If you’re new to the Metaverse, you may be surprised by the extent that digital space inside a computer can behave like the world’s oldest asset class. Whether physical or digital, real estate can be traded, rented, developed on, and used as the platform for many of life’s core activities. But as we’ll see below, real estate in the Metaverse can also behave 

differently from the asset we’re used to.

In the following blog we’ll cover the key differences you should be aware of. It should go without saying that we’ll be talking about the core metaverses like Decentraland and The Sandbox; there could easily be points made below that don’t apply to some more fringe platforms. Also, these differences could easily change as the platforms do. So as we go, we’ll point out any potential for metaverse real estate to shift course.




Physical real estate can be used for any industry or activity

If you take away anything from this blog it’s this. Metaverse real estate has limitations on its use cases. Meanwhile, without stating the obvious, physical real estate can be used for anything from habitating to working, socialising and more. Anything that is physically conceivable (and legal).

Currently, real estate in the Metaverse is mostly a space for experiences. Activities like growing corn or surfing won’t be quite as rewarding in the Metaverse, yet!

We’ll see where technology takes us though, things like 

 could take more “real world only” activities into the Metaverse. Maybe the 

In the Metaverse, regular physical constraints do not apply

Probably the second biggest takeaway. With no health hazards and unlimited raw materials, if you can conceive of it existing in 3D virtual space, you can do it. All you need are a few designers and developers.

Again, this is platform-dependent. We could see more metaverses mimicking real life and implementing limitations. But for now, the main metaverse platforms let you build the craziest of shops, nightclubs, etc. 

 you don’t need to think about plumbing or whether you’ve got enough money for concrete. You only need the design and dev resources. This could present highly creative brands like 

You can’t teleport to physical real estate

In Decentraland and The Sandbox, along with several other popular metaverses, travel is much less of a hurdle thanks to their teleportation function. This means metaverse real estate values hinge less on location than physical real estate does. Buying a plot of land in the middle of nowhere isn’t nearly as isolating since you can jump to where the action is with a few clicks.

Let’s of course note that this depends on metaverse teleportation policy. In a few years, both new and old metaverses could seek to boost the significance of land location and only allow rapid navigation/teleportation via key areas – similar to flying or taking the train. We’ll have to wait and see how teleportation develops.

Physical real estate has centralized governance behind it

All physical property, in developed nations at least, will be formally recognized and recorded by the government. Right now, real estate in the Metaverse doesn’t have the same legitimacy.

This will mean different things to different people. Many might want the legitimacy of a government recognizing formal ownership. Others might be glad that their government has little interest in this asset and be more comfortable with a DAO like organization recognising ownership.

This ties into a point we’ll outline below regarding regulation. To repeat a common theme, this could change; certain governments could start recognizing and regulating metaverse real estate in much the same way they do with physical real estate. Dubai is currently a market leader and ahead of the curve thanks to its 

adoption of a blockchain system for recording its real estate

 transactions. Seeing this foresight extending to metaverse real estate in the coming years isn’t beyond plausibility.




Typically, physical real estate has far lower liquidity

Physical land and physical buildings take 

 to trade. This is mostly down to the fact that physical property often relies on inefficient and lengthy paperwork, typically navigating laws that can be hundreds of years old. There is also the matter of price point, with many pieces of physical real estate being so expensive that they require well capitalised investors that are capable of trading them.

Metaverse real estate is much more fluid since it’s recorded digitally, often on a blockchain. Usually, the right funds and a few clicks are all that’s needed. That said, the physical real estate world is also starting to use blockchain to drive efficiency. We outline what that looks like in our blog on 

. In short, things like tokenization and recording physical property as an NFT could give physical real estate new levels of liquidity.




Physical real estate is more heavily regulated

And, currently, metaverse real estate is in its infancy stages. Trading and renting metaverse real estate doesn’t exactly require lawyers and contracts. There’s no health and safety regulation since nobody’s physical well-being is in jeopardy (yet). And in the Metaverse, although there are size limits, there’s very little in the way of planning regulation, although it 

For now, it's probably better to view real estate in the Metaverse more like a versatile media space than real estate. The experience that’s created is more important than the land itself. It’s essentially the Web but immersive.

In the same way that all businesses eventually realized they needed websites, we should see more businesses getting involved. Especially as technology matures and regulation takes hold. Regulation will also help the market mature, reducing volatility and risk.

At VerseProp we’re aiming to create an environment for metaverse real estate buying and selling that minimizes and professionalizes in a sea of uncertainty. Our investment platform, launching in beta at the end of December/early January - and our advisory service - launching in Q1 2023 – offer new levels of insight and analysis. This knowledge can help you navigate the metaverse real estate landscape.

If you haven’t already, click below to sign up to our list where you’ll be the first to hear about our platform and marketplace launch dates, as well as receive all our educational content delivered straight to your inbox.

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How Real Estate in the Metaverse Differs From Physical Real Estate

For years, businesses have had use for commercial real estate in the Metaverse. They just didn’t know it. As the 21st century blossomed, so did “digital” real estate; businesses were able to engage new customers via their websites, without the limitations of physical location, store capacity, opening hours, etc.

But online commerce, by and large, still couldn’t offer the same kind of consumer experience that face-to-face, brick-and-mortar commerce could. And in an ideal world, any business would’ve loved to create a hybrid customer experience. One with the convenience of online but with the richness of face-to-face. Today it’s looking like that’s not such an impossible task, and in the following blog, we’ll outline the many ways in which commercial 

 could be a gift to a business’s bottom line.

In the Metaverse, consumers can try on virtual clothes, interact with digital replicas, and in theory, take part in a similar group shopping experience to real life. Outfits could be bought for a user’s avatar and/or have the real-life version shipped to them. Brands are already jumping on this opportunity with things like 

Plus, as we’ll cover in more detail below, metaverse activity can aid physical commerce by recording buyer habits. Things like stock and store space allocation can be guided by metaverse data.

Owners and prospective investors can look at human behavior in the virtual world and let it guide their decisions in the physical world. For example, different virtual office layouts could be experimented with, testing for what’s most ergonomic before building a physical version. This leads us to the topic of 

: essentially the process of creating a digital clone.

While the Metaverse isn’t strictly required for digital twinning, it does make it more accessible since people are already in a virtual world and have avatars that can interact with it, etc.

Digital twins could be created for everything. From retail stores to entire office blocks. They allow developers to create a lifelike, digital sandbox. Here they can experiment and optimize everything from security to customer experience 

 wasting too much time or money. They’re also great for offering digital tours of a building/product to prospective buyers considering the real-life version.




Where there are people, there will be ads. The web certainly proved that. The Metaverse will be no different. High-traffic land will foster high-value advertising space. There are already dedicated 

Plus, billboards in the Metaverse have the potential to be a little smarter than their real-world equivalent. This will of course be metaverse platform-dependent, but owners could, in theory, track user interactions such as how long they’re viewed for. Or even gather data on who’s viewing them. All are well beyond the capabilities of your average billboard on the high street.

Concerts and other large gatherings can be both a logistical nightmare and a health and safety issue. With events in the Metaverse, venue owners and promoters have one less thing to worry about. They could even make the capacity uncapped if they wish.

There will also be more scope for creativity. Events like the 

 in Fortnite prove that what an event might lack in “reality” can be made up for in out-of-this-world showmanship. The customizability of the Metaverse could be a key factor here too. For example, you could attend a 

 class but with a slightly more flattering avatar if you’re feeling self-conscious.




Right now we have a conflict between employees that want flexibility via remote work and some employers that need their physical office presence. The Metaverse could be the missing piece of the remote work puzzle by allowing the best of both.

If we manage to seamlessly integrate remote metaverse workers with office workers, either via AR or VR, then we have a win-win situation. Ideally, this would allow remote employees to have their metaverse water cooler moments and culture building, all from the comfort of their own home. There are also many operations, compromised somewhat by remote work, that the Metaverse could brighten up. Onboarding and training being top of the list.

. The Metaverse has the potential to be the next phase of this. For those that miss the classroom atmosphere, it can re-create that, and introduce other, more 

The Metaverse can also open up more disciplines to remote/hybrid learning. For example, hands-on, physical disciplines would’ve previously been confined to in-person workshops. But with digital twins, a physical product design class could, in theory, conduct more or even all of their education remotely.

Even if none of the business ventures mentioned above are part of your world, you can still profit from commercial real estate in the Metaverse as a landlord. If the metaverse real estate you own is big enough, well located enough, already has certain features built on it, etc. then there could be plenty of demand from other entrepreneurs. It won’t have the maintenance costs of physical real estate so it could be a great source of passive income.




We’re looking at a fair few unknowns with regard to commercial real estate. Things like VR/AR headset quality, and how Meta and other big companies’ metaverse plans pan out will determine exactly where commercial real estate in the Metaverse goes.

Considering the possibilities outlined above, the Metaverse has too many good ideas to be ignored. And whichever way those ideas come to fruition, it’s VerseProp’s goal to make sure you capitalize on them before anybody else.

Our platform, launching in Q1 this year, is designed to be your number-one tool for metaverse real estate sales and leasing. And with our advisory platform, also launching in Q1 of 2023, we hope to make your decisions as well-informed as possible. Contact us at social@verseprop.com if you have any questions. And if you haven’t already, click below to sign up to our mailing list. That way you’ll be the first to hear about our launch dates, as well as receive our latest educational content delivered straight to your inbox.

Commercial Real Estate and the Metaverse

Just over a year ago, the Metaverse and Web 3 were in a 

different position. We were swamped with hype, SAND and MANA were many times their current value, and many large metaverse land sales were being made. You probably know what happened next, war → inflation → 

 → FXT collapse. The Web 3 hype has certainly cooled. But this is 

 what we want to see. Because for an industry to go the distance, it can’t rely on hype.

The businesses within Web 3 must have strong, irrefutable use cases. Our crypto winter is where Web 3 and the Metaverse knuckle down and work on those use cases. Because you can kill a (bad) business, but you can’t kill a good idea. And in this blog, we’ll outline all the ways that the Metaverse could start demonstrating that it’s too good an idea to ignore and make our 2023 metaverse predictions. Firstly…




The Sandbox and Decentraland are just the start. It’ll be interesting to see more players like 

 develop in 2023. This raises the issue of interoperability: the ability for different metaverses to seamlessly interact with each other. The success of the Metaverse probably 

. And the more metaverses that emerge the more important interoperability becomes.

Given what the iPhone did to the smartphone market and Web 2, it’s not too outlandish to imagine Apple’s mixed-reality headset being a watershed moment. And that moment 

. To make things a little more interesting, Meta’s new version of their Quest VR Headset will also arrive in 2023.

Yes, metaverse real estate values have slumped (for now). But any serious metaverse real estate participant won’t be deterred by this. There have been some 

, and right now, the owners of these – and many other owners no doubt – will be focusing on the other aspect of metaverse real estate success; building infrastructure/experiences, etc.

Since the market has cooled and the hype has gone, successful NFTs will need tangible, desirable utility and rely less on simply being a stunt or a “flex.” Brands like 

 this new maturity by using NFTs to act like a loyalty/members club.

More realistic and tangible use cases will occupy people’s attention

 so far. Of course, Zuckerberg is taking it on the chin and is reminding himself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. No doubt he knows that if he’s going to turn this around, he’ll need to make the Metaverse solve 

problems for people. Here are some areas that the Metaverse could genuinely improve.

 concluded that whilst there are certainly mental health risks, it’s possible that “very soon, we will see a sprawling mental health space in Web 3.0 that may revolutionize the mental health field.”

Metaverse work environments and improved office tools

 and its Microsoft Teams integration, we’ll see more metaverse environments mimicking and (hopefully) improving on in-person interactions. Virtual whiteboarding, conference calls, virtual onboarding could all be improved.

Digital twins of the end user’s technology can 

This development is pretty significant so it deserves its own segment. Digital twins are by no means an exclusively Web 3.0/metaverse phenomenon. Nonetheless, we’ll undoubtably see the Metaverse supercharge their prevalence. A digital twin – i.e. a realistic, virtual replica of a real-world product, process, etc. is a game changer for many reasons. Here are a few.

Digital twins can be used to experiment with 3D space. Managers can play with office layouts, without any impact on business operations. And employees can use the space to virtually convene and achieve a convenient middle ground between in-person meetings and video calls.  

, developed by Accenture, is a great example of this. It serves as a replica of their offices to “bring Accenture people together to meet, collaborate, and learn.”

Digital twins can be great for teams creating physical objects. Engineering teams could work on a digital twin as they create, using the twin as a simulation/virtual prototype. This could save considerable resources that would have otherwise been spent on creating multiple physical prototypes.

Following on from the previous point, any business that embraces the full capacity of the Metaverse may start to see their business shift in ways they’d never have predicted. Their hiring practices could involve more remote talent. New products could form; businesses might start creating “metaverse-only products” in much the same way you can choose a digital-only copy of a piece of media. Basically, digital twins and having a metaverse meeting or two are just the start.

Anyone serious about the Metaverse is in it for the long haul. Opinions vary but many say that the Metaverse is currently where the internet was anywhere from the late 80s to early 90s. We’ve got a long way to go and Jason Warnke, IT consultancy Accenture’s senior managing director and global digital experience lead believes that eventually “the Metaverse will impact every aspect of every business, including how work is performed, what products are offered, how products are distributed and how businesses operate.”

We could eventually arrive at a mixed reality world, where a headset is as necessary for interacting with the modern world as a smartphone. Holidays could have both a Metaverse and an AR component. Car dealerships may offer on the spot, metaverse test drives. It’s a future like this that has got McKinsey and Company anticipating that in aggregate, the metaverse could "generate up to $5 trillion in impact by 2030.”

The final metaverse product is nowhere near finished. There’s a lot of education and experimentation to do. At VerseProp we’re doing everything we can to advance Web 3’s progress by optimizing the experience of purchasing metaverse real estate via our marketplace – launching in beta in Jan – and our advisory service – launching in Q1 2023.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to publish content on all aspects of the Metaverse and Web 3 via our blog. If you haven’t already, click below to sign up to our newsletter where you’ll receive regular updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Our Metaverse Predictions for 2023

Let’s start by clarifying one thing. There isn’t really “a” Metaverse. Just a range of different 

 viewed collectively as one. As we’ll outline below, that could change. Similar to the original internet, the Metaverse can be created and influenced by whoever takes the time to. However, unlike the original internet, most of those players are large corporations and wealthy individuals.

Nobody owns the Metaverse but in many respects, it’s open to all. So instead of asking “who owns the Metaverse?” let’s determine who holds the most influence within it.

Before the Metaverse found its way into Mark Zuckerberg’s gun sights, there were private companies offering metaverse-style experiences. From Second Life to Minecraft, online worlds have been around for roughly 20 years.

These worlds have typically been gaming platforms, and whilst users have been able to fashion their environment within them as they see fit, these worlds are 100% controlled by whichever corporation created them. If platforms like these are all that’s available in ten years, (even if they foster influential users within them) their claim to “owning” the Metaverse would be much stronger than it is now. Below are some of today’s most notable centralized metaverses.

Built by Epic Games, what started as a battle royale-style shooter is now embracing its metaverse side. Sony Group and KIRKBI - parent company to Lego - 

 in order to boost metaverse development. Seems like 

 was just the start of this gaming platform leaning into the Metaverse.

Another big player in the gaming space, Roblox, is fueling the creator economy by offering us what is essentially YouTube but for games. Creators make games. People play them. Popular games earn money for the creators. Similar to YouTube, these games are owned and controlled by the Roblox Corporation and their team of moderators.

Like Fortnite, Roblox is also moving closer to being a general metaverse-style experience platform by 

Moving away from entertainment, Microsoft is creating something called Mesh. This is being touted as a “mixed-reality platform that allows people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences on many kinds of devices.”

To begin with, it’ll be a more immersive way to use things like Microsoft Teams and other popular Windows Office applications. But if the whole planet starts spending the bulk of their workdays in there - i.e. a large chunk of their waking life - then who knows what frontiers Mesh could conquer?

The one we’ve all read about. Some view it as “Zuckerberg Land.” And if this ends up dominating and being the 

 metaverse - just like how Facebook was sort of the 

 social network for a period - then Zuckerberg could become the Metaverse king. Or rather, a 13% owner, given his current shareholdings.

Horizon Worlds, the name of Meta’s metaverse, is essentially trying to be Facebook but in 3D virtual space. Zuckerberg wants us to socialize, interact, and generally love it as we all did with Facebook back in the late 2000s. That said, Meta has indicated it’s not looking to be the metaverse monopoly that many worry it’ll become.

Statement from Meta executives Andrew Bosworth and Nick Clegg.

Having assets within the above platforms is a bit like having an Instagram page or a YouTube channel: the content/assets are still controlled by the platform. Owning a section of the metaverses below and creating assets within them is somewhat closer to having your own website. With your own website, you are reliant on a hosting provider and registrar. But both website content and anything you create in the below metaverses is 

Now, should the metaverse in question go bankrupt then your land and any assets built within that metaverse will also go too. Although we’ll discuss ways in which that may not be the case.


Here you, the user, are very much in charge. You contractually own the land and assets you create/buy. And as an owner of Decentraland’s cryptocurrency MANA, you can even vote on the direction that the platform takes as a whole.

Decentraland allows you to import 3D assets that you’ve created using third-party 3D modeling programs. This means that, in theory, even if Decentraland were to go under, any 3D assets created outside the platform could be replicated in another metaverse that supports imports. This is a bit like having a backup of your website content that you can spin up on another hosting provider.

The Sandbox is a similar sort of affair. It’s decentralized, in that users can buy land and 3D in-world assets that are recorded as NFTs on the blockchain. I.e. The Sandbox doesn’t control these assets the same way Meta would in their metaverse.

Owners of The Sandbox’s native currency SAND also have voting rights. However, the developers behind The Sandbox have much more control over the platform than Decentraland’s creators have over Decentraland. Decentraland’s hierarchy is much more DAO-like in structure.

For this reason, The Sandbox isn’t as decentralized as Decentraland and it could be said that its land and asset owners are further away from true metaverse “ownership”. 

you can’t import any 3D asset into The Sandbox. Your assets can only exist in The Sandbox. At least for now anyway.

These can be built and owned by anyone with the need for their own private world. A brand might want to talk to a specific audience without constraints imposed by another metaverse platform. Brands - or even wealthy individuals - might want to create something highly exclusive. Whatever the reason, using technology like 

 Engine, bespoke virtual worlds can be made for brands, businesses and individuals. We can show you how at admin@verseprop.com

As far as the centralized platforms go, any virtual land would be owned by the platform. In decentralized metaverses though, land is recorded as an NFT and contractually owned by whoever bought it. The following organizations are prominent metaverse landowners. So if we’re still wedded to the “who owns the Metaverse” question, here’s an idea of the closest thing the Metaverse has to formal land owners.

PricewaterhouseCoopers: their Hong Kong branch owns land in The Sandbox.

Samsung: owns land in Decentraland where they have a virtual store.

Everyrealm: these market leaders in metaverse real estate investment and development own land in The Sandbox.

the six most expensive metaverse land sales

 offers a look at the Metaverse’s quasi-land barons.

 ownership of the Metaverse once there is some degree of asset sharing and easy transition between platforms. Right now, on the whole, any assets you own on one metaverse, regardless of whether they’re recorded as an NFT, can’t be transferred or easily replicated on another metaverse. So in some ways, the metaverse platform you’re on owns your assets.

This should change though. Decentraland, The Sandbox, and others are 

. Plus, several big names in the space such as Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Sony have collectively started the Metaverse Standards Forum to increase interoperability.




So who owns the Metaverse? Right now, nobody 

 owns it in much the same way that no one owns the internet. That said, like the internet, we already have several players that hold considerable sway over certain areas. Meta, The Sandbox, etc. are all nudging its future along from the top down. Meanwhile, those purchasing and developing metaverse real estate are influencing things from the ground up.

This picture could (and probably will) be very different in ten years. Interoperability should give more power to the individual user. And Apple’s plans to dominate with their VR gear could change the game in much the same way that the iPhone did.

Whichever turn the Metaverse takes, VerseProp will be there. Our marketplace - launching in beta in December/early January  - will be your portal to the next big opportunity in digital assets. Whilst our advisory service can help you make optimal investment decisions and help you make the most of any land you purchase.

If you haven't already, click below to sign up to our list where you’ll get updates on our marketplace and educational content delivered straight to your inbox.

Who Owns the Metaverse?

Up until now we’ve only hinted at what VerseProp offers. Yes, we’ve talked about how we’re a metaverse real estate marketplace. Yes, we’ll offer specialized advice on how to buy and sell 

. But beyond that, the full picture of what we offer might be somewhat unclear.

With our marketplace launch just around the corner, we thought we’d use this blog to give you a full overview of the services that are launching over the next few months. In short, they can be split into two offerings: marketplace and advisory.




You’ll get access to the best metaverse real estate buying experience on the Web

Ultimately, our marketplace aims to provide you with two things. The most efficient, professional transaction experience possible, and immediate access to the reports, data, and advice that you need to make informed decisions.

Open up our marketplace platform and you’ll be greeted with a dashboard designed for optimal metaverse browsing. You can start by choosing which metaverse you’re interested in. Or you can be metaverse agnostic and browse by other criteria such as price, popularity, etc.

Click on a piece of metaverse real estate and you’ll get an at-a-glance view of all the important information: price history, buyer history, and even a gauge on its value for money.

You’ll receive specialist advice on metaverse real estate opportunities

Confidence in your experience is our number one priority. This is why we offer to connect you with one of our advisors, all of whom are market specialists with a deep knowledge of metaverse real estate.

Launching in Q1 2023, our advisory service will provide the data, market reports, and trends that investors need to understand, which parcels look like best buys, when might be a wise time to buy/sell, what to avoid, etc.

Our advisory service also offers more “big picture” guidance to institutions navigating the investment space. If you’re looking for answers to questions like “what kind of long term opportunities can my organization take advantage of in the Metaverse?” Or “what would the buying and virtual land development process look like from start to finish?” then our advisory service can help.

Similarly, we will work with traditional real estate businesses (architects, engineers, developers) to help bridge the gap between the real and virtual built environments; our aim is to assist with the practical applications of blockchain technology for innovators in the industry, advising on everything from tokenization of design services to the creation of immersive metaverse marketing experiences for developers.

Right now, buying and selling in the Metaverse is new and therefore relatively unsupported. We plan to change that. We’re here to help you navigate what, to many, is a confusing landscape but filled with incredible opportunity.

Along with our advisory service, our blog is here to give you the confidence you need to take advantage of opportunities in the sector. If you’d like to learn more about the space, be the first to learn about our marketplace updates, and receive special offers, click below to sign up to our mailing list, or get in touch @admin@verseprop.com.

A Detailed Outline of the Service VerseProp Provides

There are two metaverse affiliated coins that lead the sector. SAND is The Sandbox’s native coin. It’s used for purchasing virtual land within The Sandbox, and financing the experiences that Sandbox users create. MANA performs the same function within Decentraland. Many people hold one or both to fuel their metaverse exploration. But many will purchase MANA or SAND purely as an investment.

In this blog, we’ll cover the major differences between these cryptocurrencies. It should also be noted that they possess a great many similarities. Both give owners the resources to create and design their own virtual worlds within their respective metaverses. Both allow you to monetize what you create. And both are fungible ERC-20 tokens with a fixed supply.

Please note, VerseProp is by no means offering cryptocurrency investment advice here. That said, we can offer you a clear breakdown of the key pros and cons found in the SAND or MANA coins.

Although The Sandbox was technically released in 2012, it’s only been a functioning metaverse – with its respective SAND coin – since the end of 2021. Meanwhile, Decentraland has nearly two extra years on The Sandbox, having launched in Feb 2020. This first-mover advantage makes the MANA token more established and in many people’s eyes, a little safer than SAND. This is a big contributor to our next point.

According to CoinMarketCap, MANA’s peak was around $9.5 billion. SAND’s peak was around $6.9 billion. Granted, a big market cap doesn’t necessarily equate to huge gains. But it can be a reason to feel like you’ve made a safe investment. Bitcoin is typically considered the safest bet in a sea of wild crypto possibilities.  And much of that is due to its popularity and large market cap.

Of course, it should be noted that right now both MANA and SAND’s market caps are a shadow of their former selves. They’re also pretty similar, both hovering around the 800/900 million mark.

There’s (arguably) more potential in buying SAND right now

This is possibly the most significant point in the SAND vs MANA debate if you’re ready to buy, hold, and wait. What The Sandbox metaverse lacks in active years, it more than makes up for in 

. From its mobile and console versions to the many more partnerships it has both now and in the pipeline, there’s every reason to suggest that the value of SAND is yet to be fully realized.

MANA gives you the ability to vote as part of a DAO

This point is more relevant to the avid metaverse participator than the pure investor but it’s still something worth noting. Essentially MANA gives you more power over the direction that Decentraland takes than SAND gives you over The Sandbox’s direction.

MANA lets you vote as part of its decentralized autonomous organization and lets you participate in the ultimate form of democracy by voting on whatever needs to be voted on. Yes, holding SAND lets you participate in community governance. But in The Sandbox, your vote doesn’t have the same kind of power.

We’ll have to see how this one plays out. A fully decentralized autonomous organization in The Sandbox could change everything. However, given the strong leadership of The Sandbox and its clear roadmap, there’s every reason to suggest that The Sandbox DAO still wouldn’t have the same amount of influence as Decentraland’s.

Decentraland is currently taking advantage of the Polygon network as a side chain to Ethereum for processing MANA transactions. This makes for a) cheaper gas fees and b) less energy consumption. The Sandbox has also partnered with Polygon, only this partnership goes one step further.

The Sandbox’s full migration to a Polygon NFT layer 2 solution means that The Sandbox will use 100 times less energy and ultimately be more scalable in the long run. The environmental hurdle is an issue for many a cryptocurrency - we’re looking your way Bitcoin. So the solution that SAND has found could be reflected in its value sooner or later.

When a user purchases LAND using MANA, the MANA tokens are burnt, i.e., they’re taken out of circulation. This reduces the amount of MANA in circulation and keeps the price down. SAND has no such mechanism and is not deflationary.

The final call on how successful these two coins are will be made, at least in part, by the trajectory of the Metaverse as a whole. Or more specifically, how Meta’s (Facebook’s) metaverse plays out.

What if the world wants a 100% decentralized alternative to Zuckerberg land? In this case, Decentraland and MANA have the advantage. But what if the masses never give a hoot about decentralization? And The Sandbox makes some kind of partnership with Meta to become a household name?

The Sandbox could go from strength to strength and nail its roadmap leaving Decentraland in the dust. Or a hoard of whales and big VC money could descend on Decentraland, take advantage of the DAO and its voting power, turning Decentraland into a super corporate and even more desirable piece of ad space.

 may have given you some bright ideas. Failing that though, the only way the SAND vs MANA debate can be met sensibly as an investor right now is by holding both coins, watching the crypto markets, and keeping an eye on the metaverse platforms.

A trustworthy exchange can help you out with those first two. And regarding the latter, VerseProp is your go-to resource for metaverse related information.

Sign up to our list today and you’ll be first in line to receive updates on our marketplace launch, and a range of educational resources.

SAND vs MANA: Which Coin Is Better?

Now that metaverse land prices have dropped we can take a step back and view the market with a little more clarity. The boom month of November 2021 showed us just how high prices could soar; our current bear market means those numbers are unlikely to be surpassed any time soon. In this blog, we’ll give you the lowdown on the most expensive metaverse land sales, as well as a few thoughts on the current market and its prospects.

 should help. Otherwise, read on to get a clearer idea of metaverse real estate’s full potential.

As with many metaverse real estate purchases this land was bought by an institutional investor. 

 (previously Republic Realm) is a group dedicated to investing in and developing metaverse real estate. They snapped up this property in June 2021 for 1.3 million MANA tokens. 

Indie Village is a neighborhood designed to nurture Decentraland’s independent artists and creatives. It serves as a hub for collaboration and showcasing work as well as offering music venues and other social clubs. Arguably vying to be like any of the “creative” districts we might be familiar with in the real world; London’s Shoreditch, New York’s Williamsburg, etc. It’s already popular with creatives and curators like Breezy Art, Infinite Objects, and 

On November 30th, 2021, the land “Hotel Booking Marketplace” owned by BookLocal sold for 210,000 MANA. Not much is known about the sale or those involved. But what we do know is that at the time it was the second largest price tag for land sold in Decentraland. We’ll cover the Decentraland number one in just a second.

, Axie Infinity lets you buy land so that you can train and fight digital pets: “Axies”. Yes, very similar to Pokémon. The difference is of course that it’s a) decentralized and b) has its own sophisticated economy supported by pay-to-play-to-earn mechanics.

Rewinding once again to November 2021, an unknown Twitter user spent 550 ETH on a piece of rare land known as a Genesis Plot. As with all lands owned in Axie Infinity, the owner of a Genesis Plot will have first rights to the virtual resources that appear on their land. These resources are used to upgrade land and Axies. 

Again, in November 2021, the most expensive Decentraland purchase to date was made, coming in at 618,000 MANA . As the name might suggest, this purchase by The Metaverse Group (a subsidiary of Tokens.Com) was done with the intention of putting on fashion shows and selling virtual clothing. The estate consists of 116 parcels of 52.5 square feet.

Major brands like Ralph Lauren and Gucci already have a presence in Fashion Street,  so the new owners will be hoping that this fashion hub becomes the Bond Street of the metaverse.

Once again, during the booming days of November 2021, more records were set. Regulars on the metaverse real estate investing scene, Everyrealm, purchased this land within The Sandbox from Atari SA. This is the holding company that owns the Atari company responsible for all those retro video games we know and love.

Everyrealm received a very centrally located property, with 792 parcels totaling more than 7.9 million square meters of in-world space. It should be noted that Everyrealm was never trying to make a quick buck. Their vision is to take both the land they purchase and the Metaverse by the horns and transform the spaces they own into fun, engaging, interactive experiences. In the words of Everyrealm CEO Janine Yorio:

“The only way the metaverse becomes interesting is if there are things to do and people to see and places to go when you get there.”

This is why some of the parcels in this land purchase are actually being co-developed by Atari and Everyrealm.


The most expensive metaverse land sale to date is actually in a metaverse that’s relatively new and untested. Launching by the end of 2022 and built on Binance Smart Chain, TCG World has stated that it’s a social metaverse. It’s also the first ever metaverse in 4K.

This clearly all sounds appealing to the financial publishing company, Curzio Research. Their $5 million investment has bought them 19 properties, with Curzio planning to build its virtual Asia headquarters on TCG World, and to use this virtual space to grow a community around in-world events.

Founder Frank Curzio is approaching this purchase from the same visionary place as many Web 3 advocates.

“The metaverse is what the internet was supposed to be. A decentralized, permissionless place where individuals have the freedom to create and own their digital content.”

Metaverse real estate prices are not what they used to be. Respectively, SAND and MANA have lost seven and nine times the market cap they had at their peak in November 2021. 

Metaverse real estate prices reflect this

. A large factor in these losses are ripples from the turmoil in the traditional financial markets. The recent 

collapse of one of the biggest crypto exchanges, FTX

, has added more fuel to the fire. And Meta – probably the biggest voice in the metaverse game – 

isn’t filling investors with confidence

Both crypto and metaverse real estate are highly volatile. We always knew this. And right now, that’s kind of the point. The losses we’re witnessing are just the gauntlet we have to run if we’re to capitalize on this industry’s full potential.

Plus, any serious investor in the Metaverse or Web 3 knows that they’re playing the long game. 

, and many many other large names being the prime example. Sure, some people made quick returns in 2021. But any metaverse real estate investor that does their research is anticipating inevitable bumps and lurches; no pain no gain.

This is especially true when we’ve barely scratched the surface of the technology. Once the infrastructure is developed fully and we’re a decade further along, what went down will eventually go back up and these losses will feel like nothing more than blips.

Of course, not every metaverse project or investment into metaverse real estate will be a success. That’s just the nature of the game (or any game for that matter). But once again, that’s kind of the point. As a metaverse real estate investor your task is to pick out the diamond in the rough and wait for it to start shining. And with VerseProp’s help, this detective work is made 

Our platform, launching at the end of Q4, and our advisory service, launching in Jan 2023, will be able to provide the careful metaverse real estate investor with all the information they need; price history, market insights, and more.

If you haven’t already, click below to sign up to our mailing list. It’s the perfect way to learn about the Metaverse and Web 3 directly from the people helping to shape it.  You’ll receive educational content, updates on our platform launch, and much more, all delivered straight to your inbox.

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