This week several estates in the virtual world of Decentraland switched hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars. On Wednesday an estate sold for $415,380, while a $292,100 estate sold on Monday. These expensive sales are just a sample of a much bigger trend.
Decentraland has been at the center of attention as of late, as the virtual world is often referenced in mainstream media. In the past 7 days alone, four estates sold for more than $100,000. Total trading volume has been over $2,2 million in the past week, while almost $7,7 million in sales happened in the past 30 days.
These numbers for Decentraland aren’t incidents, and are part of a bigger trend where investors move into virtual worlds. Certain locations or bigger estates in Somnium Space, Cryptovoxels and Decentraland switch owners for prizes of an actual house.
This year alone dozens of purchases for virtual land had a price north of $100,000. This includes a $444,470 estate in Somnium Space, several auctioned estates in The Sandbox, some locations in Cryptovoxels, and a $1,4 million for 9 adjacent land parcels in Axie Infinity.
Beyond the pretty picture
In the past couple of months mainstream media have been eyeing the blockchain space. First driven by the price of bitcoin, then by NFT sales, and lately more by virtual worlds and the concept of the metaverse. Virtual real-estate is becoming more serious as investment companies, decentralized autonomous organization and even real-estate brokers step in.
Virtual worlds on the blockchain have been a bit static, but things are changing. Decentraland is getting more dynamic video games integrated into its world. Somnium Space is adding vehicles, support for VR helmets, while Cryptovoxels is adding interactive elements as well. Thanks to these innovations, these virtual worlds can become more than just virtual museums or art galleries. At the same time many enthusiasts are waiting for the release of The Sandbox, which will launch its alpha test in the next two months.
