“Virtual real estate” is a term that refers to the digital representation of land. This can be anything from a small plot of Costa Rican farmland to entire cities within the NFT-based metaverse Next Earth.
The concept of investing in virtual real estate is relatively new, with the first Initial Tile Offering being hosted by Next Earth in August of this year. Now, you can purchase digital plots of land straight off of a digital replica of Earth.
How Virtual Real Estate Works
Virtual real estate works on an immutable blockchain. Every transaction that takes place on the platform is recorded on a public ledger, visible to everyone—including you. This makes it impossible to falsify any information pertaining to a given plot of land or property.
Since every transaction is transparent, you can also see how much other users have purchased and sold virtual real estate for, in comparison to your own purchase price. As such, you can determine whether or not the market rate for the said property is fair or if there’s a better deal out there.
Types of Virtual Real Estate Investments You Can Make
There are many different types of virtual real estate investments that you can make: from small one-acre plots to entire cities (or even entire countries). It’s all dependent on what interests you most and how much money you’re willing to invest.
For example, you can buy a small plot of farmland on the blockchain-based Next Earth, or a more expensive high-rise in virtual Tokyo. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can even invest in an entire city.
Buying virtual real estate is becoming increasingly popular thanks to advances in technology. It’s easy to understand why: owning virtual real estate comes with many benefits: it’s completely digital, easily transferable (via the blockchain), and has intrinsic value (if developed correctly).
The Future of Virtual Landlords
Virtual real estate has the potential to become a very lucrative investment. In fact, one study predicts that the crypto market could more than triple by 2030.
As such, there’s no denying that virtual real estate is going to become increasingly important in the future of investing and commerce. It’s easy to see why: owning land will always be an inherent part of human nature.
We’ve always craved privacy and space, even if it’s just an empty plot of land or a tiny apartment we can call our own. But now, thanks to NFTs and blockchain technology, you don’t have to go anywhere near a physical location in order to invest in it – all you need is an internet connection.
Much like landlords in the real world, virtual landlords could one day make money by charging tenants rent. For example, you could rent out your virtual home as a vacation rental for guests from all over the world. As another example, you could develop an entire city and collect taxes on all of the transactions that take place within your virtual metropolis.
Virtual land ownership has huge potential in the future. Think about it: there are whole countries and cities that people would love to visit, but they can’t due to travel restrictions or costs (i.e. expensive plane tickets). Now imagine if people could visit these places virtually…that opens up a lot of possibilities!
Photo by Luiz Cent on Unsplash