Decentraland is an Ethereum-based blockchain platform on which users can buy, create and monetize virtual reality apps. Users can buy virtual properties called LAND using the ERC-20 cryptocurrency MANA, which gives them control over the environment and apps they create within the purchased land.
Many creative artists can be found in the virtual world, for example, who create their own galleries in order to sell them as NFTs. Other users, however, use the purchased land to sell mini-games that offer a range of entertainment options, from puzzles and simple crafting games to collecting games. Even a music club with weekly events has already been created.
Ultimately, Decentraland positions itself as a free, decentralized, and virtual 3D world with its own cryptocurrency, which offers users a wide range of opportunities within the virtual platform.
What Makes Decentraland so Unique?
Decentraland was designed as virtual reality for businesses and individuals looking for a new artistic medium, business opportunity, or source of entertainment. The basic idea is very similar to the online world Second Life, which was established in 2003 and also supports the purchase and sale of various in-game items.
The metaverse Decentraland is divided into a total of 90,601 LAND parcels. Each LAND parcel measures 16×16 meters and is represented by an NFT. Thus, each individual parcel is or was for sale and is therefore potentially in the hands of a user.
Although LAND owners are free to develop their property as they wish, much of the metaverse is broadly divided into different districts. These districts were generated through individual crowd sales for the MANA tokens. It’s impossible to trade the LAND parcels in these districts.
Democracy in Its Purest Form
Decentraland is also one of the growing numbers of projects using a decentralized autonomous organizational structure (DAO) for governance decisions. As a result, the holders of MANA tokens have control over how the world of Decentraland evolves. Thus, they directly influence the content added in the metaverse by proposing policy updates and voting on specifics regarding upcoming LAND auctions.
In addition to providing a creative outlet in the virtual world, many Decentraland users are currently monetizing their LAND through leasing, advertising, and paid services. Other users also generate income by creating and selling items on the Decentraland marketplace for MANA tokens.
What Is MANA?
Decentraland was launched after a $24 million Initial Coin Offering (ICO) conducted in 2017. The virtual world started its activity with a beta version in 2019 and went public in February 2020. Since then, users have created a variety of interactive games, expansive 3D scenes, and other creative tools within the platform.
Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA is an ERC-20 token that must be ‘burned’ in order to acquire the ERC-721 NFT token LAND. MANA tokens can also be used to pay for a range of avatars, wearables, names, and more on the Decentraland marketplace. Thus, it represents the currency in the Decentraland metaverse.
Where Can You Buy Decentraland (MANA) Tokens?
The MANA token currently benefits from excellent liquidity and can be bought, traded, or sold on around 100 different exchange platforms worldwide. Among these exchanges, there are Binance, OKEx, and Coinbase Pro.
Currently, you can trade MANA for Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and Ethereum (ETH). It also can be bought with a number of fiat currencies, including euros and US dollars.
How many MANA coins are in circulation? Well, in January 2021, just over 1.49 billion MANA tokens were in circulation. This corresponds to around 68% of the current total supply of 2.19 billion MANA tokens. The original total offer was fixed at 2.8 billion tokens but was reduced as more than 600 million MANAs were ‘burned’ as a result of LAND auctions.
How Is the Decentraland Network Secured?
How was mentioned before, MANA is an ERC-20 token. That means the coin is based on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum, in turn, is secured by a massive decentralized network of miners who work with thousands of nodes to ensure that the Ethereum blockchain, and thus also the MANA tokens, is protected from attacks.
What is Decentraland? What other interesting facts do you know? Feel free to share your knowledge in the comments. Have a great weekend!
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