Small virtual squares purchased for gold in cryptocurrencies, in the hope that the investment made in the “dark” could sooner or later translate into a favorable profit opportunity. Since Mark Zuckerberg changed his name to Facebook to reveal to the world his plans to enter the metaverse , the digital real estate market has seen its share grow, reaching very high figures. According to the data reported by the analysis agency Metametric Solutions, the sale of virtual properties in the four main platforms of the metaverse ( Sandbox , Decentraland , Cryptovoxels and Somnium ) exceeded $ 85 million in January 2022 alone, for a market that closed last year reaching a total value of 500 million dollars . If the trend of last month were to be confirmed also in the following, we cannot exclude the achievement of a turnover of 1 billion dollars by the end of the year.
It might sound strange that someone is putting his hand to his wallet to buy a more or less large virtual plot, whose ownership is recognized as protected and certified in the form of NFT . As for digital works and for the first tweet in history signed Jack Dorsey – the former CEO and founder of Twitter – the same considerations apply: we could find ourselves facing forward-looking and profitable investments, or the opposite in front of a gigantic speculative bubble ready to burst loudly in the next few years. In fact, even analysts agree that investing in the virtual real estate market hides very high risks, despite the awareness of equally high profit margins. In any case, many are ready to bet on the growth of the sector: according to a report by BrandEssence Market Research, between 2022 and 2028 the digital real estate market could touch one annual growth of 31% .
The sector is certainly driven by the Block Chain but also the metaverse , that virtual place with endless and potentially infinite dimensions where you can do a lot of things, from recreational ones to those more related to work and productivity. Someone has already defined it as Web 3.0 , which is the latest version of the Internet. And like thirty years ago when the digital network was starting to take its first steps, the metaverse is still under construction. This explains why people – but in truth it is more about companies, as also explained by the analysts themselves – are investing heavily in the purchase of these virtual lands, which should be used to build the metaverse . The more users will enter this virtual world through their digital identities, the more there will be a need to use the virtual real estate space.
At present, those who are making this type of investment are faced with a double choice: to build and do virtual things in the purchased plots (such as a co-working space to host business meetings, or a place for musical events, shops and much more), or keep them tight and then resell them in the future, perhaps at a higher price. The advantage of the digital real estate business is the absence of limits , also because the metaverse itself is a virtual space Infinity. The disadvantage is that everything is still very uncertain: there is the “perfume” of huge economic returns if things take the right turn, but there is also the risk that everything explodes irremediably. And this is no small thing.
To be able to buy a virtual plot of land, you must first of all have certain cryptocurrencies in special wallets. The four most popular platforms in virtual real estate sales in the metaverse are Sandbox (where sand currency is used), Decentraland (whose currency is known as mana), Cryptovoxels and Somnium; alternatively, you can go through a third party platform such as OpenSea . Unlike the real estate market, there are no valuations in the metaverse , at least not yet. However, there may be opportunities to negotiate on the price: for example, Decentraland allows you to make an offer, which can be accepted or rejected by the owner. The object of purchase is, as mentioned at the beginning, a more or less large square inserted in a large map, each of which identified by specific coordinates. And just like it happens in the real estate market that we usually know, the value of the land is often subordinated to some variables, and among these there is also the position on the map. Once the purchase has been made, the transaction is recorded on the digital wallet and generates a security NFT , a certificate attesting to its authenticity and ownership.
Wanting to give a concrete example, Snoop Dogg is developing on SandBox a virtual reality platform oriented to games and entertainment, called “ Snoopverse “. This platform is meant to be Snoop Dogg's virtual world within the metaverse . But what does it have to do with the issue of the growth of the digital real estate market ? Well, it seems that a fan named P-Ape bought a piece of digital land inside the Snoopverse in early January for something like $ 450,000. It is also worth mentioning the sale of a virtual land on Decentraland for the equivalent of $ 900,000: the transaction, carried out in June last year, was conducted in the cryptocurrency mana. Earlier this year, Tokens.com shelled out $ 2.8 million in virtual land that was set to turn into a full-fledged shopping mall.
