Metaverse, just sharing my perspective

The world is gradually becoming a dangerous and stressful place to live in, that most people now find comfort in their fantasies. If asked to choose between the real world and your imaginary world, you'd probably choose a world you created in your own head over and over again.

Technology, however, has made this possible to some satisfying extent. "The Metaverse" is what we call it.?

You might have heard of the metaverse once or twice or you might have a virtual reality world of your own, waiting for you to come back and immerse yourself in its beauties.?

Well, before I divulge fully into the topic of today, I'd love to reintroduce you to what a Metaverse is.

A metaverse is simply a wide expanse of digital space where users can interact with each other in real-time and get similar experiences to what they experience in the real world, and in most cases even more.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a Metaverse generally refers to the concept of a highly immersive virtual world where people gather to socialize, play, and work.?

It is basically called a virtual world, and it has seen quite a high percentage of the world's population immersing themselves into it.

The Metaverse is not to be mistaken with the Multiverse, which is a term used to describe the possibility of infinite parallel universes existing, but that's not the story for today.?

A lot of companies, including Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook company, have been getting involved in the virtual reality world in recent times.?

Even blockchain tech gurus are building virtual reality worlds of their own.?

...some proponents believe that blockchain technology and decentralized apps will be the keys to unlocking the next big leap forward for the Web: the metaverse, a place where augmented and virtual reality, next-generation data networks, and decentralized financing and payment systems contribute to a more realistic and immersive digital world where people can socialize, work, and trade digital goods.

—Ian Bremmer, Foreign Affairs, Nov.-Dec. 2021

This brings me to the topic of today, two of the best decentralized metaverse companies you might love.?

One of the decentralized metaverse companies is Decentraland.

It is the first and one of the best metaverse.

Decentraland is one of the most well-known metaverses to exist in the market today. The amount of money spent within the metaverse has seen a steady increase since it was launched in 2016. Given its age, a community already exists around the platform, and even some bigger brands have started marketing/advertising their products on the platform.

In a nutshell, it is a virtual world and community that is based entirely on blockchain.

It is the first decentralized metaverse that offers you the option to interact with other users in real-time and acquire virtual experiences and trade them. The lack of a centralized authority implies that you exert absolute control over how you want to participate within the marketplace, the experiences that you want to create and how you wish to maintain the virtual land that you already possess.

The entire metaverse is based on Ethereum, thus replacing the centralized authority with hundreds of different smart contracts that give you limitless options to what you can do within the metaverse.

How does Decentraland work??

The metaverse uses the dual-token economy model with two primary tokens: LAND and MANA. The latter (MANA) is the native token of the platform and gives its holders the voting power to participate in the Decentraland DAO.

• MANA: To vote on major governance decisions, users lock their wMANA (wrapped MANA) into the DAO. Thus, each wMANA represents a singular vote in governance proposals. The token can easily be acquired on the Decentraland marketplace by simply selling digital items that you have collected.
• LAND: This is the NFT that represents ownership of the virtual real estate on the platform. This token, too, provides voting power to their holders.

Just like most metaverses, users in Decentraland can create and/or sell experiences on the virtual land that they buy/rent out. You can easily buy land on the Decentraland marketplace. In addition to that, when navigating through the metaverse, you need a digital wallet (like MetaMask) to participate.

The second Metaverse company we're looking at today is Sandbox

The Sandbox is yet another metaverse and gaming ecosystem that offers amazing experiences. It gives you the power to freely create assets, such as avatars and tools.?

The metaverse also offers you the option to create customized avatars that can be traded on their native marketplace. Since these are NFTs, they are provably scarce digital items that can be used in the marketplace. Additionally, you can also lease your LAND for some passive income.

The Sandbox is made up of three main components..

• VoxEdit: It enables you to create 3D objects in the metaverse like, avatars and animals. The only limit here is your creativity! All these objects are known as ASSETS and use the ERC-1155 token standard. Thus, they offer both fungible and non-fungible token mechanisms.
• Sandbox Marketplace: This is the place where you can trade your ASSETS with fellow users. To do that, however, you need to upload them to the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).
• Sandbox Game Maker: It gives you the option to create 3D games at zero cost.?

All transactions within the metaverse are carried out using their native SAND token. It is an ERC-20 token that is used to play games, purchase equipment, or even customize the avatar. When the metaverse transitions into a DAO, it will be used as a governance token.

The token is also used for purchasing ASSETS and LANDS (virtual real estate). LANDS are represented by ERC-721 tokens, which means that they are NFTs. The metaverse only has 166,464 LAND plots that will ever exist. If you decide to combine multiple LANDS into one property, it is called an Estate.

A crucial feature of the metaverse is that it covers the Ethereum gas fees, thereby not having the user pay exorbitant fees.

Bottom Line

The Metaverse is the new way of living life, and trying it out isn't at all a bad idea.

What's more fun than having fun and making some cash, too.?