Decentraland is a virtual reality (VR) platform where people can buy, sell, and manage real estate in a 3D virtual world.
The platform can be used to experience, create, or monetize an application or content. It is one of the few multi-purpose metaverses built on the Ethereum blockchain, as it integrates virtual apps and also NFTs.
Decentraland started off in 2015 as a simple grid that allocated pixels to users through a proof-of-work algorithm. It has since evolved into a full-fledged virtual project that allows users to purchase, build, and monetize virtual reality applications in a shared online ecosystem.
Users can also engage in other activities like playing games, using interactive apps and chatting with other members in the virtual world.
What are the LAND and MANA tokens?
Decentraland has two native digital assets:
- LAND
- MANA
LAND is represented as NFT tokens certifying land ownership such as virtual real estate property in Decentraland’s virtual world, Genesis City.
The amount of LAND is capped, and each plot is 16m x 16m in size. Owning adjacent plots lets you bond them together into an Estate.
LAND holders have full control over the environments and applications created in the plot, which could range from static 3D scenes to interactive games.
Parcels of LAND are bought using MANA, which is Decentraland’s cryptocurrency token.
It is an ERC-20 token that must be burned to buy the non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. MANA can also be used to pay for in-world goods and services.
Each plot of LAND was originally worth 1,000 MANA, but thanks to the emergence of a secondary market and LAND’s finite nature, some plots of LAND have reached astronomical values (recently reaching upwards of a few million U.S. dollars).
In addition, only those who own MANA tokens can participate in blockchain governance.
How does Decentraland work?
The entire Decentraland virtual world is divided into more than 90,000 parcels.
Just as in the real world, each parcel purchased in Decentraland entitles the owner to a certificate that defines ownership in the form of an NFT (called LAND).
Decentraland users can buy LAND and other digital goods and services on the platform using its in-house token called MANA.
Users can do virtually anything they want with LAND they own, be it building a house or a theme park, and enable interaction among other members of Decentraland. LAND can also be sold or auctioned to other users in the platform’s marketplace.
The platform is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and runs on Aragon, which is a DAO software solution using an agent-like system to facilitate interactions with Ethereum smart contracts.
As a decentralized project focusing on the distribution of authority, Decentraland members are in charge of LAND, virtual assets, and project development.
DAOs are organizations formed for a particular purpose but are governed democratically. Participants join by purchasing a token created for that purpose. In most DAOs, the more tokens you own, the more votes you get.
A consensus layer connects multiple validation processes within the network. This enables it to track ownership of LAND and metaverse activities simultaneously.
Team Background
Decentraland was initially launched in 2015 by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano.
Before entering the world of tech, Decentraland Project Lead Ari Meilich worked with the National Institute of Health in conducting neuroscience research on human decision-making.
He has worked with leading Silicon Valley venture fund Charles River Ventures and as founder and CEO of big-data company Benchrise.
Prior to co-founding and being the Tech Lead of Decentraland, Esteband Ordano invented Streamium, which is the first app implementing payment channels crucial to scaling blockchain payments.
He was a software engineer at BitPay and co-creator of Bitcore, one of the leading Bitcoin infrastructure libraries.
Token Metrics:
- Holder Addresses: 269,744
- Circulating supply: 1.83B MANA
- Max Total Supply: 2.193B MANA
- Supply is potentially deflationary as a 2.5% MANA fee is applied to Decentraland sales