Cryptocurrency: The Metaverse MANA Matrix

[grarpamp]

NFT... the harvester of souls...


These Are The Things Real People Are Spending Millions Of Real Dollars
On, In The Metaverse

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fintech-nft-land-idCAKCN2DU1GA
https://twitter.com/AxieInfinity/status/1463876867245625346
https://twitter.com/joinrepublic_re/status/1468280732460228612

While billions are joking about Facebook's "metaverse" plans, real
people are spending millions (and soon billions) in real cash to buy
imaginary objects. As BofA's Alkesh Shah writes, metaverse land (and
yacht) purchases are accelerating as blockchain-enabled applications
and new frontiers continue to develop.

Here are some examples of what people are spending all too real money on:

    Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com, purchased a
116-parcel estate in Decentraland’s Fashion Street district for ~$2.4
million (618k MANA) on Nov 23.1 If you’re wondering where Decentraland
is on the map, it’s not.The 6,090 square feet of digital land
purchased exists solely in the metaverse. The purchase was the largest
acquisition of metaverse land to date and equates to 0.13% of all land
to ever exist in Decentraland. And as Decentralands monthly users are
expected to reach an all-time high of 300k this month it is not
surprising that so many individuals and organizations want a piece of
the action.

    Republic Realm, a digital real estate firm, purchased 259 parcels
of land in Decentraland’s Metajuku district for ~$914k (1.3mn MANA) on
Jun 18. The firm plans to transform its 16,000 square feet of digital
land into a virtual shopping district where users can purchase digital
wearables.

    Retail stores are leased and operated by third parties with
current occupancy at 40%. If the idea of digital clothing sounds a bit
farfetched, Balenciaga, Burberry,Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Gucci and
Louis Vuitton, among others, have already released digital
collections.

    Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn gaming platform, announced on Nov 24
that it had sold a “Genesis” plot of digital land – one of 220 – for
~$2.3 million (550ETH).

    Yesterday, an Axie Genesis Plot sold for 550 ETH!

    This was the largest sale ever for a single plot of digital land ✨🔥

    Learn about Land 👇https://t.co/6zPh0roPqG pic.twitter.com/4h5yERCwwO
    — Axie Infinity🦇🔊 (@AxieInfinity) November 25, 2021

    Worried about inflated land prices? You probably should be...
although it is likely that they prices will get much higher before
they pop: the largest known sale of metaverse (sur)real estate took
place at the all too real price of $4.3 million. Republic Realm said
it paid $4.3 million for land in the world Sandbox, the biggest
virtual real-estate sale publicized to date. Republic Realm bought the
digital land from videogame company Atari SA and the two firms said
they plan to partner on the development of some of the properties.

    . at JanineYorio on @CNN with @richardquest on how buying digital
real estate now is like buying land in Manhattan when it was still
forest and farmland. Watch clip here: pic.twitter.com/CBnPdNNEeB
    — Republic Realm (@joinrepublic_re) December 7, 2021

    That acquisition broke a record set just last week by a subsidiary
of Canadian investment firm Tokens.com Corp., which said it paid
around $2.5 million for land in the world Decentraland’s Fashion
District: “This is like buying land in Manhattan 250 years ago as the
city is being built,” said Andrew Kiguel, chief executive of
Tokens.com.
    Then there are yachts: Republic Realm sold its Metaflower Super
Mega Yacht, a virtual yacht, on Nov 23 for ~$650k (149 ETH) in The
Sandbox to an anonymous buyer.

Participants can buy a virtual yacht or paintings for their virtual homes

    The yacht includes a relaxing Jacuzzi, two helipads, lounge areas,
and even a dance floor to entertain its guest.

Needless to say, such "meta" investments are extremely risky. Unlike
actual real estate, which tends to retain some value even during a
market downturn, the value of virtual properties could fall to zero if
the world they are in goes out of fashion and people stop visiting it.

Prices can also be slammed by the volatility of cryptocurrencies, said
Zach Aarons, general partner of the real-estate-focused
venture-capital firm MetaProp. “If I buy a building for 40 ETH, and
then ethereum goes from $4,000 to $100, that’s a fundamental risk that
I’m not really taking when I’m buying a piece of physical real
estate,” he said.

That hasn't stopped the meta craze from reaching all the way to the
very top: Sotheby’s created a virtual replica of its New Bond Street
Galleries headquarters in London in Decentraland’s Voltaire Art
District, where its Natively Digital NFT auction on Jun 3 was
streamed. The structure features all five ground level gallery spaces
as well as the figure of Sotheby’s London Commissionaire, Hans
Lomulder, on hand to greet visitors.

Michael Bouhanna, specialist and head of sales at Sotheby’s said that
“we see spaces like Decentraland as the next frontier for digital art
where artists, collectors and viewers alike can engage with one
another from anywhere in the world and showcase art that is
fundamentally scarce and unique, but accessible to anyone for
viewing.”

BofA's take: "the metaverse consists of persistent virtual reality
platforms, powered by blockchain technology, which allow users to
interact through augmented reality (AR) headsets. Similar to the Gold
Rush, investors and speculators are securing what they expect to be
valuable assets within this new frontier. We expect the development of
infrastructure (railroads) in the form of on-ramps and
interoperability of digital assets. The Metaverse is worth paying
attention to, given a potential market opportunity of $1tn.4 We expect
development of this new frontier over the next decade, leading to
interoperable environments that allow users to interact, play games,
attend concerts and visit art galleries, as well as buy, sell and
trade NFTs."

To be clear, "the metaverse has already arrived with ~$392 million
spent this year on metaverse-related digital assets."