Is Decentraland a Metaverse?

A metaverse built on the Ethereum blockchain platform, Decentraland has seen astronomical gains in ‌recent times. The game is a 3D Universe that allows its users to buy, sell and rent plots of land while exploring variegated creative modes within the game’s innovative ecosystem. In this article, we shall traverse through the world of the Metaverse, and find out, is Decentraland is a Metaverse, and why it is the best metaverse project out there on the market.

Is Decentraland a Metaverse?

What is ‌Metaverse?

The Metaverse is a digital universe that is an amalgamation of multiple elements of technology like virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D modeling, and many more to construct a digital world. The upholders of the Metaverse believe in working, staying, playing, and keeping connected with friends through virtual trips, games, concerts, and conferences around the world.

The term “Metaverse” finds its origin in a 1992 science fiction novel called the Snow Crash. It can be defined in the words of Matthew Ball as:

 “The Metaverse is an expansive network of persistent, real-time rendered 3D worlds and simulations that support continuity of identity, objects, history, payments, and entitlements, and can be experienced synchronously by an effectively unlimited number of users, each with an individual sense of presence.”

Users can gain access to the metaverse via handheld devices, VR headsets, or computers. Those who enter the metaverse gather real-world experiences digitally, such as visiting shops, attending meetings, socializing, and much more. Based on face recognition, ‌users can create their avatars, set up their, businesses, and create assets all in one virtual ecosystem.

The metaverse is powered by Decentralized Finance (Defi) which employs the usage of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Is Decentraland a Metaverse?

Imagine a world where you could travel, socialize, and create an alternate reality with thousands of other real-time users, within the same digital universe. Such a world is a reality, owing to the innovative creation of the metaverse, which refers to an amalgamation of augmented reality, virtual reality, and the internet.

Decentraland is a booming product of such metaverse trends- it is a software that runs on the Ethereum platform where the users can sell, trade, and buy digital real estate (non-fungible unique digital assets) while playing and interacting with the other users in the virtual world. 

Anyone can purchase, sell or lease land peer-to-peer on the official Decentraland Global Market or through Opensea. Founded in 2015 by Esteban Ordno and Ari Meilich and launched in 2017. Decentraland runs on the Ethereum ERC-20 token known as MANA that lets the user by plots of LAND, monetize them, and create avatars, in-world goods, and art that are NFT-based items unique to each user.

What is ‌Metaverse Crypto?

To make digital transactions within the metaverse, cryptocurrencies are employed, this virtual currency or metaverse token is called a Metaverse Crypto. The instant nature of transactions on the metaverse platform is due to using blockchain platforms in such games. With the promise of security and ease of transaction, the blockchains are designed in a way that would make the metaverse a perfect ecosystem for a corruption-free economy. 

All the services and applications within the game are accessible to ‌holders of metaverse crypto; these tokens confer special in-game abilities and the opportunity to buy NFT items like apparel, virtual avatars, or membership or entry to a community. Unlike traditional games, ‌metaverse crypto holds value both in-game and in the real world. Due to the play-to-earn model, cryptocurrencies can be exchanged for fiat currencies. Some examples of such tokens are MANA from Decentraland and SAND from the Sandbox, in both the games players can buy land and digital real estate with the aid of such tokens.

How to buy Virtual Real Estate in Decentraland?

Create a crypto wallet – Metamask

A crypto wallet is essentially needed for buying, selling, and storing cryptocurrencies. One of the most reliable and flexible crypto wallets happens to be MetaMask.

Steps: 

1. Go to Metamask.io and get their official Chrome plugin
2.  Click on “Add to Chrome” and thereafter “ Add Extension”
3. Metamask is now installed in your Chrome browser
4. To create an account click on the MetaMask Logo Icon in the top right corner of your browser.
5. Click on the option “Try it now” 
6. Hit “Continue” 
7. Create a password and click on “Create”
8. Click on next and then accept the terms and conditions.
9. Then, create a password for your MetaMask account and press on “Create”
10. You will be sent a secret backup phrase of 12 words. Store the phrase safely and securely. Click on “Reveal Secret Words” it will be used for recovery if you ever forget your main account password.
11. Once you have verified your secret phrase. Click on “confirm” 
12. Now you have created your account successfully and it can be used to connect with your Decentraland 

Get a Decentraland Account and Passport

Decentraland passports like real-life passports are used to identify one’s character and are used to verify one’s identity when logging into Decentraland.

To create a Decentraland account :

1.  Go to Decentraland’s official website and press on “Start Exploring”.
2. Click on the Play Button and choose the MetaMask option to connect your MetaMask wallet with Decentraland.
3. Press the sign button in the MetaMask Wallet extension.
4. You will reach the character avatar customization page.
5. Click on done after you have created and named your avatar.
6. Click on Next and then Accept the Terms and Conditions.
7. You will initially get in-game tutorials before you can start exploring the game.
8. You will need to put some money into your MetaMask account. This can be done by directly buying CryptoCurrency from your MetaMask account or using a CryptoCurrency Wallet such as Coinbase. 
9. Now the next step is to buy land in Decentraland.

Buy Land in Decentraland

Once you have your MetaMask and Decentraland account set up and you have finished your basic tutorial, you can proceed towards buying land in Decentraland.

1. From the bottom right corner of the screen, you can click on the option called “Builder”
2. Choose the “LAND” option from the left and the game will display all the owned lands. Since you don’t own any land at this point, the game will prompt you to buy land.
3. Click on the “Buy Land” option
4. Next, you will be taken to the Official Marketplace of Decentraland; here you may have to reconnect to Decentraland again to see your profile in the marketplace.
5. Once you are connected you can browse through the lands in Decentraland. You can find listings of land that you can buy at a specific price.
6. After you have selected the land, you need to bid for it depending on what price the owner of the land wants to sell it for.
7. This is the procedure by which you can buy your own land on Decentraland.

Why is Decentraland the Best Metaverse Project on the Market?

The reasons Decentraland is at the apex of the best Metaverse Project is due to the following reasons:

1. Decentraland is a 3D Metaverse, which stands by its word offering a virtual reality experience, unlike many other projects that offer elementary 2D worlds in the name of the metaverse. This game can be played using VR headsets. The other projects fall under the GameFi category, whereas Decentraland falls under the exact description of a true Metaverse. 
2. Decentraland stands up to its promised hype, which is not merely speculation. It has the requisite institutional investment, features that are well developed, a completely immersive gaming ecosystem, and lucid gameplay that has attracted thousands of investors and daily active players.
3. Decentraland uses an autonomous organization (DAO) as the structure of governance, and the token holders control the governance of the world. The MANA is created for business opportunities or artistic endeavors and is a source of entertainment.

Conclusion

The metaverse is the new-age innovation that blurs the line between virtual and reality. The post-pandemic period has seen a surge in ‌metaverse trends due to new norms of social distancing, which have brought people closer virtually. With Decentraland at its apex of the metaverse, we find out in this article the various tenets of the world of the metaverse and the detailed description of Decentraland- the best in the lot.