If you have never heard of this virtual world, you may be wondering what is Decentraland? Decentraland is nothing more and nothing less than a virtual world based on an Ethereum blockchain and consisting of more than 90,000 plots. Incredible, isn't it?
These virtual plots are also known as Lands and each plot measures 16×16 metres. In addition, each plot is a Non Fungible Token (NFT), which means that they are unique and cannot be replicated, thus resembling real world plots.
These plots can be built with a special builder like you can find in other well-known games, such as SIMS. The best thing is that you can choose from countless elements to incorporate into your plot. Although it may not seem like it, you don't need any technical knowledge, so take a look at it.
To give you an idea of what the world of Decentraland is like, we will explain how it is laid out so that you can get an idea before you enter it. This world is modelled around a central square, called Genesis Plaza , with a total of 9 central squares, owned by the community. As you can see in the map below, you will see that it is made up of a series of streets, which cannot be bought. Among these streets you will find the districts of institutional or private property, which are blue or purple in colour. In turn, you will see grey areas, these correspond to plots that are already sold and, finally, you will find areas in light blue, which would be plots or for sale and, you can locate them individually or in a grouping of several plots.
Players can not only buy Lands or plots, but also have the option to buy different customised items to dress up their avatars. But they will also be able to find all kinds of NFT for sale, from paintings, music or photographs to collectibles.
If you are interested in which are the best plots to buy, let us tell you that the most expensive land is located around the central areas, which are also the most crowded by players. But don't worry, because thanks to teleportation, what we understand as the real estate location mantra is not as important or as meaningful as in the real world.
Many of these Lands for sale do not have their prices updated, i.e., they are still asking for the same amount of Mana as months ago despite the large increase that this has suffered. As of today, we consider that the price of many plots, which make up this world, is inflated. So keep looking because you can find some real bargains.
WHAT IS MANA?
Mana is none other than Decentraland's cryptocurrency. This currency is an ERC20 token, which is used to buy parcels or Lands and also to pay for goods and services. When you buy using this currency, Decentraland no longer burns the MANA, but passes it directly to the DAO, explained below.
MANA owners can vote on new features, community rules and grants for new developments.
Decentraland was founded in 2015 by Esteban Ordano and Ariel Meilich, carrying out an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017, in order to finance its future operations. Subsequently, it was transferred to the aforementioned Decentraland foundation, which retains 20% of the initial offering and holds the intellectual property rights of this project.
Before launching its platform, Decentraland set up a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, called DAO, to hand over project management to its users. This is basically a smart contract that replicates the functioning of an organisation or company but without a hierarchical structure.
All of this brings us to the Token Economy, where from an initial supply, Mana has been burned as Lands have been purchased. The Decentraland team destroyed the private keys due to smart contracts making this a great project.
If you want to know more about what a DAO or Token Economy is, follow us on YouTube!
MARKET AND INVESTORS
Nowadays, investors claim that if you are not on Decentraland, you don't exist, which is known as Web3. For this reason, many brands are moving to this virtual world, where we can already find companies such as Bainance, Kraken or Tominoya Casinos, and many more!
If you want to know the average price paid for plots, you can go to the website nonfungible.com, which tracks all sales.
It is worth mentioning that investors like Republic use their own money to buy plots of land in different metaverses. In addition, this one in particular is in the process of collaborating with a hospitality brand to jointly develop a hotel and bar all in one. This place could become a meeting point, attracting retailers and developers.
FIRST STEPS IN DECENTRALAND
If after reading this article you are thinking of entering the virtual world of Decentraland, here are some tips to optimise your experience.
- There is only a desktop version that requires a good processor and graphics card. But don't worry, we leave you here a link with some recommendations so that you don't have problems when entering this world. https://docs.decentraland.org/decentraland/hardware-acceleration/
- You have different options to log in, either as a guest or with your MetaMask wallet. We recommend that you log in using the latter, so you can use all the functionality that this metatrader offers.
- Once you're in, just set up your avatar and head out into the world to explore.
