Investors Capture Metaverse Real Estate in a Virtual Land Explosion


Justin Bieber held a live concert this month, but the show wasn’t in a stadium or arena. Like recent performances by Ariana Grande, the Weeknd, and Travis Scott, this concert was held in the metaverse, the online world that transforms the corners of the internet into immersive, four-dimensional experiences.

Fans from all over the world watched as Mr. Bieber’s avatar sang songs from his hit album “Justice.” Investors were watching, too. They’re grabbing concert venues, shopping malls, and other properties across the metaverse as they prepare for a digital land explosion that will unfold only months later.

Interest in this digital universe skyrocketed last month when Mark Zuckerberg made a statement. It will be known as Facebook Meta, an effort to exploit the digital frontier. According to digital currency investor Grayscale, the global market for goods and services in the metadata will soon be worth $1 trillion.

The metadata store contains multiple digital fields. Each one is like a 3D virtual city where avatars live, work and play. Anyone exposed to popular video games like Fortnite, Animal Crossing, and the Roblox universe has had a taste of what these realms look like. In each, elements such as virtual reality, video streaming, mobile gaming, avatars and artificial intelligence are combined into immersive digital experiences.

But real estate investment in the metaverse is still highly speculative, and no one is sure whether this boom is the next big thing or the next big bubble.

Technologists believe that metadata will evolve into a fully functioning economy in a few years, providing a simultaneous digital experience that will be as integrated into our lives as email and social networks today.

Money in these digital worlds is cryptocurrency, as finance in the metadatabase is powered by the blockchain, a digitally distributed public ledger that eliminates the need for a third party like a bank. Anyone who enters a virtual world can buy or trade art, music and even houses. immutable tokensor NFTs, blockchain-based collection these are digital representations of real world elements. NFT serves as proof of ownership and cannot be changed.

And in recent months, the transaction volume for commercial real estate in the metadata has increased.

In October, Tokens.comIt has acquired 50 percent of its shares, a blockchain technology company focused on NFTs and metaverse real estate. Metaverse Group, one of the world’s first virtual real estate companies for approximately $1.7 million. Metaverse Group is headquartered in Toronto, but decentralized In Crypto Valley, Metaverse’s answer to Silicon Valley. Decentraland also has gambling, shopping, fashion and arts districts.

“Rather than trying to create a universe like Facebook, I said, ‘Why don’t we go in and buy plots of land in these metaverses and then we can be homeowners?’ Andrew Kiguel, co-founder and CEO of Tokens.com, said:

Since this acquisition, Tokens.com has broken the digital ground in a tower in Decentraland. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, and other luxury brands have entered the metaverse through NFTs, a move that has made corporate executives optimistic that the Tokens.com tower will soon generate revenue from rentals and advertising for brands like this.

For those wondering why a company might want to invest in a virtual office in the metaverse, Michael Gord, co-founder of Metaverse Group, said that skeptics should look to trends catalyzed by the pandemic.

“As more people attend, it’s where you go with friends and have experiences like conferences and concerts,” he said. “It is inevitable that Metaverse will become the world’s #1 social network.”

Metaverse Group has a real estate investment trust and plans to build a portfolio of properties in Decentraland as well as in other realms, including: somnium space, Sandbox and plateau. The internet may be endless, but virtual real estate isn’t endless – Decentraland, for example, is 90,000 parcels of land, each approximately 50 feet by 50 feet. Mr Gord said there is a feeling among investors that there is gold in these pixelated hills.

“Imagine coming to New York when it was farmland and you had the option to take a block of SoHo,” he said. “Today if someone wants to buy a block of real estate in SoHo, it’s priceless, it’s not on the market. The same experience will be in the metaverse.”

Last week, Tokens.com closed an even larger land deal in Decentraland’s fashion district for roughly $2.5 million. The company, which says the real estate transaction is the largest in the history of the metaverse, plans to turn the area into a virtual commercial hub for luxury fashion brands, à la Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue.

Mr. Kiguel estimates that his portfolio in the metadatabase is worth up to 10 times more than the purchase price, and most of the rationale will be similar to anyone who has ever bought or sold real estate.

“Location, location, location,” he said. “A parcel in the city center with heavy visitor traffic is more valuable than a parcel in the suburbs. It has a scarcity value.”

While many of these digital realms appear as cartoony, sticky-colored fantasy worlds, others are digital embodiments of the planet we already know and love. super world, a virtual real estate platform mapped around the world, offers 64.8 billion plots of land for sale, each as NFT. The Taj Mahal most likely exists as your childhood home. Owners may buy land for sentimental or insightful reasons, but either way, when they buy NFT, they get a share of any trades that take place on that property.

“You can buy places you love, whether it’s Central Park or the pyramids in Egypt,” said Hrish Lotlikar, co-founder and CEO of SuperWorld. “What you’re buying is virtual land that spans the world in these locations.”

And as the meta-universe infiltrates more deeply into the everyday consciousness of our universe, a new realm emerges where the distinction between them is erased: the ubiquitous universe.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, Justin Banon, said that the real world and the online world converge in a single hybrid universe where the mutable and the non-fungus intersect at multiple points. Boson Protocolallows physical products in the metaverse to be sold as NFTs. The real estate in the metadata will house the trade that will drive this transformation.

“It’s already happening, and it’s just a matter of degree,” he said. “But I guess in five years, if I don’t wear a pair of sneakers that don’t have NFT, my daughter won’t let me pick her up from school,” she said.

In June, Boson Protocol purchased a plot of land containing an entire block of Decentraland’s Vegas City gambling district. The area will be a trading post where real-world products can be exchanged for NFTs, the company says; The same NFTs that act as digital representations of physical products can also be traded for products in stores operating in real space.

“Everyone knows we are too early and these things will be modern-day antiquities,” Mr. Banon said. “So it’s extremely lucrative to buy at this stage.”

There are only a handful of digital spaces where investors can buy and sell real estate, and they all use their own cryptocurrency. For example, Decentraland is called MANA. Decentraland also has a marketplace where people can browse NFTs, including land for sale. “It’s almost like a multiple listing service,” said Mr. Kiguel.

Wave, an entertainment company that hosts interactive concerts, including concerts by Mr. Bieber, profits from virtual goods and brand sponsorships for shows held in neutral areas rather than a digital arena. The company isn’t monetizing real estate yet, but co-founder and CEO Adam Arrigo said it’s exploring the possibilities.

“These platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox are pioneers in validating these plots, these showcases,” he said. “Over the next few years, what we do will become much more common.”



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