馃攳
Investors Buy Up Metaverse Real Estate in Virtual Land Boom | WSJ - YouTube
Channel: unknown
[0]
- [Host] The latest big real estate market
[2]
isn't on scenic coastlines
or in major cities.
[5]
It's in the metaverse,
(quirky music)
[6]
where a growing number of investment firms
[8]
are spending millions to
acquire digital property.
[12]
- Owning land now in the metaverse
[13]
is a little bit like buying
land in New York 250 years ago.
[17]
- [Host] Metaverse real estate
isn't all that different
[19]
from property in the real world.
[20]
It just exists digitally in 3D cities
[23]
where users can simulate
real life pursuits,
[26]
like shopping, playing games
or attending virtual concerts.
[30]
- There are houses that you can walk into,
[31]
there are shops that you
can go into and buy things.
[35]
And this real estate in the metaverse
[37]
is increasingly for sale.
[39]
- [Host] The idea behind
investing in digital land
[42]
is that once you own it,
[43]
you can make money by
developing virtual property
[46]
and leasing it out.
[48]
- We bought it because we want to do
[49]
something very big there.
[50]
We want to do something
that's immersive and exciting
[52]
and in order to do that,
[53]
you have to have lots and lots of space.
[55]
- [Host] Of course, digital real estate
[57]
is still considered a
very risky investment.
[60]
So what exactly led to
this virtual land boom
[63]
and what factors make it so valuable?
[67]
Right now the metaverse
is an evolving space
[70]
that comprises multiple digital worlds
[73]
where users can interact with avatars.
[76]
Many of these digital
spaces appear cartoon-like,
[79]
while others feel like virtual recreations
[81]
of the real world.
[83]
Andrew Kiguel is the CEO and
co-founder of Tokens.com,
[87]
an investment firm
specializing in cryptocurrency
[90]
and metaverse real estate acquisitions.
[93]
- Land in the metaverse looks a little bit
[95]
like a monopoly board in that
you have these parcels of land
[98]
and you want to try and acquire
[100]
as many parcels of land
on the monopoly board.
[102]
- [Host] There are only a few platforms
[104]
where investors can buy
and sell real estate,
[106]
each with their own
unique cryptocurrencies.
[109]
Each platform has a
limited number of parcels
[112]
available for purchase,
[113]
which is tracked using
blockchain technology.
[116]
In November Republic Realm,
[118]
a firm that buys and develops
real estate in the metaverse,
[121]
said it paid $4.3 million for
land in the world of sandbox.
[126]
It's the largest digital
property sale publicized to date.
[130]
- The whole reason why
it is a store of value
[133]
is because at the outset, each
metaverse platform declares
[137]
exactly how many parcels there will be,
[139]
so they would be cannibalizing
[141]
the value of their own holdings
[142]
if they continued to
mint more and more of it.
[144]
So that tenant of scarcity is
what gives the category value.
[150]
- [Host] As in the physical world,
[152]
location is a major factor to consider
[154]
when buying digital land.
[157]
- Areas that are busier or
have more visitor traffic,
[160]
like the downtown areas,
[161]
the parcels of land
that are for sale there
[163]
would it be worth more
[165]
than those that might be in the suburbs.
[166]
Once you have this parcel of land
[169]
you can use various programming tools
[171]
to create things like an amusement park,
[174]
a casino, a museum, you can
build whatever you want.
[177]
- [Host] Investors are
betting that individuals
[179]
and companies will spend
money on virtual developments
[182]
like homes and retail space
[185]
and as more people join
these online worlds,
[187]
the properties will increase in value.
[190]
- You know, if you build a mansion,
[191]
you might sell it to
someone who's very wealthy
[193]
and wants to spend thousands of dollars,
[195]
or hundreds of thousand
dollars on a mansion
[197]
in the metaverse, or if you
build a mall or an office tower,
[200]
you're going to lease out
the space to companies
[202]
and you're gonna collect rents.
[204]
- [Host] Tokens.com said
that it paid $2.5 million
[207]
for attractive land in
Decentraland's Fashion District.
[211]
Decentraland is a 3D
decentralized virtual world
[215]
that was launched in 2017.
[218]
- The long-term vision
is that we want to turn
[221]
that property that we've purchased there
[224]
into the Rodeo Drive or the
Fifth Avenue of the metaverse.
[227]
Our goal is to be the dominant
[229]
and leading metaverse landlord.
[232]
- [Host] Companies pay an architect
[234]
to design virtual homes or malls
[236]
and a game developer to build them.
[238]
Zoning rules limit what
and where a company
[241]
can build in the metaverse.
[242]
But unlike the real world,
[244]
metaverse buildings can
defy the laws of physics.
[247]
- So there's a point in
the development cycle
[249]
where it looks nearly identical
[251]
to real world real estate development.
[252]
So you hire an architect, you
come up with a mood board,
[255]
you pull images of other
spaces and buildings
[258]
and designs you like and you figure out
[260]
what it is you're going to build
[261]
and then from that point forward,
[263]
it actually turns into
video game development.
[265]
So then you hand it off to 3D renderers
[267]
and then to 3D developers
who make it interactive.
[271]
- [Host] Some of Republic
Realm's developments
[273]
include a virtual mall
which it leases to retailers
[276]
selling fashion for avatars,
[277]
as well as a master-planned
community of around 100 villas
[282]
on private islands that
it sold to individuals.
[285]
- So in some ways, these
immersive e-commerce environments
[288]
that we're building are
really 3D equivalents
[291]
of marketplaces like Amazon, like Etsy,
[293]
where multiple different
sellers and retail products
[297]
or experiences can be in one place
[300]
but not have to build
all the tech themselves.
[303]
- [Host] Advertising
and brand partnerships
[304]
are another enticing aspect
of metaverse real estate.
[308]
Investors anticipate a future
[309]
in which digital property owners
[311]
can work with brands that want a presence
[314]
in these growing digital worlds.
[316]
- This is not just an opportunity
[317]
to continue to build their brand,
[319]
but it's a way to introduce their brand
[321]
to a whole new demographic of people
[323]
that are young gamers, into crypto,
[326]
and all of these types of things.
[328]
- [Host] Of course investing
in digital properties
[330]
is still very risky
and highly speculative.
[333]
Unlike in the real world,
[335]
the value of virtual
properties could plunge
[337]
if the world they are in loses popularity
[340]
and people stop visiting it.
[342]
Prices can also be slammed
[344]
by the volatility of cryptocurrencies.
[347]
- It's really a third
derivative investment of crypto,
[349]
highly volatile, highly speculative,
[352]
but the reason people are drawn to it
[353]
is precisely for that reason,
[354]
because there is the
potential for outsized returns
[357]
and that volatility is what they came for.
[359]
- [Host] In order to reduce that risk
[361]
investors are buying land
[362]
in a number of different virtual worlds.
[365]
Republic Realm, for
example, it says it owns
[368]
more than 3000 plots of digital land
[370]
across 24 different worlds.
[373]
- If you bought crypto
five or 10 years ago
[375]
you're a very rich person
now and people see that
[378]
and they're looking for
other things like that
[380]
to replicate that growth
[381]
and so all these other
blockchain based investments,
[385]
including metaverse real estate,
[387]
are appealing to people for that reason.
[389]
- [Host] Interest in the metaverse
[390]
and the properties within it accelerated
[392]
as people spend more time
online during the pandemic.
[396]
It got an even bigger
boost after Mark Zuckerberg
[399]
announced Facebook's name
change to Meta Platforms Inc,
[403]
reflecting the company's focus
[404]
on creating online
worlds in the metaverse.
[407]
- I think the light bulb just went off
[409]
in a lot of people's minds and said,
[410]
"Hey, this is something
that's going to continue
[413]
"to appreciate and appreciate quickly
[416]
"if the trend of people congregating
[418]
"in these environments continues to grow."
[420]
- [Host] According to the
digital currency investor,
[422]
Grayscale, the global market
for goods and services
[426]
in the metaverse will
soon be worth $1 trillion.
[429]
- So the next generation of tech users,
[432]
which is why Mark
Zuckerberg anticipated this
[434]
and renamed his company,
they're going to require
[437]
from technology an experience
that's 3D and immersive
[440]
and they are not going to be content
[442]
with their parents social media
or e-commerce experiences,
[446]
which are 2D and about scrolling.
[447]
They're going to want
to go meet their friends
[450]
in what we now call a metaverse,
[452]
where they can interact in a
way that feels much more human
[455]
and much more normal.
(upbeat music)
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage