A lot of us have missed out on the Bitcoin trend and, many more probably didn’t expect the rise in NFTs. Now that the Metaverse real estate is hailed as the next big business to dive into, overcoming fears is critical to turbocharge your shift. As a matter of fact, large corporations such as JP Morgan, PwC, Samsung, and HSBC have already bought huge pieces of virtual real estate, which they plan to develop in the future. The time is now to think fast and smart and get familiar with this new computer-generated XR world.
Metaverse allows people to live virtual experiences in an alternate realm that mimic our physical life, build entire personalities, get social with others, and make investments such as buying metaverse land. But, how to buy land in the metaverse? In this guide, we will touch upon several aspects of buying land in the metaverse.
Let’s first brush up on the basics before getting started.
What is Metaverse Land?
The metaverse is a virtual reality environment and a digital replica of the real world. Metaverse users can create or have access to AI-powered avatars, “live” inside virtual spaces a second life, buy and sell digital assets, interact with people, and take virtual trips to digital locations.
One of the digital assets people can buy and sell in the metaverse is real estate. In simpler words, a metaverse land is a digital real estate that can be bought, owned, or traded within the metaverse. It can be purchased using cryptocurrencies; however, some projects also accept fiat currency.
So, how does it work? Metaverse lands exist in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This means that it is easy to prove their authenticity and ownership. Once purchased, the land offers a 3D virtual experience to the owner and the visitors. Other than that, the owner can construct a building on the land and further use the building to display their digital art or use it to play games.
Let’s now get to the question of the hour.
How to Buy Land in Metaverse?
Buying land in the metaverse is the same as buying an NFT. The contract of ownership is a unique piece of code that resides on a blockchain. This code proves your ownership over the piece of digital real estate. To get started, all you need is a digital crypto wallet, some cryptocurrency, and a safe marketplace.
One such marketplace is Decentraland, one of the biggest marketplaces to buy virtual land in the metaverse. These lands are available in parcels and estates. Simply put, they are pixels, however, there are more than just digital images. When you combine these parcels and estates, they become programmable spaces in virtual reality made up of interoperable technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality for people to socialize, go to virtual concerts, play games, trade virtual real estate property, and do countless other virtual activities.
Metaverse lands are linked to your crypto wallet and Decentraland supports wallets such as Fortmatic, MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and WalletConnect. With that being said, let’s see how to buy land in a metaverse.
Step 1: Choose Your Metaverse Platform
With the growth and rising demand for metaverse real estate, several metaverse platforms have popped up. And it goes without saying, before you buy land in the metaverse, you must pick a safe metaverse platform. Amongst all the other metaverse platforms we recommend Decentraland and Sandbox, another well-known, community-driven metaverse platform.
Currently, these two platforms are investors’ favorites as they come with well-established online land, property, and infrastructure. They also have well-known tenants and landlords such as companies and celebrities as mentioned above at the beginning of the blog.
Step 2: Set Your Wallet Up
Once you choose your preferred metaverse platform, you’ll now need to create a wallet to give you access to your cryptocurrency and help buy land in the metaverse. We recommend a browser-based wallet as it offers a more seamless experience. Alternatively, you can either go for Binance Chain Wallet or MetaMask as they support multiple blockchains. However, make sure to always double-check the wallet you use as it must support the NFT land’s blockchain.
Step 3. Link your Digital Crypto Wallet to a Marketplace
After choosing a marketplace and creating your digital crypto market, link your wallet to the marketplace. For Decentraland, ensure that your wallet is linked to the Ethereum Mainnet since the marketplace itself is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. Additionally, for transactions to be conducted, you’ll need Decentraland’s ERC-20 token, MANA in your wallet along with some Ether (ETH) and to cover the gas fees on your transactions. It is also important to note that in order to confirm your purchase and send your NFT to your account, your wallet and your account must be connected. Indeed, once the transaction is successfully complete, you’ll have to use your digital crypto wallet to confirm and save your virtual piece of land to officially be the proud owner of that land.
Note: When you deal with blockchain, you have to use your wallet to confirm all the transactions.
Step 4. Choose the Land You Wish to Buy
As soon as your wallet is connected to Decentraland, you can search and discover your preferred metaverse land.
Here’s how you can explore the land:
- First, browse the Decentraland map with Atlas view
- You will be able to see some parcels up for sale
- When you hover over them, you’ll see the price of the parcel and the owner
- Pro tip – Even though the price is listed by the seller, you can bid for the land
The only drawback is that when you enter an auction, it could take months to know the results.
Step 5. Go for it – Make the Purchase!
Once you choose the desired parcel and decide to buy it, just click on “BUY.” If you have funds in your wallet, you’ll have to confirm its acquisition. And voilá – you bought land in the metaverse via Decentraland.
How to Purchase Land in the Metaverse From Sandbox
As we discussed earlier, Sandbox is one of the largest metaverse marketplaces and it features all the users’ listings, which includes LAND NFTs. To buy land in the metaverse using Sandbox, you’ll have to use SandBox’s native token, SAND, an ERC-20 token for land and other items from the marketplace.
Let’s get to how to buy land in the metaverse using Sandbox.
Step 1. Link your Wallet to a Marketplace
- If you’ve chosen Sandbox as your marketplace and have already created a digital crypto wallet, go ahead and link the wallet to Open Sea which is the main marketplace for The Sandbox LAND NFTs. Each Sandbox land is connected to OpenSea. Therefore, you’ll have to use OpenSea to buy land in the metaverse. You can also explore The Sandbox marketplace, but listings are hosted on the OpenSea NFT marketplace.
Here’s how you link your wallet to the marketplace:
- Click on a land listing and you’ll be taken to the OpenSea page
- Choose the MetaMask wallet to connect to OpenSea
- Click on the wallet icon to connect OpenSea to your crypto wallet. You’ll have to confirm this action from your wallet.
Step 2. Choose the Land You Want to Buy
A Map tab that shows all available regular and premium lands can be viewed on The Sandbox’s website. Here the filters can be used to find any specific virtual property. OpenSea also offers features such as sorting land through specific coordinates.
After choosing the land you want to buy and connecting the wallet with your account at The Sandbox, you can buy land on the spot by paying the listing price. If you are looking to pay less, you are allowed to make an offer. And, to add to your convenience, you can offer to pay in currencies such as DAI, wETH, SAND, and USDC.
Step 3. Make the Purchase in the Metaverse
To immediately buy land in the metaverse, you will have to find a property with a “Buy Now” option. When you have identified a genuine land plot to acquire, you can select it to see the amount that needs to be paid to buy that land. If satisfied and have sufficient funds in your wallet, you can go ahead and checkout. Your transaction will be finalized in a few clicks.
Now that we have covered the process to buy land in the metaverse, let’s now jump into the next section and understand how one can make money in the Metaverse.
How to Make Money in the Metaverse with Real Estate?
Land in the metaverse is an effective way for ordinary individuals to make money. Here are some of the most lucrative trends:
Become a Metaverse Landlord
Buying virtual real estate and selling it shortly after at a higher price is a good way to make a profit. Another way is to become a landlord in the metaverse. A lot of companies are curious about the metaverse and want to see how much value it holds for them.
However, among them, some of the most successful companies in the world are not yet fully persuaded to make the jump into the metaverse. You can help them by providing a ready structure where they can simply position their brand or give out the land for them to custom design their own virtual building. This way, you can collect rents from these companies and as such make money by simply becoming a metaverse landlord.
Open Up Your Own Venue
Constructing on your land and opening up a venue in the metaverse requires a lot less than in the real world. You can build venues such as a casino, which may require a high initial investment, but can pay off very well. If a casino is not your thing, you can also choose to build complexes for concerts, games, and movie theaters.
These are a great source of income as you can sell tickets via NFTs that grant purchases access to special events, concerts, or movies. More importantly, you don’t have expenses such as the salaries of employees or electricity bills and you can keep the profits from the real-estate revenue.
Advertise for Companies
You might not be ready to build your own venue, but you can still make a good amount of money by displaying brands meta ads. Place billboards and kiosks for companies, which can be as wild as possible as creativity is highly encouraged in the metaverse.
However, you must ensure that your land is located in a great neighborhood. If nobody can see the billboard on your land, there’s a good chance that your advertising opportunity won’t attract brands’ attention or get them to buy it.
The Takeaway
In the coming future, owning land in the metaverse will be as important as owning land in the physical world. Metaverse is seeing an increase in the number of users because it offers a unique experience. Users can not only interact with each other but also learn, invest, and make money on the platform. As blockchain technology evolves, the metaverse is going to mature with it. Certainly, it is still in the infancy stage, but it holds a lot of promise.
