused on driving an “Open Metaverse”. Well Open within The Sandbox of course. The team behind the Sandbox is very focused on commercial collaborations and partnerships They have brought in huge brands like Warner, Adidas, Budweiser, Formula 1 as well as connected with influential celebrities such as Snoop Dogg who has a large plot of land where special events and experiences take place. Many mini games exist along side each other in the Sandbox as well. The Metaverse environment of the Sandbox is built in a LEGO-like brick style, that we previously have seen in Minecraft.

Decentraland and The Sandbox are not the only worlds

Besides Decentraland and The Sandbox, other virtual worlds are springing to life all over the place. Axie Infinity, Somnium Space, Roblox, Illuvium and Cryptovoxels are some of the more noteworthy. In addition, it can be expected that many more virtual worlds will open up as huge amounts of money can be made. Facebook for one has announced it’s extending its Horizon world and has announced it’ll be hiring 10,000 people for its huge campus in Europe to lead its Metaverse efforts.

Virtual Economies have sprung to life, powering virtual worlds.

Can you imagine earning a living in a virtual decentralized economy? It is already possible! Real leaf humans have taken up jobs in the Metaverse. Decentraland has hired staff for tis online casino. Hosts help visitors navigate their way through the many gambling games that exists and Decentraland is paying its hosts for 4 hours of work per day the equivalent of about 500 US Dollars per month. In the sandbox people can make money playing play-to-earn games. In both worlds digital content creators have started to make a decent living creating virtual assets and wearables that are being sold in online marketplaces to help dress up your avatar or decorate your land plot or building in a special or unique way. Digital art is making its way into galleries and buildings and being put for sale to people passing by.

Local currencies: MANA vs SAND have seen explosive growth

The currency in use in Decentraland is the MANA token. Which initially ICO-ed for 0.02 dollar cents per coin. MANA tokens currently trade for around $3.30 which is a nice 164x on the price you could have bought it for and is used to buy wearables, assets or additional land plots. SAND is the token of choice for the Sandbox and on launch was worth around 0.00833 dollar cents per coin. SAND currently trades for around 4.70 which is an even nicer 564x multiple on your investment. IF you were early that is.

How do I buy a Plot of Land.

The easiest way to buy any NFT is still to use the Opensea Marketplace. Opensea has a seperate Sandbox Page as well as a separate Decentraland page, where all plots that are for sale can be found and purchased

What can I do with it? And More Importantly, how do I make Money with it?

Once you ‘ve bought a plot of land you can build something on it. A office building, house, event space. You can create an art-galleries showcasing your nicest digital art pieces (you can even allow people to buy your art via clickable links). You can hold virtual performances; people even get married in virtual worlds these days.

There are a few ways people make money of virtual land. In the end it’s often about your own creativity

• Capital appreciation. Many early movers see the potential and are buying plots to hold, speculating steep increases in prices allowing huge gains to be made when they flip their land plots.
• Land Flipping. Popular plots are constantly being bought and re-sold for quick gains.
• You can sell digital art in galleries
• You can host digital ads on the side of your building or even on a billboard or poster you allow to be placed on your land.
• You can rent out your space to those who don’t want to buy, but want to make use short-term of a virtual landplot. Location matters of course and the size of your plot matters as well, but surprisingly there is quite a bit of interest
• You can sell products you make in real life and create a virtual store front for people around the world to visit.
• For the Sandbox specifically you can launch your own play to earn game on your plot of land.
• People are even able to now put their virtual land up as a deposit to get a mortgage or a loan in real life.

Am I too late?

It is a wait-and-see game at the moment. With still low usage numbers, and limited utility and use models, we’ll have to wait and see which Metaverse(s) will best succeed in drawing in people to spend time in their virtual worlds. In the same way we saw with the rise of the Internet, early-movers not always making it, the same will apply here. Surely there’s a huige potential for a bubble to form for what feels are over-inflated prices. With the improvement of technology and the bridging of the virtual and the physical world however, these are exciting times and paying attention to what is happening can result in huge life-changing financial gains.

Where is this going?

One research firm estimates that virtual gaming worlds will be worth 400 billion US dollars by 2025, and the broader metaverse industry worth over 1 trillion US dollars. In terms of Metaverses, more specialized worlds will start to pop up that target specific use purposes, such as Education, Music Events or Gambling. We might see worlds that focus on shopping or working from home allowing new experiences in collaboration and working together. Fitness and exercise worlds might become a reality, worlds where lovers of certain hobbies might come together. Conference, Exhibition worlds might start to pop up. Various worlds might be built around leisure experiences and travelling etc. It is all up to our creativity and imagination.

this article first appeared on crptosquare.io