Decentraland

Decentraland (MANA) describes itself as a virtual reality platform that utilizes Ethereum's blockchain, enabling users to develop, engage with, and profit from content and applications.

In this digital realm, users can buy parcels of land, which they can later explore, construct on, and monetize.

Decentraland was brought to life after raising $24 million in a 2017 initial coin offering (ICO). The platform released its closed beta in 2019 and became publicly accessible in February 2020. Ever since its launch, a wide array of experiences, including interactive games and expansive 3D scenes, have been crafted by users on their LAND parcels.

The platform operates using two tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA, an ERC-20 token, must be burned to acquire non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. Additionally, MANA tokens can be used on the Decentraland marketplace to purchase avatars, wearables, names, and more.

Decentraland (MANA) is a decentralized platform for virtual worlds, built on Ethereum's blockchain, where users develop, experiment with, and monetize content. Essentially, users purchase virtual plots as NFTs using MANA tokens on the Decentraland platform. The game's progress hinges on the players' own efforts and creativity.

The platform is entirely owned by its community. Within the Decentraland metaverse, users can explore the virtual space, buy plots that can be monetized, create art, possess non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and participate in a decentralized autonomous organization known as the Decentraland DAO. Through the DAO, the community has a say in the project's direction.

Moreover, users can access interactive applications, make in-world payments, and communicate peer-to-peer. The 3D world appeals to many as Decentraland offers numerous applications, including entertainment for gamers and investment opportunities for businesses.

The operations in Decentraland are governed by two types of tokens: MANA and LAND, which also facilitate user interaction with the platform.

MANA is the official currency for Decentraland. It’s an ERC-20 token powering the platform. With MANA, users can not only purchase plots of LAND but also pay for in-game items and services.

Holding MANA grants voting rights in the Decentraland DAO. MANA can be acquired through cryptocurrency exchanges or by selling collectibles on the Decentraland Marketplace. Token owners convert MANA to wrapped MANA, or wMANA, committing them to the DAO, where one wMANA equals one vote. MANA can also be exchanged for fiat money and other digital currencies.

LAND, on the other hand, is a non-fungible token (NFT) on Ethereum (ETH) used to track ownership of the digital real estate parcels. Like MANA, LAND is integral to the protocol and grants voting rights, although LAND doesn’t need to be locked in the DAO. One LAND equates to two thousand votes.

Landowners decide how to use their plots. They store tokens in crypto wallets and use MANA tokens to buy essentials on the Decentraland Marketplace. Additionally, the marketplace allows participants to manage or trade LAND tokens, priced in MANA. Users utilize the marketplace to transact or transfer in-game items. All transactions are carried out, regulated, and recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.

Decentraland merges an online gaming space with blockchain technology, placing all rule-making power in the hands of players, who vote on in-game and organizational policies. Initially, the aim was to create a decentralized virtual reality, but in practice, Decentraland has evolved into a vast NFT marketplace.

NFTs, such as collectibles, virtual equipment, and real estate (LAND), play a crucial role in Decentraland. However, newcomers looking to enter the universe and acquire NFTs face significant entry barriers.

The Decentraland protocol is built on three layers utilizing Ethereum smart contracts. The consensus layer manages the ownership of LAND. The land content layer displays the Decentraland virtual world’s content. Lastly, the real-time layer enables participant interaction.

Two blockchain experts, Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano, co-founded the platform in 2015. The official launch occurred a year later, becoming available in February 2020, slowly evolving from a 2D experiment into a full-fledged 3D world.

In conclusion, Decentraland is a decentralized game and 3D virtual reality platform where players own land and create without bounds. At its core is Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) software, putting governance in the hands of its community. Through the native token MANA, players can engage in proposals to manage and enhance the ecosystem, the auction system, and the in-game policy.

Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano co-founded Decentraland, although both have stepped away from primary roles in the project, they continue to assist Decentraland as advisors.

Ariel Meilich served as the project lead at Decentraland from 2017 to 2020 and is a seasoned entrepreneur who has launched several startups, including an online translation service and a CRM platform. He also worked as an analyst at Charles River Ventures, a well-regarded venture fund in Silicon Valley.

Conversely, Esteban Ordano, who was Decentraland's former tech lead, has a rich and diverse background in the cryptocurrency industry, having worked as a software engineer at BitPay, Inc., advised the Matic Network, and briefly ran his own smart contract development firm called Smart Contract Solutions.

Esteban is also recognized for co-founding Zeppelin Solutions, a prominent blockchain technology infrastructure firm.

Although Ariel and Esteban are no longer at the helm of the project, Decentraland's development continues, now driven by the newly formed Decentraland Foundation.

Decentraland is designed for creators, businesses, and individuals seeking a fresh artistic medium, business opportunity, or entertainment source.

Overall, the Decentraland gaming universe, known as the "Metaverse," is divided into 90,601 separate parcels of LAND, each represented by an ERC-721 non-fungible token. Each LAND measures 16m x 16m (256 square meters) and occupies a specific coordinate within the Metaverse.

While LAND owners can develop their plots as they wish, the Metaverse is generally divided into various districts, each with distinct sizes and themes. These districts were created through individual MANA token crowdsales, and LAND parcels within these districts are non-tradeable.

As of January 2021, the Aetheria district, with a cyberpunk theme, is the largest, encompassing a total of 8,008 LAND parcels.

Decentraland also belongs to the rising number of projects utilizing a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) framework for governance decisions. Consequently, MANA token holders wield control over how the Decentraland world operates, proposing and voting on policy changes, specifics of future LAND auctions, and the types of content permissible within the Metaverse.

Apart from being a creative hub, many Decentraland users currently monetize their LAND through means such as leasing, advertising, and paid experiences. Similarly, others earn by crafting and selling items on the Decentraland marketplace for MANA tokens.

As of January 2021, slightly over 1.49 billion MANA tokens were in circulation, accounting for roughly 68% of the total current supply of 2.19 billion MANA.

The initial total supply was set at 2.8 billion MANA but has since decreased due to more than 600 million MANA being burned from LAND auctions.

There are additional burn mechanisms in place to further reduce the circulating MANA supply, including a 2.5% MANA burn on transactions within the Decentraland marketplace.

MANA was originally intended to inflate at a rate of 8% in the first year, gradually decreasing over time to lower the inflation rate. However, inflation is currently disabled. According to the Decentraland glossary, there are no plans to activate this inflation "until necessary."

In total, 40% of the MANA supply was sold during the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO). Additionally, 20% was allocated to incentivize the community, 20% went to the development team and other early contributors, and the remaining 20% was retained by Decentraland. Tokens for the project leaders are no longer vested.

MANA is an ERC-20 token, meaning it operates on the Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum's security is upheld by a large decentralized network of miners, who collaborate with thousands of nodes to keep the Ethereum blockchain, and thus the MANA tokens, safeguarded against attacks.

Currently, Ethereum is the most widely used network for crypto tokens without a native blockchain, being one of the most battle-tested blockchains in use today.

The MANA token enjoys high liquidity and is available for purchase, trading, or sale on about 100 exchange platforms. As of January 2021, Binance, OKEx, and Coinbase Pro are among the most liquid exchanges for MANA tokens. A complete list of available markets can be located in the "Markets" section.

MANA can be traded against Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and Ethereum (ETH), and can be purchased with various fiat currencies, including KRW and USD.