VR on the Blockchain
I've recently got very excited about a Virtual Reality on the blockchain project called Decentraland.
MANA is the crypto currency of Decentraland, and people such as myself have been buying MANA over the past couple of months to spend in the land grab of Virtual Reality. People have proposed districts on which others can stake MANA to buy land in that district. This has resulted in people self organizing to form all sort sorts of interesting areas and districts.
These districts are very accessible with LAND parcels at a fixed price of 1000 MANA. And a minimum purchase of 1 LAND. That has meant the price for a land parcel has typically been fluctuating between $15 and $25.
There is also an auction on where the most central land available will be sold to the highest bidders. The auction winners will form Genesis City - which is predicted to be a 'hot spot' in VR cyberspace. Who knows what the market value of Genesis City will be. Perhaps Whales will attempt to corner the market to set up lucrative corporate zones, or maybe individuals will win big and futuristic urban shanty towns within the virtual metropolis will be formed.
Once you have your LAND parcel you have several options - develop it yourself, pool it into community areas, rent it out, sell it or sit back and watch as it value rises!
There are around 50 districts currently defined, and you can stake your MANA on most of them. These are the most popular districts in this growing market. You could say that they have the potential to become the hot spots of VR:
The top 10 most highly staked districts
(as on 8th October)
1. AETHERIAN project
5072 Parcels
Aetherian City will be one of the main attractions for visitors and dwellers of Decentraland, as it intends to be the largest cyberpunk-agglomeration of the metaverse.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/33
2. Dragon City
4042 Parcels
A perfect combination of China’s ancient culture and Western modernization, a reflection of both the Eastern and Western civilizations.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/30
3. Vegas City
2156 Parcels
A digital sin city, party town gambling district of Decentraland. Designed in a style that emulates the Vegas strip, lies a long row of casinos, shopping, concert and performance halls, nightclubs, and sin.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/22
4. Dragon Kingdom
1128 Parcels
We are thinking of open a district called Dragon Kingdom where Chinese people can get together to share culture, value and language. but we also welcome people from all over the world.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/49
5. Fashion Street
497 Parcels
Bring top fashion brands (Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren etc.) in DCL. Each store will give DCL users a high sensory shopping experience.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/31
6. Decentraland University
200 Parcels
Create the definitive centre of education in Decentraland.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/54
7. Red Light District
183 Parcels
A "red-light district" within the Decentraland to help contain/manage/curate Adult services such as; Adult Live-chat, VR pornography, dating services and Adult themes e-stores.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/6
8. Decentraland Conference Center
134 Parcels
A conference center in a natural, sylvan setting.
https://github.com/decentraland/proposals/issues/121
9. Festland: The Festival of Festivals
123 Parcels
This district is for people who want to make a Festival city in Decentraland.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/14
10. Amusement Park with Carnival Games
79 Parcels
An amusement park site in Decentraland, complete with rides, carnival games, gardens, and so on.
https://github.com/decentraland/districts/issues/2
Check it out. This is the project which finally made me sit up and look at the VR landscape. And for me the innovative way this uses blockchain tech to underpin the 'land' buying process and ultimately provide the proof of ownership of this land is what has convinced me this is going to be a tech-winner. I believe that the way this has been done means that as VR hardware/graphics improve, Decentraland will evolve from the current state of the art public/web based VR to a time when it is totally realistic and lifelife. And I feel like I'm establishing my stake in that now.
The 'terraforming' process has already seen 20,000 district LAND parcels reserved after just 9 days and this will run until December. I will write a follow up post after the Genesis City auction in December with an account of how the entire terraforming process went.
Useful Links:
Decentraland:
https://www.decentraland.orgLand Terraforming Event:
https://terraform.decentraland.orgIf you are interested in Crypto Currencies, then here are the figures on MANA, the in-world currency:
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/decentraland/
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