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Here’s this week’s rapidly trending topic with insights and analysis

Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please do further research before you invest in any crypto asset.

Topic #1

Virtual Real Estate

The real estate sector has found a new home in the Metaverse! With the emergence of Web 3.0 in the making, brands and marketplaces are trying their hands at the latest digital land. 

The emerging three-dimensional real estate market in virtual reality includes almost everything from shopping malls to virtual concert venues, houses, and monuments, making it one of the most prominent investments in the Meta movement. Global search interest for virtual real estate increased by 37% in the last 2 years, and 208% in the last 5 years.

Key Market Driver

Facebook is currently one of the leading promoters of the Metaverse. On October 28, 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company name would be changed to Meta, signifying their conviction to help bring the Metaverse to life. 

Meta believes that the Metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. Soon after, brands like Adidas, Samsung, and Miller Lite made announcements to enter the Metaverse.

Top Players

Talking of virtual lands, you cannot overlook ‘The Sandbox.’ The brand that started it all, Sandbox, is a platform that offers a piece of virtual land over its map. Investors can buy land over the platform using the SAND token where the sales are announced every week. Search interest for The Sandbox increased by 160% in the last 2 years but has since dropped due to the overall market correction in the crypto space.  Other examples of virtual land platforms are Decentraland and Sonium Space.

Adoption

Crypto giant Grayscale believes that the metaverse has the potential to become a $1 trillion annual revenue opportunity across advertising, digital events, e-commerce, and hardware.

With virtual landholders like Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, and Marshmallow, the market faces a seamless adoption rate with potential investors of every type. Other notable brands in the Metaverse are Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci Vault, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, Zepeto, CryptoKitties, and much more.

Key Challenges

While virtual lands hold a great spot for multiplying your investment, there are concerns surrounding their safety and reliability in the long run. Currently, the virtual land marketplace is surrounded by 3 primary challenges:

Niche market with a limited interest

The Metaverse world is not tangible, which makes virtual lands a niche market with a limited buyer base for now. While the trend is on a positive swing for virtual lands, you might want to invest wisely.  

Investments might go down with the platform

Unlike real estate, where you have a physical piece of land, digital land is part of the platform. The risk with Metaverse’s real estate is that if anything goes wrong, such as the platform closing down, investments would go down too. In addition, your investment return potential depends on the success and popularity of the platform and the adoption of virtual reality as a whole. 

Environmental concerns 

While the Metaverse gives you a simulation of the real world, we shouldn’t forget it’s a simulation run by computers and electricity. This makes it come at the cost of the environment! While Metaverse platforms are trying to cope with the problem, finding an eco-friendly solution might still be a long shot. 

We hope you enjoyed this week's topic. See you next week