What Is Decentraland (MANA)?
The world of Decentraland is a virtual world and community built using the blockchain technology. In this network, users build plots of land and own artwork as well as Non-fungible Tokens (NFT). As a platform member, you also have the opportunity to participate in the platform's Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).
As a Decentraland Association Organization, the project's community is able to participate in the project's governance. All in-game assets, including MANA, the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland, are on the Ethereum blockchain.
Introduction
It might interest you if you have ever played Second Life or traded cryptocurrency, then Decentraland is something for you to consider. Since its inception in 2016, the platform has developed from a simple 2D experiment to something that can transform an entire world into 3D.
Founders and key developers of Decentraland, Esteban Ordano and Ari Meilich, have created a virtual space containing digital assets, digital real estate parcels, and other customizable assets. You can purchase any of these using Decentraland's ERC-20 token, MANA, which is also known as Decentraland Cash.
MANA can be purchased on several exchanges for either crypto currency or fiat currency. Decentraland's unique assets are represented by non-fungible tokens based on the ERC-721 standard, including real estate, collectible items.
How does Decentraland work?
virtual reality and blockchain technology have been merging in a virtual space called Decentraland. There are many online games, however, in this case the players have full control over the rules of the online game. Token holders have the opportunity to vote directly on the organizational policies and in-game policies of the DAO. The effects of this mechanism touch every aspect of the DAO's actions, from the type of items allowed to the type of investments made in its treasury.
LAND represents the game's virtual land, including clothes, items, and the game's non-fungible tokens that represent collectibles in the game. These tokens are stored in crypto wallets of the users, and they can be sold to other users on the Decentraland Marketplace. If you wanted to get your hands on a brand new facemask, for example, you'd probably have to grab some MANA, the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland.
There is a choice for players to trade items and properties as well as to populate their personal space with various games, activities, and artwork that they can use to interact with other players. In addition, the option is available to monetize your LAND. Every player has to decide which way they want to take their plot, it's entirely up to them.
This platform has a lot of uses, including advertising and content curation, that can be applied to it. Nevertheless, new players who are interested in to get started with NFTs, find the entry barriers to be quite high. Purchasing some cosmetics is almost twice as expensive when using Ethereum gas fees. the prices of land often exceed thousands of dollars, which makes ownership of a property too expensive for some people.
What are LAND and MANA?
The MANA cryptocurrency is Decentraland's native currency. The MANA token is a digital coin that not only performs as a digital currency but also provides its holders with voting rights in the Decentraland DAO.
For users to take part in the DAO's governance, the wrapper MANA (wMANA) must be lock into the DAO's system after they wrap their MANA to the wrapped MANA. Each wMANA represents a single vote when it comes to governance proposals. The easiest way to obtain MANA is to sell collectible items on the Decentraland Marketplace if you're willing to exchange them. Additionally, the DAO has its own MANA treasury to finance its operations as well as make decisions.
The LAND tokens are non-fungible tokens that represent the plots of land that players in the community own. Aside from providing voting power, it also serves as part of Decentraland's governance protocols and is similar to the MANA protocol.
LAND tokens do not have to be locked up in the DAO, they do provide two thousand votes per token and are not required to be locked up in it. There is a way for players with multiple plots to tie them together into a single estate token, which has a voting power proportional to the plots contained within it.
Decentraland use cases
Decentraland's developers have always kept in mind that their platform has the potential to be used in new communities based on blockchain since its conception. In their white paper, they outline five main use cases:
Applications: The Decentraland scripting language allows users to create apps and 3D scenes, providing richer interactions between app and user.
Content Curation: In Decentraland, there have been communities that have grown and attracted like-minded fans, forming organic communities that attract like-minded folk.
Advertising: advertising brands have been buying space and putting up advertising billboards in neighborhoods where players congregate.
Digital Collectibles: The Decentraland Marketplace provides users with the ability to collect, create, and trade NFT items, giving them ownership rights.
Social: People can engage in more interactive ways of socializing with their friends and families on social-media platforms, or even with people in offline social groups.
There is however a chance to make money by participating in most of the games that contain blockchain economies. In the mining industry, speculation about the price of high-profile LAND is common, with some plots selling for huge sums of money.
How To Store MANA and LAND
To interact with Decentraland fully, you are going to need a crypto wallet that integrates directly into your browser. In the current state of development, the development team recommends MetaMask for storing MANA (ERC-20) and LAND tokens (ERC-721).