We are rapidly approaching the age of the metaverse, in which we will live digital lives alongside our physical lives in networked, persistent virtual realities. We will increasingly use these spaces to work, play, socialize, and learn — anything we can do in the actual world will have a “digital twin” in the metaverse with which we can connect without having to leave our homes. This involves investing and making money, and one of the most common methods to do so, just like in the real world, is to invest in real estate.
1. Invest virtual land and grow it like “a dotcom”
Invest virtual land and grow it like “a dotcom”. There are two major reasons why you might wish to own land in the metaverse, just like there are in the actual world. The first option is usually the safest: you want to utilize it for something specific, such as constructing a home or a company location. When we say “dwelling” in the metaverse, we truly mean having a location to call home, where you may display your belongings and maybe even invite friends over to hang out. It’s similar to having a personal website in the early days of the internet, before everyone shifted to social media. Individuals will be able to use metaverse “homes” to express themselves online or to store their collections of items.
The second motivation is as an investment, and this is where things get a little dicey because, like any investment, there’s no assurance that its value will rise. However, it appears that we are currently in the midst of a gold rush in metaverse real estate, with average values soaring by a factor of ten in the last year. Many people are purchasing digital land now because they anticipate it will become much more valuable in the future as more people get interested. Some are also investing in buy-to-let properties, with a burgeoning rental market.
2. How does virtual land work in the metaverse?
A metaverse platform to build metaverse. Imagine these platforms as separate geographical masses on the same planet – countries. These platforms, like countries, have a finite size, which means that if someone buys a block of land, no one else may use it unless they rent or buy it from them. If a large number of people are interested in that piece of land, the price will rise.
In the metaverse, land where a large number of people gather will be valued more, exactly as it is in real life. According to Andrew Kiguel, the founder and CEO of Tokens.com, one of Decentraland’s bigger property owners, the value in a virtual environment will be where brands and advertising gather. He claims that the metaverse is more about billboards than buildings for many corporations, and compares owning land there to buying advertising space on the internet now.
“Can you tell me why Google is more valuable than your mother’s website?” Because more people visit and utilize it over and over again,” says Janine Yorio, CEO of Republic Realm, a company that owns virtual real estate worth millions of dollars. As a result, plots in Decentraland near plazas like Dragon City and Vegas City are more expensive, according to Decentraland’s Head of Partnerships Adam De Cata.
3. What does the future hold for virtual land investment?
In the long run, this will be determined by the metaverse’s future. Certainly, some of the world’s most powerful and important companies, from Facebook (formerly known as Meta) to Microsoft and Nvidia, are betting big that it is the “next generation” of the internet. If this proves to be the case – and the metaverse proves to be as significant to business and society in the next 20 years as the internet has been in the previous 20 – digital real estate will become a more fascinating and useful asset. We clearly embrace the possibility that internet allows us to build audiences and create interesting new products and services, from major company to personal businesses and influencers.
Is this yet another opportunity to get your hands on the hottest and most recent digital assets before they become viral? Like a dotcom storm, if you want to be a part of the action, how can you get involved? Or should you keep your distance from what could turn out to be an over-hyped bubble set to burst? It all depends on you.