What is Decentraland (MANA)?
The world is becoming increasingly digital. First, people began chatting digitally via cellphones and chat rooms. Then, during the COVID19 pandemic, people began working digitally as well. And now, well people are looking to spend their free time in the digital realm as well.
Decentraland is a virtual reality world where the user can build a life in several different ways. They can buy property, build dwellings, or simply enjoy the digital realm. Unlike other virtual worlds, Decentraland is owned entirely by its users.
Want to live in a world where you can do whatever you want and be in control? Then keep reading to learn more about Decentraland and its implications for the future.
What is Decentraland?
Decentraland is a virtual reality universe run on the Ethereum blockchain. Much like the games Animal Crossing and Minecraft, users can do several different things on the platform. You can do almost everything you can do in real life, including buying property/land, trading with other players, and enjoy different experiences in the world.
Decentraland is a dapp, and it has three layers. The first layer is a consensus layer which is used to track the transfer of different items in the game between players. The second layer is basically a processing layer, which stores all the information about the game and the different files needed to run certain aspects of the game. The final layer is a real-time layer, and this is what allows players to enjoy chatting with one another in real-time.
To play Decentraland, you will need to purchase LAND, which is the NFT native to the Decentraland platform. LAND is basically a space in the virtual realm that you can use to create whatever you would like. You can build on it, or create a game, or something to draw tourists to your LAND. The sky is the limit. All LAND transactions are recorded on the immutable ledger mentioned above.
Besides just allowing you to enjoy the digital realm of Decentraland, owning LAND also allows you to vote on the future of the project. The weight of your vote is reliant on how much LAND you own. This means that those who own more LAND will have a vote that matters more.
Who Created Decentraland?
Decentraland, although it didn’t launch until February 2020, has actually been around for a long time. The idea was original thought up by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano in 2015. In 2017, they held an ICO to gain funding for the project. Their goal of $26 million was filled in just over an hour. Decentraland, as of 2020, is now owned by those who play it and there is no overseeing organization.
What is MANA?
Like any similar video game, there must be a currency within the game which allows users to purchase LAND and make trades. In Decentraland, the currency is called MANA, and it is an ERC20 token. The cool thing about MANA is, holding it also grants you voting rights for future upgrades to the game. This means that MANA not only has value in the virtual reality world but also in the real world as well.
Not to mention that when you purchase LAND with MANA, it is then burned afterward. This makes the token deflationary. When the game first launched, each LAND was sold for 1000 MANA. Those days have since passed, and if you want to buy LAND now, you’ll have to do it through the secondary market, where plots of LAND can easily cost upwards of 10,000 MANA. This is a bit crazy when you consider the price of MANA is well above $1. This means that the prices of LAND in Decentraland are quickly approaching the cost of plots of land in real life.
Should You Invest in MANA?
If you believe in the future of the digital reality space, then an investment in MANA is probably for you. This is because Decentraland really is one of the best virtual reality spaces in existence. While most comparable games/worlds are run by a company (such as Minecraft) Decentraland is truly owned by the players who own LAND. This means that decisions in the game will truly be made by those whom the decisions affect. It’s like democracy in a vacuum.
That being said, Decentraland has only been open for a year, meaning it is still in its infancy. For all you know, the project could go under in a year. This means that investing in MANA could be a very risky investment and you shouldn’t invest any money you aren’t prepared to lose. Not only that, but MANA is also only currently used to purchase LAND. This means that a change in the demand for LAND could affect the MANA price. Thus those who are only interested in boosting their investment portfolio should probably avoid MANA unless they have a strong belief in the project.
One major positive of investing in the Decentraland project is, like Bitcoin in 2009, the project doesn’t have many large competitors. This means that an investment in MANA is currently one of a kind.
Where Can You Buy MANA?
If you are interested in investing in MANA or want to join the world of Decentraland and buy some LAND, then you’re going to need a wallet that is compatible with ERC20 tokens. Hardware wallets like the Trezor and Ledger Nano S both support ERC20 tokens as well as many online wallets like MyEtherWallet. Once you have one of these wallets, you can head over to almost any major exchange to purchase MANA. Binance and OKEx are the two platforms with the largest amount of MANA trades.
Overall, the concept of Decentraland and MANA is something that will probably become more common as the world becomes increasingly geared towards virtual reality. And who knows, maybe in a few years it will be a huge space with many people auctioning off space in a virtual realm. But until then, approach an investment in MANA with caution and be sure not to invest any money you don’t mind losing.
