The Metaverse has become a major destination for real estate after reaching $500 million last year, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing investment and analytics companies.
The market also has the potential to double in 2022, namely as the world’s four largest platforms for Metaverse real estate lead with $85 million in sales, MetaMetric Solutions said in the report.
#Metaverse real estate sales topped $500 million last year, with sales projected to reach nearly $1 billion this year. @robtfrank breaks down the hottest areas for virtual plots of land. pic.twitter.com/gUzIkoJKTa
— The News with Shepard Smith (@thenewsoncnbc) February 2, 2022
According to the report, Metaverse land sales began to skyrocket after Facebook announced in late October it had rebranded to Meta Platforms, with sales topping $133 million the following month.
MetaMetric stated its sales in January would potentially grow tenfold compared to the same period last year, despite a noted downward trend in sales following Meta’s late October update.
Paul Rogash, Chief Executive of BetU, told XR Today of the downward trend in land sales, stating successful cryptocurrency projects would feature services clients “genuinely want to adopt and use.”
A BrandEssence Market Research report found Metaverse real estate was set to rise at a 31 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2022 to 2028, the report added.
Despite growing sales, the report notes increasing risks with buying digital land plots with no guarantees in the future.
The top four companies — Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium — have cornered the Metaverse real estate market with a total of over 268,645 parcels of land and the former topping sales figures with 62 percent of all land available, CNBC reported.
Decentraland placed second with 90,600 16 x 16-metre parcels, totalling 14,440 per parcel.
Decentraland has 90,600 parcels, which are 16 meters by 16 meters, and sold for the ether equivalent of $14,440 apiece.
The Big Metaverse Land Grab
The news comes after several major moves took place in the Metaverse, namely after US rap superstar Snoop Dogg teamed up with the Sandbox to launch 122 LANDs and 67 premium LAND plots.
Sandbox land sales use SAND utility tokens and are based on the Ethereum blockchain, capped at 3 billion SAND tokens, where buyers can develop their own Metaverse spaces for bespoke activities.
Several athletes, including US heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and British Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Mike Bisping, joined TheDreamChain and Blockasset NFT marketplaces, respectively, which are based on the Ethereum-backed Solana blockchain.
Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC) also became one of the first major firms to buy virtual land plots on the Sandbox platform in a January sale totalling $10,000 USD.
The top virtual realtor launched a further initiative to back startups building their own solutions on the Sandbox platform with a $50 million pledge dispersed to up to 40 blockchain startups a year, with venture capital and accelerator firm Brinc leading the fund.
Numerous countries and regions such as Barbados, South Korea, Croatia, Catalonia, and the United Arab Emirates have begun buying up digital lands and creating their own virtual initiatives, namely in a bid to gain access to crucial Metaverse space, build tech infrastructure, and open virtual embassies.
Two massive real estate purchases also took place in November last year on Decentraland and Axie, totalling roughly $5 million USD, or $2.43 million USD and $2.3 million USD, respectively.
