The Metaverse is a virtual world made up of augmented, virtual, and physical reality applications that allow users to work, play and communicate with others. Despite the fact that the term ‘metaverse’ has lately gained popularity due to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, announcing the company’s renaming to ‘Meta’. However, Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel Snow Crash, published in 1992, popularized the metaverse concept in popular culture.
The metaverse was later exploited as a story component in several Hollywood sci-fi film productions, including the Matrix series and Ready Player One.
Metaverse is widely believed in academic and social sectors as the next phase of the internet, allowing users to purchase and trade real estate digitally. However, the way we engage with the internet has altered over the last three decades as internet technology has expanded and improved.
The evolution of virtual communities may be separated into three key eras in the middle of change: Web 1.0 is the period of the World Wide Web, Web 2.0 is the era of Closed Corporate Metaverse, which is centralized and owned by substantial-tech businesses, and Web 3.0 is the next era of Open Crypto Metaverse, which is decentralized and owned by internet users. The year 2022 is expected to be the year of the metaverse, which has been a worldwide term since Zuckerberg’s declaration.
How Can I Buy Real Estate Property in the Metaverse?
According to statistics, virtual land sales in 2021 reached $500 million, with $85 million sold in January 2022 alone.
Metaverse real estate sales are expected to reach roughly $1 billion in 2022, making it an asset class to watch for investors worldwide. You may get an early-access edge to what promises to be a fast-moving and high-growth market by buying digital land.
Metaverse allows people to use Blockchain technology to invest in real estate. It’s a decentralized distributed ledger technology (DLT) that keeps track of the provenances of digital assets. Cryptocurrencies, digital currency or tokens used to buy goods or services in the metaverse, are the most well-known use of Blockchain Technology.
Cryptocurrencies to Buy Real Estate in Metaverse
Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin are just a few examples of cryptocurrencies. Unlike traditional banking, Crypto uses blockchain as a ledger to keep track of online transactions. Crypto’s superior currency cryptographic security technology also leverages Blockchain to safeguard online transactions.
Signing up with a metaverse platform like Decentraland, Axie, Infinity, or The Sandbox allows an investor to buy real estate in the metaverse. The investor then creates a suitable digital wallet (such as Metamask) and funds it with the applicable metaverse’s coin.
To begin their metaverse journey, the investor should make an avatar that is the most similar to their human form. The investor may search and compare the pricing of various parcels of land in the digital domain after joining up.
The investor can choose the desired digital land and pay for it using the linked digital wallet. After the transaction, the digital property is stored in the linked digital wallet as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). NFTs are blockchain-based digital assets that may be exchanged based on their market value.
Benefits of Buying Real Estate in Metaverse
According to Forbes, the Metaverse represents a $1 trillion income opportunity, prompting major corporations like Meta and Google to enter the growing digital ecosystem. Furthermore, investment firms pour millions of dollars into Decentraland and The Sandbox’s digital real estate. As a result, the metaverse is rapidly expanding, creating doors for many investors.
For example, a renowned American musician has joined The Sandbox, contributing to an apparent increase in daily trading volume of NFTs, hitting $180 million in December 2021, up from $800,000/- the previous year. These developments are harbingers of the new digital era’s arrival (Web 3.0).
Investing in the metaverse has several benefits. To begin with, metaverse allows investors to profit from the appreciation of digital land. Second, on the other hand, the metaverse permits investors to rent out their buildings. Third, compared to real estate in the real world, the input costs are substantially cheaper. Fourth, the metaverse will become increasingly recognizable and prevalent in the following years. Companies like Facebook (now Meta), BMW, and Disney have already made digital forays and established themselves as significant stakeholders in the metaverse.
Drawbacks
Although the metaverse is the most recent internet revolution, it has created sufficient opportunities for investors to purchase digital real estate and assets. However, it is not yet regulated, and investors may face hazards if they have not thoroughly investigated the appropriate metaverse platform. To begin with, metaverse properties are still a limited business in their infancy. Because the market is tiny and constrained, investors should do their homework before investing vast quantities of money.
Second, if a metaverse platform goes out of business, your investment is lost; it vanishes from the virtual domain as if it never was. Finally, the metaverse necessitates advanced digital technology, such as specific sorts of computers or phones, as well as improved internet access.
Furthermore, the connection to the virtual world and augmented reality can degrade the quality of human interactions and society’s progress. Another key problem is the current security difficulties, as these virtual platforms collect a significant amount of data from their customers that is invulnerable to hacking.
Final Thoughts
The Metaverse is expected to be the most popular trend in 2022, with digital real estate one of the most promising investment opportunities. It’s a fantastic time for anyone who wants to diversify their property portfolio. In addition, the metaverse is more secure since it employs blockchain technology rather than the traditional financial system. The new phase of the digital revolution will be one in which people control the stakes of their assets in the specific digital platform, with Web 3.0 being the era of the open crypto metaverse.
The problem with most digital platforms that allow individuals to make money (Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) is that they only give a portion of the money to the person who generates revenue through the platform, leaving a considerable quantity of money for the platform. Web 3.0 will change this tendency by ensuring that users receive what they have earned, with no funds deducted from the forum. In addition, companies such as Facebook and Google are already investing in the metaverse to expand their virtual presence.
On the other hand, the metaverse is not risk-averse; it is uncontrolled, which may pose hazards to investors. Nevertheless, the metaverse is a terrific bet for the future for anyone seeking new financial options. Any NFTs purchased now can increase in value in the future, depending on the platform. Cracking the metaverse’s code requires thorough investigation, expertise, and comprehension of blockchain.