Since its introduction, blockchain technology has added incredible financial features to digital markets. Bitcoin, the most powerful coin at the present time, is a peer-to-peer electronic cash which was designed to create a more powerful, independent finance. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency according to the market cap, has further paved the way by becoming the foundation of an ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Along with this, virtual world has developed to cause more interesting features such as attending concerts and parties miles away in another continent and spend fun time with others. Besides, virtual world has changed the trading forms, too. One of this changes comes to real state trading. Decentraland, a software running on Ethereum, is a platform which encourages a global network of users to share a virtual world through buying and selling digital real estate, while they may explore, interact and play games within this virtual world. Right now, the platform allows interactions through apps, in-world payments and peer-to-peer communication for users.
Many people ask about investment in decentraland and if it is profitable. Here, we provide a guide to help answer the questions.
What is Decentraland?
Decentraland is a virtual game which first launched in 2016 as a simple 2D experience. Since then, it gradually evolved into an entire 3D world of customizable land, art, activities and much more. MANA, the cryptocurrency used with Decentraland, is the ERC-20 token that powers this experimental game ecosystem, which combines blockchain and virtual reality.
Another interesting feature with the Decentraland is that the platform uses Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the unique and easily tradable digital assets stored on the blockchain. The game includes 90,000 plots of land, each represented by an NFT. It is known as a major selling point of Decentraland as users become a virtual real-estate citizen by buying NFT lands. Users may even sell the land for profit. The game provides the chance to improve the value of a land by adding improvements like constructions, artwork or fun activities, such as concerts and parties.
Recently, celebrities and brands have shown their interest in the Mettaverse by acquiring property, hoping that they may make more income in the Metaverse in the future.
Compared to other virtual games, Decentraland is much easier to start playing. It can run easily on a browser window. Although the game is completely free to play, the main attraction for many users is the investment in Decentraland’s virtual items or land.
The experience in the game improves further by purchasing land, character accessories, art or other fun items; in this regard, users first need to purchase some MANA, the cryptocurrency used in the game. Owning enough MANA, users can search for their desired NFT items on Decentraland’s marketplace.
Simply saying, there two main types of tokens available in Decentraland:
- land, a non-fungible token used to define the ownership of land parcels which represent digital real estate. Once a plot of land is purchased, user may create an entirely virtual site. Use Decentraland’s LAND Estates feature to manage even multiple lands. Further, land groups which share a similar theme can be make a block as districts. This allows different users, with a common interest, to form a community. Agora, a voting system used to manage the districts, allows users to gain more control of the developments in their districts.
- MANA, cryptocurrency to buy land, virtual goods and services used in Decentraland.
A great feature with Decentraland is its decentralization, which refers to the control and decision-making by a distributed network. Voting is done through the Decentraland Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Therefore, all users with a few MANA tokens or a plot of in-game land can create and vote on proposals to manage and change the game. Among many blockchain-based games promising decentralization in the near future, Decentraland is actually one of the games to actually deliver on it.
By now, Decentraland is a massive cryptocurrency, with a relatively large market capitalization at about $8 billion and a circulating supply of 1.82 billion tokens, much more than Bitcoin.
How to buy in Decentraland?
Follow the following steps to make it quick and easy way to buy some Decentraland.
- Open an online account. Prior to investing in Decentraland, users need to sign up for an account on a trading platform which offers the game, such as Coinbase, eToro and Voyager. Then, users need to verify their identity with the exchange to be able to start trading. Users are required to provide address, Social Security number and a picture of their driver’s license. As soon as identity verification, users can start trading with their account on Decentraland.
- Get a trusted wallet. Many cryptocurrency investors, store their cryptos in the exchange to avoid exchange hacks. According to the market research, most top trading platforms, like the ones recommended above, have great security that help users avoid losing their funds to hacks. However, crypto exchanges are not the best storage solution. It is much wiser to keep cryptos in personal wallets, either hardware or software.
- Make your purchase. With the verification of identity, it is so easy to get MANA. Remember to use trading platforms that support instant ACH deposits to get the chance to start trading immediately. Having the funds deposited, users should look for the trading pair with MANA, like MANA/USD. Set the price you would like to purchase MANA at and complete the transaction. If the case of having a personal wallet, it is safer to transfer the crypto to it.
What are the best crypto wallets for Decentraland?
There are two types of wallets available in digital world, each of which has their own advantages; hardware wallet and software wallet. Just like many other decentralized platforms, it is possible to use both types of wallets with Decentraland. Here, we suggest some of the best.
1. Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger
A decent hardware wallet promises to keep your funds safe. These physical devices are more secure than software wallets or exchange wallets because wallet’s information is never stored online which significantly decreases the risk of hacks. Among all, Ledger is the best hardware wallets, with 2 fantastic models: Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X.
The Nano S is the simpler model perfect for any investor looking for an economical price and incredibly secure wallet. The Nano X, on the other hand, adds Bluetooth functionality and a larger touchscreen to make using the wallet seamless.
Both devices include the same certified secure chip that generates, encrypts and stores wallet’s information only to the owner. Ledgers support more than 1000 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dogecoin and all ERC-20 tokens (including MANA).
2. Best Software Wallet: Coinbase Wallet
A good advice to all crypto owners is to keep a majority of their portfolio on a hardware wallet and use a software wallet for day-to-day transactions. Although software wallets are not as secure as hardware ones, they are known to be much easier to use, especially with DApps like Decentraland.
Coinbase Wallet is one of the best software wallets available today. The wallet is available as an app for mobile devices on iOS and Android. Coinbase Wallet seems to be more functional than other ones as it has an incredibly useful DeFi browser to not only interact with DApps, a swap tab do trading between a long list of cryptos, but also to store your NFTs and more. Coinbase Wallet can store more than 1,000 different cryptos including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and all-ERC20s (such as MANA).
Renting lands in Decentraland
Decentraland has recently added the rental feature to its service in order to provide greater incentives and opportunities for Land owners and new users with the rental system. This new renting system uses a combination of signatures stored in a server handled by the Decentraland Foundation and Ethereum transaction.
According to the technical documentation of Decentraland, the rental smart contract heavily relies on off-chain signatures, which allow Land owners to list their Lands for rent without paying transaction costs.
By signing a listing, the smart contract allows the Land owner to list their properties for renting. This ensures a safe and decentralized mechanism for renting Land in Decentraland.
For a full guide on how to rent a land or list your land in this metaverse world and make passive income, read the full article on Decentraland’s rental documentation.
How to list your Land for renting in Decentraland?
It is a rather easy process. Here are the steps to take:
1. Land owners must go to My Asset tab and approve the Rent Smart Contract to use the Land on their behalf.
2. After approval, Land owners can set a rental price per day in MANA. They also need to set the days they want tenants to rent it. The price per day times the number of days the renter wants to rent the Land will be the amount of MANA the tenant has to pay upfront and, in total.
3. Land owners are also questioned about an expiration date for the listing, removing the listing if the Land was not rented until a certain date. Since the smart contract rejects the expired signatures, no one can rent the Land with an expired listing price and duration.
4. Land owners are able to cancel or edit the conditions of the listing if the asset is not rented.
5. According to the smart contract, Land owners can list their assets for rent again or claim it back. In the case of reclaim, Land owners must send a transaction confirming the transfer of operator permissions from the tenant to the owner, which includes the gas fees.
5. Land owners cannot sell their Land if it is rented. Owners need to wait until they are allowed to claim it back at the end of rent period.
6. Land owners will claim all voting power over their Land.
How to rent a Land in Decentraland?
Tenants who look for a rental Land can find the listings in Decentraland Marketplace under the LAND section. Once they find their desired parcels or estates, they need to select the Rent Period (number of days they will have the land). Setting the number of days, tenants see the total price for the rent.
Tenants must also approve the Rent Smart Contract to take MANA from their account. After approval, tenants can then decide who will manage the Land. It can be the tenant or any other address the tenant may choose.
In the case of any changes to the addresses, tenants can use the Builder to apply new addresses. When tenants are set with all details and approved the Rent Smart Contract, a transaction is sent to confirm the rent. Now, the Land is ready to be used by the tenant.
Tenants should note that tenants will still have Operator Permissions after the end of the rent until the Land owner claims the asset back, or somebody else rents it. Make sure you save your content before the end of the rent, otherwise it could be lost.
Is Investing in Decentraland a Good Decision?
Decentraland is an extremely new investment. Buying a plot of land in Decentraland should be done with careful considerations. The world is developing steadily and rapidly into the metaverse, however it is still in early stages. At the beginning of 2021, the investment rated $0.08, which ended a massive return on investment by the end of the year.
Like many other investments in NFT market, there are some peaks and downs from time to time. This is the norm for volatile altcoins and investors must be aware of the risk for time of investment. Therefore, it is always advised to observe the market for the best investment condition and reward before making any investment decision.
