Is Decentraland (MANA) a Good Investment?

Decentraland is one of the exciting blockchain concepts, which is creating a virtual reality world that will allow users to monetize their content within their metaverse. Virtual reality and blockchain are both very hot topics in the last few years, so no wonder why lots of people think that Decentraland (MANA) is a good investment.

In this article, we will look into the MANA cryptocurrency to see how profitable it can be in 2021 and beyond. But before then, let’s look into the basics of Decentraland.

What is Decentraland?

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain, which permits users to create, experience, and monetize content and applications. In the platform, you don’t need to spend any funds to download or use the platforms’ services. It is web-based, straightforward to access, and offers many benefits that can allow users to earn from the platform.

Decentraland allows its users to buy a virtual property and then develop them as an online virtual business. There are various buildings or attractions that can be built on virtual land plots, and users can profit from them by simply monetizing or selling them to others. One of the unique things about the platform is that you can build your own digital business within the Decentraland world too. And thus, monetize it with MANA cryptocurrency, which you could then cash out into fiat currency.

Since renting an offline house is becoming increasingly expensive, Decentraland will offer a more affordable opportunity to own your own land. With Decentraland, you can:

• Buy property
• Design your landscape
• Go shopping
• Create a business
• Play world games
• Socialize and chat with people, etc.

The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was launched in 2017 and raised over $24 million in just 35 seconds. It was adjudged as one of the most successful ICO’s of its time. Over 10,000 investors jostled to participate in the sale, but because of the heavy volumes, over 7,000 investors never had their transactions go through, which led to disappointments. At the ICO launch, 1,000 MANA were sold for just $24, and each 1000 MANA could be used to buy 1 LAND. However, this has changed over the years.

What is MANA Cryptocurrency?

MANA is the traditional governance token of the Decentraland network.  The platform uses two tokens; MANA and LAND. MANA is an ERC – 20 tokens which are considered to be fungible tokens. That means they are highly interchangeable with one another. What it means is that a MANA token is the same as any other token. There are no individual characteristics that differentiate them. Thus, it makes the MANA an ideal token to be used in the virtual economy of Decentraland. The token can be used to pay for a wide range of avatars, wearables, names, etc., on the Decentraland marketplace.

The next token is the LAND which is an ERC 721 token. These tokens are seen as non-fungible because they possess individual characteristics that make each of the tokens unique. And based on that, the tokens are not interchangeable and cannot be used as a currency. But they are instrumental in creating in-world items such as avatars, wearable items, and unique parcels of land in Decentraland.

The Decentraland was created with 90,000 LAND units, which could also be increased in the future by the Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). All the 90,000 LAND was bought during the initial Decentraland auction. Each unit of the token is about 33 feet wide by 33 feet long with an unlimited height. Adjacent LAND can be emerged to build an Estate. Even though all the LAND parcels were auctioned off during the initial launch, however, you can still buy them using MANA in the Decentraland marketplace. Outside of that, you can still purchase things like wearables or even a name for your avatar on the platform.

How Does MANA Cryptocurrency Works?

MANA is an Ethereum based virtual reality blockchain platform that allows users to buy, build and monetize applications. Decentraland is a 3D world in which users have access to two tokens to utilize within the platform. These tokens can be used to purchase land, goods, and services “in the world.” There are the LAND and MANA tokens. Owning a land will give you full ownership and complete control over the environment and applications built within their land.

The software leverages the Ethereum blockchain to track digital land ownership, and it also requires users to hold its MANA token within an ETH wallet to engage with its ecosystem. Also, developers are allowed to innovate within the Decentraland platform by designing the animation and interactions experienced on their virtual real estate.

In the platform, LAND is permanently owned by the community. Users can buy plots of virtual LAND on a blockchain-based ledger of parcels with a plot size of 10 by 10 meters. Once you own a LAND, you have complete control of contents published on that portion of the digital world.

LAND on the platform is a transferrable digital asset that is stored in an Ethereum smart contract. To get it, you will need to spend MANA tokens. You can still use the token to buy other in-world goods and services on the platform.

Will MANA Go Up? Price Predictions

When MANA was unveiled and traded on various cryptocurrency exchanges, the price was $0.02. It rose rapidly, and by January 2018, it hit its peak of $0.26. However, it experienced a sharp decrease in mid-2020, trading below $0.04. But rose up a few months later and was trading between $0.08 and $0.09 for the remaining months of the year. However, entering into 2021, the token took off along with the entire crypto market, surpassing $1 within the first few weeks of the year. This made people speculate on the future of the MANA token.

However, the question about whether the Decentraland will go up in the future will depend on what the platform is offering and the rate of its adoption by people. The Decentraland team is led by Ariel Meilich (project lead) and Esteban Ordano (Tech lead). Ariel is a serial entrepreneur who founded several other startups, including an online translation agency and a CRM platform. At the same time, Esteban was also credited with co-founding Zeppelin solutions, an established blockchain technology infrastructure company.

Considering the team’s achievements and their years of experience in the industry, we believe that the Decentraland platform’s value will surge in the future.

The platform’s business model seems to be in the right direction, and if their Virtual world becomes the market leader, the value of the coin will increase. Presently, the platform is already working and making money. The game industry is already developing every day. There are lots of benefits for the community to grow, such as allowing people to create a profitable business within the Decentraland world. Even the virtual reality world has been projected to grow significantly over the next few years. In summary, the coin has a use case that is capable of making the Decentraland platform go up in the future.

MANA USDT chart, the daily time frame

Where and how can I buy MANA Crypto?

Buying MANA tokens is very simple and straightforward. There are many cryptocurrency exchanges where you can get the MANA token. You can purchase MANA on most exchanges with either BTC or ETH. You can buy the MANA coin is Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, KuCoin, BinanceHuobi, ZenGo, etc. Most of these exchanges also offer the trading of MANA, and you can trade your other crypto’s for MANA tokens.

To purchase a MANA cryptocurrency, follow these steps;

Step 1: Go to the exchange you registered with and log in. However, if you don’t have an account, visit any of the exchanges that support MANA token trading and sign up. You will need to provide your email address and password. Most of the exchanges will also require you to provide your personal details in line with Know your customer (KYC) requirements.

Step 2: Deposit the fund in your account and obtain a cryptocurrency that is listed in a currency pair with MANA, such as BTC, ETH. The most straightforward format is to deposit fiat currency and use it to purchase BTC and trade the BTC for MANA tokens. Another avenue is buying BTC outright and trading it for MANA tokens.

Step 3: Buy the MANA token. Once you logged into your exchange account, click on the “Markets” or “Exchange” link and search for your desired currency pairing like BTC/MANA, ETH/MANA, etc. You will find the “BUY” field below, where you can input the amount you wish to buy or the amount of BTC you want to spend. Input the details and buy the MANA token.

How Can You Make Money in Decentraland?

There are various ways of making money in Decentraland. However, we will highlight five significant avenues that you can make money in the platform;

Buying and selling parcels: There is big money in flipping parcels. There will always be people who plan to get in and some that want to sell and cash out. So, you just need to know how to find them, negotiate and win a considerable amount when purchasing something from them. This avenue is highly lucrative when you explore it when the world is up, and parcels become more scarce.

Developing and charging for entry: It is not everybody that can create new innovations in the platform. But at the same time, many will enjoy building things the whole community can visit and enjoy and pay for it. You can make things like a Dinosaur park, a museum, a science room, etc., and charge users a MANA token to enter and view it.

Renting out: It is not all parcel owners that are developers or have the capacity to build anything. You can rent your parcel for a considerable MANA token. Also, you can work for parcel owners and earn your payments easily on the platform.

Providing services: There is always a time you can work to offer services to people. You can build games for people. People will always need a variety of services. You can provide such services on the platform. For example, you can develop specific templates for people that want certain types of houses and buildings. They can buy such templates from you and upload them to their parcel of land; thus, you earn money.

Showcasing and selling products: There is an avenue to showcase your skills in Decentraland. Imagine having a virtual display room showcasing your design skills? Whether it is tips for new games, or houses/apartments, people can enter to see how it will look like, and what you earn from it.

What can you do in Decentraland?

There are a lot of things you can do in Decentraland. With the platform’s scripting language, users can create 3D scenes, games, and applications. The language is versatile enough to handle things like platform physics, object creation, and sound development. If you have worked with a game engine like Unity, these terms will be familiar to you.

Also, LAND holders are free to develop their plots into whatever they choose in the platform. Users can build on the platform, create an avatar. And users who want to share their creations can also erect billboards in high-traffic districts to promote products, services, or events—other things you can still do in Decentraland includes; 3D design, education, and virtual tourism.

The Future of Decentraland

The future of Decentraland hinges on people actually showing up and making use of the platform. That is, whether it becomes more of a virtual curiosity or develops into an actual one, just like in the case of Bitcoin, which started slowly before evolving. The concept of Mana cryptocurrency sounds exciting. It seeks to develop a virtual world that can allow users to create and develop many things. And if you can create your own business, purchase a virtual estate and enjoy the benefits of decentralization, then you’d have a very cool concept at your disposal in the platform.

We believe that virtual reality gaming will get bigger and bigger in the future. The platform is still in the developmental stage and will grow with time. However, even though we see a bright future for MANA, there are still going to be hiccups and problems along the way. It could take years before we see a genuinely immersive Decentraland that runs entirely on Virtual reality (VR).

Also, the various partnerships the platform is entering will also help the Decentraland to evolve quickly. These partnerships will also increase MANA adoption, thus increasing the value of the MANA token.

However, the extremely high gas fees in the platform cannot be overlooked. Wearables are a fun way to customize your avatar, but not when you have to pay high gas fees. The marketplace for wearables also needs a dose of reality. This simply means, there is no way any virtual pants, shirts, shoes, or whatever are worth several thousands of dollars worth of MANA tokens.

However, we believe that with more adoption of the MANA token, wearables’ prices will come down. We see the token breaking barriers in the future.

Is Decentraland (MANA) Dead?

Decentraland is not dead—and isn’t going away anytime in the foreseeable future. In fact, the project is thriving.

The swings and normal fluctuations of token prices affected MANA—just like it had on Bitcoin and Ethereum—which is not out of the ordinary. However, this doesn’t mean the project or developers were slowed down, refraining from contributing code or striking partners with others in the space.

Blockchain gaming is a multi-billion-dollar industry that fits snugly with NFTs. The latter is a new sub-sector commanding millions and projected to be a significant force in the days to come.
Their decision to build on Ethereum is strategic. Save the changes in Gas, Ethereum’s ecosystem is rich with activity. Decentraland is attractive across the divide because of their merger of NFTs into an established chain. There is an opportunity for Decentraland to tap into advertising through the acquisition of prime virtual land where businesses can market services. At the same time, early adopters can trade their NFTs, earning revenue as a result.

Why MANA Could Be a Good Investment?

The Decentraland gives users full ownership access, which is what differentiates it from other VR platforms. Users, not corporate heads, own the decision-making process for the platform via the DAO. Also, users get to own the parcels of this digital landscape, and they also keep all the proceeds generated by other users on their LAND. This is entirely different from other VR platforms that take a cut. And amazingly, there is no central authority controlling the system.

Mana could be a good investment in the future. The price of the MANA token rose beyond the $1 threshold earlier in the year. However, some people attribute it to the increasing value of Bitcoin. Looking at it, you will discover that most of Mana’s recent price increase has come due to the jump in the price of Bitcoin. So, as long as BTC keeps rising, MANA prices will grow as well.

Furthermore, Decentraland could focus on improving its features for seamless services, which will lead to the platform’s growth. We cannot overlook the impact of social media influencers which might also lead to the token’s growth.

Overall, Decentraland is a great place to start a new virtual space, and it already has cool places where you can explore. It is a great platform that could become profitable in the long run. In the short run, we cannot guarantee that. What is your view on the MANA token? Drop your comment below.