Why investing in virtual properties today makes more sense than buying physical real estate

Society has undergone a fundamental lifestyle change owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the Web 3.0 evolution, the digital realm is one unified area where anyone with an internet connection can access and purchase digital properties in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Unlike country-specific property ownership restrictions, virtual real estate has no boundaries and transactions can be executed almost instantly and transparently. The only bias is first-mover advantage; mirroring how property transactions have matured globally, early entrants of the metaverse will be able to snag real estate deals and flip them for crazy profits. A plot of virtual land in The Sandbox metaverse transacted for $4.3 million, a separate piece of land in crypto game Axie Infinity went for $2.48 million and a virtual real estate in the Decentraland metaverse sold for $2.43 million. If you think these numbers are mind-boggling, we are literally just at the beginning. Within only one week leading up to December, the sale of virtual real estate on metaverse projects reached $100 million. According to a recent report from Grayscale, a crypto asset management firm, the metaverse could generate a trillion-dollar annual revenue opportunity.

What is the point of virtual land?

The use cases for virtual lands largely point to escapism, ego and most importantly, commercial motivation. Because the digital realm holds no boundaries, the element of escapism is beyond a meditation session one can have on planet earth. Take for example houses that are made of ice and yet will not melt even in the hottest of temperatures or an inverted waterfall that defies gravity – all these are only possible virtually. As for ego and self-esteem, players in games would like to be able to showcase designer homes and furniture just like in the physical world.

Decentraland, the King of virtual real estate?

In Decentraland, users can build whatever they imagine on plots of virtual land. With blocky, retro-looking graphics, this alternate world emphasizes attracting talent to sculpt it and players can attend concerts and art exhibitions. As the first-ever successful metaverse game, Decentraland has gone mainstream. But it does not mean that the amount of money people have invested in it allows the project to continue thriving. With Decentraland’s token, MANA, having a market valuation of over $5 billion, what matters really is if this will be a good game that people want to play. It is cool to find Sotheby’s and works of corresponding BAYC art in Decentraland, however, the gallery to preview this art is as confusing as a hall of mirrors. With their 90,000 parcels of land, Decentraland may experience a crypto property bubble if they keep up with a browser-facing laggy game. Twitch streamers have illustrated that on a good day, players can walk around their character quite freely in Decentraland. At a more densely populated time, however, players may experience “freezing sensations”; no, there is no snow or winter in Decentraland but rather, gamers find their characters immobilized with their computer screens frozen, sometimes for minutes.

What are other projects to look out for?

If Decentraland has provided its investors with returns of more than 5,300% in just a year, imagine the profit one can make by getting into a new metaverse project right at launch. TipsyVerse is one such example that is extending the frontiers of technology. With a development and gaming team moving faster than the bullet trains of Japan, players can live, socialize and play to their heart’s content. TipsyVerse goes beyond even the wildest imaginations. Players are invited to join quests and uncover the mystery behind the metaverse; they will be rewarded with NFTs and TipsyCoin - the project’s native token. Expect to be able to counter real-world phobias such as fear of heights through skydiving in this virtual reality paradise with Oculus Quest 2. There are also activities such as cage diving with great white sharks, parasailing and skiing. Games are free to play, and in fact, players can earn if they partake in missions. It is not all games though – TipsyVerse will feature clubs and concert halls so players can get intimate with their favorite celebrities, and rumors are that we can expect the likes of Akon and Justin Bieber to be performing. Essentially, Decentraland has begun a metaverse movement but more competent projects like TipsyVerse will prey on basic foundations and take gaming to new heights. The project concentrates on a holistic approach of visual, auditory, and tactile experiences since it will use the latest in gaming tech – Unreal Engine 5, the best of its kind since a decade. This revolutionary game engine features Nanite, a virtualized geometry system that will offer more details to TipsyVerse; players will not be confined to a limited draw distance.

TipsyVerse still early for investors

Once the alpha-release of TipsyVerse launches in 2023, TipsyCoin will emulate a fully functioning economy. Players can buy and trade clothes, headgears, sneakers, accessories and pets for their character. They can collect rare vehicles and utilize them for commuting in style in TipsyVerse. All these digital assets are NFTs which represent ownership, and players store them in their wallets just like their own cryptocurrency holdings. These NFTs can be bought directly from TipsyCoin and since NFTs are limited and individually identifiable, players who snap these at an early start will be able to sell their NFTs for a profit on secondary marketplaces. As the ecosystem booms, celebrity players, who are also performers, would invite their friends and transform parts of TipsyVerse into Beverly Hills. Because early entrants of the game who buy plots of land will be paying in $tipsy, they will enjoy capital appreciation through both the meteoric price increase of TipsyCoin and the surging adoption of TipsyVerse.

TipsyVerse is set to release in 2023 but players yearning to get the best real estate locations in-game can start buying TipsyVerse land from next year. They will need some TipsyCoin though, a coin launching in first quarter of next year. The metaverse will have a strong impact on communities globally since Nike and Louis Vuitton are just some of the many brands that have such a presence. According to Fortune, “digital architecture firms are charging up to $300,000” for not-so-complex virtual designs and it is certain that TipsyCoin is well-funded. They have turned down a prominent VC and have changed the fate of children and animals globally. TipsyCoin gained some attention after saving nearly 100 Nigerian kids and adopting 50 penguins to protect the species. This no-nonsense project is innovatively distinctive and unlike a compromised experience, courtesy of Decentraland, TipsyVerse is on-par with GTA V, less the violence. The team’s ethical values are evident in TipsyCoin’s philanthropy, its security protocols, and down to the very fact that players in TipsyVerse are free to utilize a username of their choice, subject to availability – unlike in Decentraland which has promoted hoarders who try to capitalize off the names of honest individuals. The casinos in TipsyVerse will be fully compliant with government regulations and when regulators begin to intervene in the digital realm, the remaining fate of metaverses such as Decentraland is clear.

Conclusion

To sum up, while TipsyVerse has not divulged more details yet in a bid to launch 100% fairly, digital properties have the same principle as their physical counterparts: location, location, location. The risk-reward ratio for TipsyVerse is rather attractive since land will be extremely affordable at launch just like its corresponding currency - TipsyCoin. The potential for appreciation of both TipsyCoin and the real estate of TipsyVerse are multifold compared to competitors.

---