Decentraland (MANA) is a virtual reality platform and blockchain network that aims at revolutionizing the way developers and creators monetize content and also applications. Thorugh a 3D-based experience, Decentraland offers an immersive experience for users, developers and investors as well.

In this article, we will be explaining what Decentraland is, how it works and why is worth to have a look at this project for the future.

What Is Decentraland: Introduction

As the cryptocurrency market continues expanding, new projects are released. Although many of them have already disappeared, only the most prosperous and advanced remain operative. Decentraland was created after holding an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) back in August 2017. The ICO was so successful that MANA tokens were sold in just a few seconds.

According to the description of the project, the digital currency MANA would allow users to purchase LAND on a virtual reality economy.

The project mentioned:

“MANA will let users buy and sell virtual real estate, called LAND, and fully immerse themselves in Decentraland’s virtual reality economy.”

The team behind the project started working on Decentraland back in 2015 in which they presented a proof of concept for allocating ownership of digital real estate to users on a blockchain network. The tech lead is Esteban ORdano that co-founded Smart Contract Solutions. The project lead is Ari Meilich that was a market research analyst at CRV.

Through an Ethereum (ETH) smart contract, LAND ownership is maintained on the blockchain. This makes of Decentraland one of the largest projects based on the Ethereum network in terms of volume as of today.

Nowadays the network continues expanding with different developments taking place at many different levels. That includes the creation of avatars, improved mapping tools, land auctions and more.

Decentraland has already signed many partnerships with other projects, including Aragon, district0x and also imToken. Some of the advisors of the network include Luis Cuende, Aragon’s project lead, Jake Brukhman, the founder of CoinFund and also Xiolai Li, the founder of INBlockchain.

What Are LAND and MANA? Where to Purchase Them?

As mentioned before, LAND is an asset that is based on blockchain technology that has a limited supply and that has an area of 33×33. However, individuals and developers can build high towers or any other creation.

MANA is the virtual currency that powers all the Decentraland ecosystem, from auctions to transfers. The MANA digital currency is one of the top 45 ERC-20 tokens and it is among the top 120 in CoinMarketCap. In many different occasions, it has been traded among the top 80 most valuable tokens.

At the moment, each MANA coin is being traded around $0.0422 and it has a market capitalization of $44 million, just a few years after being released to the market. Although in 2017 there was a large interest for ICOs and many projects failed, Decentraland continues to show how resilient it is by continuing its development.

If you want to purchase MANA tokens the best way to do it is through Coinbase, one of the most popular digital currency platforms in the world. If you follow this link and invest $100 in some of the coins that Coinbase is currently offering, you will receive a $10 welcoming bonus.

Another way to acquire the digital currency is by using Binance, one of the most recognized and largest crypto exchanges in the market in terms of trading volume.

Those individuals that want to purchase LAND can do so by entering the marketplace Decentralnad has. At the time of writing this article, the cheapest LAND costs 10,388 MANA, equal to ~$436. In general, the LAND parcels that are close to the centre of the Genesis City are much more expensive than those in the edges of the town.

Each time that a user purchases LAND, the MANA used for it gets burned. It is also possible to buy LAND for several millions or even billions of MANA (if somebody has them). The maximum supply is expected to be 2,644,403,343 MANA, while the circulating supply is currently 1,050,141,509.

It is also possible to buy MANA using several exchanges, including Bittrex and also Upbit, among others. The digital asset is currently traded against Tether (USDT), ETH, Bitcoin (BTC) or USD Coin (USDC).

Decentraland Development And Growth

The team behind Decentraland are working with a concept of development that is divided into stages or “Ages.” The first stage is known as “Stone Age” as the main developers of Decentraland called it.

The second stage is called “Bronze Age” and it starts with the development of a virtual world in 3d that is divided into plots of land. Each of these parcels has information about the owners and the information is stored on the blockchain.

The next stage is the “Iron Age” in which innovation and developments make of Decentraland a very attractive network and project to follow. At the moment, it is possible to see the creation of applications and also the possibility to monetize content. This is the first time that developers can monetize their creations and applications through this platform.

One of the main characteristics of Decentraland is that this is really a decentralized world in which creators and owners of land can deploy their applications without a centralized authority controlling everything. Since the network is based on Ethereum, everything is registered in this public blockchain.

Decentraland is the first VR platform that allows users to have ownership over their land using blockchain technology. It is not only possible to have access to the network through a web browser but also through VR devices. In general, these VR platforms around the world tend to be controlled by a single company with centralized servers.

Decentraland tends to hold auctions of LAND in which users and interested buyers can purchase LAND that is sold by the company. The first auction was held in December 2017 and the second one was held in December 2018. Surprisingly, Binance partnered with Decentraland for the second LAND auction allowing users to purchase LAND using Binance Coin (BNB) tokens.

Genesis City

The main city of the Decentaland world is called Genesis City, which is roughly the size of Washington DC in square footage. It is possible for users to create their own places throughout the city and in the many areas available. There are zones such as commercial, industrial and residential places.

In addition to it, the city has its own Genesis Content Program that allows teams of developers to submit proposals for blockchain games and interactive experiences. The team behind Decentraland is investing a total of $5 million to incentivize these projects and provide financing to those that need it.

This city is opening the doors for developers to start creating blockchain games. Due to the fact that the LAND available for each project is limited, which is a challenge for companies that want to create different games on this Genesis City.

At the same time, Decentraland is working with limited graphics in order to reach as many users around the world as possible. There are some games that can be developed such as scavenger hunts, skill competitions, crafting, parcels as play squares, loot crate games and many others.

Final Thoughts About Decentraland

The Decentraland platform has proved to be a potential contender among the top cryptocurrencies in the market. The goal is to offer a virtual world where companies, individuals and other parties could develop economic activities through the LAND they acquired.

The price of the MANA digital currency has been more stable than other digital assets that skyrocketed several thousand of times. The digital currency reached a maximum price of $0.24 during the ICO bull run in early 2018 and the lowest point after being released to the market was in February this year close to $0.033 per coin.

If the development of the network continues and the promises turn out to be real, the platform has a clear potential of evolving into a very profitable and recognized project in the cryptocurrency market.