Ever since Facebook rebranded as Meta, the world has been paying attention to the metaverse. Most people are still wondering what the metaverse is, or what it will be.
Truth be told, it’s anyone’s guess. The metaverse represents the digital world. And for the most part, the building is still happening. There’s a world of possibilities ahead of us.
While tons of development is happening by many different companies, organizations, and individuals, don’t be fooled. Digital real estate in the metaverse is already booming.
Savvy crypto and NFT enthusiasts are already stocking up land parcels and building their digital empire. If you want to get in before the masses do, then keep reading to learn how to buy land in metaverse worlds for yourself.
What Is the Metaverse?
Ask different people who are working on (or in) the metaverse, what the metaverse is, and you’ll get many different answers. There’s no singular consensus, as it’s still very new.
The metaverse is currently in the wild west stage where anyone can build, and rules are few and far between.
Most people would agree, however, that the metaverse is the digital world. It’s like the real world, where you can buy land, buy a house, open a business, show off your toys, and hang out with other people.
You can do so as an avatar. And you can do it on your computer or phone, or you can buy some fancy virtual reality goggles to make it feel like you’re actually there.
There are games you can play in the metaverse. And in some platforms, like The Sandbox, you can even build your own games.
In the coming years, we can expect the metaverse to become much more important. While today it might be a hobby, you might be showing up to your job virtually using the metaverse in just a year or two.
What Is Metaverse Land?
What about metaverse land? What is it and how does it work?
The metaverse is centered around NFTs (non-fungible tokens). If you’re new to crypto and NFTs, they are kind of like digital collectibles.
Each token is a separate asset that lives on the blockchain. Ownership of each NFT can be verified. And whoever owns it can sell it, trade it, use it, or hold it forever.
Land in the metaverse is a form of NFT. Metaverse such as The Sandbox will create plots of land. A limited number of plots is available. And each plot is a separate NFT.
There are many Sandbox metaverse builders out there creating NFTs to use on your plot of land, allowing you to customize your virtual home.
There are just over 160,000 plots of land available in The Sandbox ecosystem. They sold out long ago, so the only way to purchase them is on the secondary market, which is covered below.
How to Buy Digital Real Estate
Digital real estate in the metaverse is comprised of NFTs. NFTs simplify asset ownership.
It all happens on the blockchain, where transactions are finalized, public, and easy to verify.
So if you want to buy metaverse land, you need to buy an NFT. Here are the steps you need to take if this is your first time buying an NFT.
Setup a Browser Wallet
Once you’ve purchased crypto, you’ll need a wallet that will let you use it to buy NFTs. This wallet needs to be installed on your web browser.
Metamask is the most popular browser extension wallet that is compatible with Google Chrome, Safari, and other popular web browsers. It’s free to install and only takes a few moments.
Once installed, you need to copy your new wallet address. Then, head to your crypto exchange, initiate a withdrawal, and paste your new wallet address. This is how you’ll send your crypto to your wallet.
The transfer can take a few minutes, so be patient.
Browse Your NFT Platform of Choice
With crypto ready to go in your new wallet, it’s time to visit an NFT marketplace. Opensea is the largest (by far). Most sellers will list their digital land for sale on Opensea.
Others include Looks Rare, Rarible, and NiftyGateway.
Choose a website to visit and connect your wallet (rather than create an account). Find the categories section and you’ll see an option along the lines of “virtual worlds.”
Here you’ll find metaverse NFT collections like The Sandbox, NFT Worlds, Decentraland, Illuvium, TreeVerse Plots, and countless others.
It’s important to note that not all digital worlds are created equally. It’s an open market, and the wider NFT community ultimately decides which worlds are more valuable and which ones should be ignored.
Do your research on the various metaverses before making a land purchase.
When purchasing, you can either make an offer to the owner, place an auction bid, or buy it immediately for the listed price. Keep in mind that NFT purchases require a gas fee.
Gas isn’t charged by the seller or the NFT platform. It’s essentially a transaction fee on the Ethereum network. And it fluctuates depending on the current level of network activity. During busier periods, the price of gas increases, making your transaction more expensive.
When you go to buy your NFT, you’ll see the current estimated gas price. If it seems high, reject the transaction, wait a few moments, minutes, or hours, and try again to see if it drops.
Stocking Up on Virtual Land
Digital real estate is all the rage. And while there are currently ways to build in the metaverse, it’s still only in its infancy. We can expect to see these virtual land plots become far more valuable over time.
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