NFT Guide: What Is Decentraland?
This article will explain what is Decentraland, how to use Decentraland, and the rise of the platform. We will explore the metaverse showing how this could be the future.
š¤ Introduction
Decentraland is software running on Ethereum that seeks to incentivize a global network of users to operate a shared virtual world. Decentraland users can buy and sell digital real estate, while exploring, interacting, and playing games within this virtual world. Over time, the platform has evolved to implement interactive apps, in-world payments, and peer-to-peer communication for users.Ā The real estate market has grown in recent years, not just in the real world.
There are thousands of virtual lands for sale worth millions of dollars and people buy them every day. You can check out the latest sales here. The prosperity of virtual real estate is mainly due to the invention of irreplaceable tokens, which guarantee constant ownership of virtual property. As the world becomes increasingly digital, some people believe that this virtual real estate market will one day be larger than the real market. This is based only on the fact that the platform will keep growing in the future.
Decentraland is the current leader in this niche market and, in recent months, has become one of the most active markets for virtual land and other NFTs. This, along with many prolific partners, sent MANA tokens in a parabolic race. Today, I'll take a closer look at what Decentraland does and why I think MANA may be one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies on the market.
š§¢ Decentraland Recap
If Decentraland is missing from your mental dictionary hereās the definition. Decentraland is a community-owned virtual world that leverages the Ethereum blockchain. It consists of 90,000 parcels of land which measure 16 x 16 meters or 52 x 52 feet for you Americans out there.
Each parcel of land exists as a non-fungible LAND token on the Ethereum blockchain. Non-fungible means that each LAND token is unique.
This is because each is characterized by its location on the Decentraland map. Each piece of land can also be customized using a Decentraland builder, which is similar to the construction tools in games such as Sims and can be used without any technical knowledge.
Some land is used for roads that cannot be bought or sold. These are the light gray lines you see across the map.
Some land belongs to plazas which are owned by the Decentraland community. These are the nine green areas you see on the map. Each plaza has its own theme and the plaza at the center is known as the Genesis Plaza, which is where all players spawn.
In addition to land, users buy and sell wearable items and names for their in-game avatars on the Decentraland marketplace. There are also events hosted in the Decentraland metaverse, something that forms as a platform for people to connect with each other with the ongoing lockdowns. Minigames can be found throughout the world, and museums of NFTs are also prevalent within each collectorās plot of land.
These also exist as real NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. All items on the Decentraland marketplace are purchased using the MANA token, which is also the de facto in-game currency of Decentraland.
š„³ Getting a Decentraland Passport and Avatar
For Decentraland, the wallet app must be of a certain kind, that can work through a web browser.Ā The recommended wallet for Decentraland is MetaMask.Ā To learn how to download and install MetaMask click here. When your MetaMask wallet is set up, you can create a Decentraland account.
Go to Decentralandās game section on their website and click play, or play as a guest. You will also be given an option to claim a permanent and unique avatar name (which requires paying a small fee using MetaMask ā this fee was created to keep someone from freely grabbing all the possibly interesting names to hold for ransom).Ā
You will need to create a āPasswordā (which is your identity and account in Decentraland). Youāll use MetaMask to do so. On your first visit to the Decentraland world, you will also need to create a Passport and an Avatar. You do not have to pick a name to visit Decentraland, but eventually, you may want to get one so that you donāt show up just as a guest. Sign in using MetaMask,
To create a custom name, you will need to get 100 Mana (Decentralandās currency) and at least a small amount of Ethereum (ETH) into your MetaMask wallet account.Ā You can skip claiming a name for as long as you wish, and visit the world as an anonymous guest. You will now enter the loading screen after signing in with your MetaMask.
On your first visit, you will enter a beginners tutorial, where you can learn basic skills like how to walk, jump and interact with the environment at the same time.
You will also be shown instructions on how to chat, use the minimap, etc.Ā Once you leave the tutorial through the portal arch, you will really be āin the worldā. If you press the Enter key, you can type into the Chat area in the lower-left corner of your screen, to converse with others, or to enter Decentraland commands
One of the commands enables you to teleport to another place in Decentraland. For example to go to the main entrance to the Decentraland Conference Center, type into the chat area, very carefully and exactly the following, with the indicated space such as: /goto 11,94. Welcome to Decentraland!
The number of active users on Decentraland has quintupled since the start of the year, and itās not just because of virtual gambling. Decentraland has become a hotbed for NFT art because it allows artists to set up their own virtual galleries where people can browse and even talk directly with the artist in-game via voice chat.
Some of these art galleries are damn impressive and some of the most lucrative NFT sales have consequently taken place on Decentraland. One example is the recent NFT auction on Decentraland by format DC Comics artist, JosĆ© Delbo who is famous for his illustration of Wonder Woman in the 70s and 80s. 914 Wonder Woman NFTās were sold for over 1.8 million dollars on Decentraland in March.
š Decentraland History
When Decentraland launched in 2017, Digital World developers sold parcels for about $20 USD each. In the following years, Decentraland's virtual community continued to grow, but it was still a relatively low-key part of the Internet until the NFT boom hit. Now, the price of a small part of the package in the digital world can range from $6,000 USD to more than $100,000 USD. Sam Hamilton, head of community and activities for the Decentraland Foundation, a nonprofit that oversees the digital world, said, "I have to pinch myself now because it really comes too fast."
Very similar to Second Life. Decentraland is an online world that provides users with a place to create avatars, interact with other users, and participate in everything from concerts and artistic performances to building houses on their digital land. Friends from all over the world can gather together to participate in events and share a sense of community, even if they are not together. As one of the earliest virtual worlds of its kind, Second Life reached 1 million monthly users in 2013 and still has hundreds of thousands of users. Since then, other digital platforms, such as Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite, have become digital spaces that provide close-to-real-life experiences, and venture capitalist Matthew Bauer refers to them as "meta world." In April 2020, rapper Travis Scott reached its peak in a virtual concert held in Fortnite, with an audience of over 12.3 million.
But Decentraland offers a different and new experience. Everything in Decentraland is an NFT, from its virtual plots of land to the art on the walls in the virtual galleries. Ownership also gives users a say in how the virtual world operates. This creates a marketplace, economy, and thus demand from users.
āĀ Conclusion
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