Digital real estate is an ecosystem of projects, teams, software, and Web3 technology working to bring real estate to the digital world. While digital real estate may not provide a literal roof over your head, it's becoming an increasingly popular industry with many benefits and perks.
You can buy digital real estate and rent out your land, or you can invest in the up and coming virtual real estate projects that are on the forefront of innovation. As the ownership of digital assets continues to increase, so too will the desire to own virtual real estate.
In this article, we'll cover ten examples of digital real estate, and how they fit into the big picture of digital property and virtual worlds.
10 Examples of Digital Real Estate in the Digital World
Propy is a real estate transaction platform that utilizes blockchain technology to ensure real estate transactions are secure and fast as well as convenient, the complete opposite of the traditional system of buying or selling property. Propy is turning paper systems into digital ones. Essentially they work to turn physical real estate into true digital assets.
The Propy software allows brokers to manage the full process entirely on their platform without ever needing to work outside the system, making it incredibly secure and much faster than before.
Propy is also well known for proving the concept of selling your home as an NFT.
2. Homeowners Association NFT Collection
The Homeowners Association is an NFT project in collaboration with Parcl, consisting of 7,777 unique combinations of iconic homes from four unique cities as NFTs. Ownership grants eligible holders exclusive benefits to real-world events, early access to the Parcl Protocol, Protocol benefits, access to future drops, discounts on merchandise, and participation in charitable initiatives.
3. Parcl Protocol
The Parcl Protocol allows you to invest in US neighborhoods and real estate without owning the physical property. The protocol uses synthetic asset technology to make investing in property easier, cheaper, and faster than traditional investing and even other real estate crypto projects.
The benefit of using Parcl is that you can invest in places like Miami, and Manhattan without buying a real world property, and there is no minimum investment needed. Parcl is on a mission to build a protocol that provides access to the real estate market, a market that millions of people are currently priced out of.
If you want to learn more about Parcl, check out our article: Our Mission At Parcl as well as more on Parcl Protocol early access.
4. Decentraland
Decentraland is one of the most popular Metaverse crypto projects on the market. It regularly breaks records for the most expensive land sales. The name of the land in Decentraland is called LAND, and one of the most expensive sales had sold for $3.2 million. The project is built on the Ethereum blockchain.
You purchase LAND in Decentraland using their native token called MANA, each parcel of LAND can be measured to be 52ft by 52ft. This Metaverse project is one of the most widely used within the digital real estate ecosystem. In the Decentraland marketplace, you can buy and sell parcels of LAND, avatar clothing, and personalized names for your characters.
5. Sandbox
The Sandbox originated as a game for mobile and Microsoft Windows back in 2012. However, later on in 2018 was bought by Animoca Brands and began the pivot to building Sandbox into a Metaverse virtual world. A decision that would change the gaming and Web3 industry forever.
The project operates on the Ethereum blockchain and is similar in popularity to Decentraland. Currently ranked as one of the top Metaverse projects. The in-world currency is called SAND and Ethereum which you can use to customize your characters, and purchase digital land.
The feature that scaled the Sandbox platform is the VoxEdit interface, which allows you to create your own in-game assets, and the Game Maker allows you to build 3D games without spending your own cash.
The main attraction of Sandbox is the user-friendly interface, NFT marketplace and UGC gaming technology. Sandbox makes it easy for those selling digital real estate.
Before buying land in the Metaverse, check out our article that shows you what to consider before investing in a Metaverse project.
6. Solstead NFT Collection
Solstead is a collection of NFTs representing digital homes with varying characteristics and qualities such as different shaped properties, colors, backgrounds and several other wacky variations.
Solstead is a collection that belongs to an umbrella collection called Solport which also own Taiyo robotics, the owners of Solport recently acquired Solsteads after the original owners released SolCitizens, pfp characters with just as wacky variations.
There is some serious community backing behind the Solstead and SolCitizen NFT projects after the new owners increased the price floor of their previous project Taiyo Robotics from 2 SOL to just 200 SOL in a matter of months.
The umbrella company is currently building their own Metaverse, which will allow you to walk around and visit your friends in their Solstead, your avatar will be your SolCitizen.
7. Web2 Digital Real Estate
Digital real estate in the Web2 world is commonly known to include whatever takes up space on the internet, or real estate on the internet. Websites, URLs, social profiles are all forms of Web2 digital real estate.
You can read more about the different iterations of the internet here: Web2 Vs. Web3: What’s The Difference?
8. Snoopverse
The Snoopverse is a world within the Sandbox Metaverse that allows people to party with Snoop Dogg himself in his digital mansion.
Within the Snoopverse, there are a set of cars as NFT collectibles, 200 unique NFT out of the total 20,000 cars. There are also 10,000 unique NFTs that players will use to enter the Snoopverse. You can learn more about the Snoopverse here.
9. Parcel
Not to be confused with Parcl, Parcel is a virtual land NFT marketplace that allows investors to buy Metaverse land on one platform.
Parcel currently allows users to buy from Decentraland, The Sandbox, Voxels, Somnium Space, Mona, and NFT Worlds, with plans to expand into more metaverse projects and networks.
10. RealT
RealT is a tokenized property ownership platform that allows investors to purchase fractions of a home in the form of tokens. So, instead of owning a full property, you could own a certain portion for a considerably cheaper investment.
As a part-owner of the property, you're then entitled to rental payments, which are typically paid daily and in the form of cryptocurrency like USDC. Although this lowers the barrier to entry for most people, the investment options on platforms like RealT are incredibly limited, and the returns are minimal.
Digital Real Estate FAQ
What is digital real estate?
Digital real estate refers to virtual property or a representation of physical world real estate online.
Owning digital real estate can refer to the ownership of a URL, website, domain name, social media account, virtual property in the Metaverse, NFTs, and more.
Can you earn income with a digital real estate business?
Just like with real world real estate, you can buy and sell digital real estate in hopes of earning income. You can rent your digital world virtual land, or purchase digital real estate with the hopes of selling it for more than your original investment.
How can I purchase digital real estate?
While there are thousands of digital real estate projects to invest in, you almost always will need to purchase cryptocurrency to get started. That said, virtual land can also be purchased with USD in addition to other popular cryptocurrencies. Here's what to look for when investing in digital real estate.
What makes digital real estate valuable?
Virtual worlds continue to grow in popularity and as such, the value of digital real estate also continues to rise as well. Owning some of the most popular digital land can be an incredibly lucrative investment especially as the space continues to grow.
Is digital real estate the same thing as the Metaverse?
Digital real estate and the Metaverse often go hand and hand. While most digital real estate can be used within the Metaverse, they are two different concepts and should not be used interchangeably.
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