Virtual real estate plot in blockchain based 'Decentraland' sells for $1 million as NFT

In a record virtual purchase, a plot of land on a blockchain-based world known as the ‘Decentraland’ has sold for a whopping $ 900,000 (Rs 6 crore) on Thursday in the form of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), the Decentraland Foundation said on June 18. The concept of the Decentraland virtual world was launched in 2017 where the land parcels were priced at about $20 per piece which has now sot up to anywhere between $6,000 to more than $100,000, according to reports. 

On Friday, a US-based digital real estate investment fund called Republic Realm which has investors such as Binance and Prosus, bought the 259 units or "parcels" of land that represents approximately 66,304 virtual square meters (16 virtual acres), making it the biggest Decentraland purchase with respect to size. Justin Banon, Co-Founder of Boson Protocol, told Medium that the Boson had some incredibly ambitious plans for the land which will enable the “tokenized” commerce that will enable the enterprises, organizations, and customers to bridge the divide between digital decentralized technologies and the transfer of the physical goods during the virtual trade.

The plot sold on June 18 by Decentraland was bought using the digital token, MANA, which is Decentraland's own cryptocurrency. It was worth an estimated 1,295,000 MANA which is approximately $913,228.2 for the virtual real estate firm.  Just a few weeks ago, a blockchain Boson Protocol acquired one of the Decentraland plots for over $700,000 in one of the largest deals in dollars.  Boson aims to construct a freeport bridging the metaverse and physical world, where trade and commerce would thrive virtually. Recently, at the Sotheby’s NFT sale, the auction house opened a virtual London building inside the Decentraland world. According to a website that tracks the NFT sales data, DappRadar, the purchase of the virtual plot at Decentraland was the ‘most expensive’ NFT deal to date.

Decentraland's community head stunned at 'rapid growth'

The head of community and events for the Decentraland Foundation, the nonprofit organization that oversees the digital world, Sam Hamilton, told NBC in an interview that he had to “pinch himself” to realize that the Decentraland virtual community grew so fast. In the online world of Decentraland, one can create their own virtual avatar, interact with others digitally, as well host or participate in virtual live shows, concerts, and art exhibitions and build houses on the digital plot in the likeness of one sold by the blockchain world.