Nearly $2bn spent in metaverse land grab in 12 months

In the past year, almost $2 billion has been spent on virtual lands in the metaverse, a research study has shown.

People and companies are racing to set foot in the metaverse even though we are still years away from the metaverse becoming a single online space where people can do everything from living and playing to working and shopping. 

Angie Taylor is one of the artists who believe in the metaverse. She told the BBC that she bought her first parcel in July 2020 for £1,500. 

"I bought it for exhibiting my own work, but also for running metaverse events that would promote my art and also other people's art," she was quoted as saying by the outlet.

Taylor has already built two virtual galleries where her artwork is sold in cryptocurrency. She displays her strange digital artwork in her gallery located on her plot in the Voxels world.

Her lands are the size of a small family house. One of them has three floors and a terrace from where the road and a pink taxi are visible.

"Hold down the F key and you can fly up to take a look at my neighbourhood," She explained.

Voxels is just one of the many virtual worlds describing themselves as metaverses. The BBC clarified that the metaverse was not just one space but there are many virtual lands that make up the metaverse. 

DappRadar researchers revealed that nearly $2bn worth of cryptocurrency has already been invested with many buying virtual lands. Almost $22m of this amount was spent on thousands of parcels of land in Voxels alone.

Another popular world is the cartoony Decentraland. Lands in this area sell sometimes for millions of dollars. Major companies from the real world like Samsung have bought lang in Decentraland and have already built shops and visitor centres.

Luxury fashion brand Philipp Plein also bought a huge piece of land for $1.5m to eventually turn it into a metaverse store.

Huge multinational brands have bought lands in the Sandbox, which is another crypto metaverse. Adidas, Binance, Gucci, and Warner Music are just some of the big names that plan to promote products and services in the metaverse.