Decentraland (DCL) is a decentralized, virtual world that runs on the blockchain using an Ethereum ERC-721 token…
ERC-721 tokens are valued by their uniqueness and rareness. ERC-721 tokens are also referred to as “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) that reside “forever” on the blockchain.1
ERC-721 tokens are different than ERC-20 tokens.
The idea behind DCL environment is to create a virtual world comprised of virtual real estate.
People IRL pay for virtual DCL real estate with real dollars… They then own this virtual real estate and, using virtual reality technology, they can go play/hang out/work/live there, etc.
Decentraland is not owned by any central authority… In theory, the owners of parcels of land are in charge and can build whatever they want, etc. on their virtual land.
Designers and programmers are actively building on their parcels now… Working alone or collaborating on more complex environments using only their imaginations.
The vision is to have Decentraland evolve to become something like “The Oasis” from Ready Player One… Except not owned by one individual or corporation that controls everything.
How Much Does a Parcel of Decentraland (LAND) Cost?
When Decentraland was originally terraformed, there were 90,601 parcels created.
Each parcel of land (aka “LAND”) is a square with the dimensions of 10 x 10 (100) meters… Each 100 meter parcel of LAND cost 1,000 of a cryptocurrency called “MANA” initially.
Parcels of LAND were sold to the public.
At the time of the terraform, one MANA cost around $0.10 cents.
So, if you purchased a parcel of LAND for 1,000 MANA you would have paid about $100 per parcel.
As of this post, you can buy LAND using Ether in the Decentraland marketplace. Parcels of LAND now sell for whatever the market demands for a parcel.
Parcels nearer to certain districts, such as “Vegas” or the “Red Light” district might have different prices than other parcels of LAND in the middle of “nowhere”.
Map of Decentraland Today
Below is a map of Decentraland2.
Visit the Decentraland marketplace to zoom in on parcels of LAND for sale and you can see where the 10 x 10 meter “pixels” of “LAND” are located and determine for yourself if you would buy a parcel…
Decentraland looks utopian now, but just wait until Decentraland is lived in and looks like the virtual version of Times Square in the 80s… or a futuristic, blockchain virtual world version of “Million Dollar Homepage“.
Sure.
Looks good today…
However, what will Decentraland look like when it’s lived in…?
Map of Decentraland in the Future?
We’ve seen this type of world changing digital promise before.
Before it went public and started demanding our financial records, Facebook positioned itself a social utility for trusted connections between friends.
Google’s motto was “Don’t be evil” before it started crowding out organic SERPS and building killer robots…
Even with land in Second Life, or other virtual real estate concepts3 there’s bound to be an asymptote where designing VR worlds becomes democratized.
When big companies make big promises, eventually, people come to realize that they’re the product, not the other way around.
Maybe decentralization will be the key differentiator with Decentraland…?
I don’t know. Trusted third parties often get a bad rap for no reason.
Who knows…?