Owning land goes back as far as humans have had the concept of ownership. The idea that a piece of property can hold value — knowing there is a certain potential for capital appreciation — has existed since we figured out how to pin things down in space for, say, a campsite.
NFTs are digital equivalents of these earlier forms of “real estate.” But it’s not just about owning an NFT equivalent of a plot of land; rather, you become a co-owner along with thousands of others in what could be called an “online commons.” Together, NFT landowners make up Next Earth, a next-generation metaverse that has created a virtual replica of Earth.
The concept behind NFTs is simple: In the world where all information lives online, why shouldn’t everything live online too? Information becomes content — and tiles become cyber spaces. All that said, this is why I decided to become an NFT landowner on Next Earth.
The promise of land NFTs
I’m interested in the promise of NFTs not only because they will go up in value, but because they will grow with the rise of the metaverse, offering new layers and additional contexts for what it means to be part of a community.
And I believe that communities are at the forefront of innovation today, providing new ways to connect and interact with other people and with brands that people care about. People want to feel a connection to something larger than themselves — if only it were bigger…or easier.
And here we have an opportunity, through these virtual worlds, as creators on these platforms, rather than passive consumers on social media platforms, to make connections that can change how we live our lives.
In the old paradigm, critics said this couldn’t be done, that people will never want to live in a cyber world. How we view our world is changing, and there is a possibility of truly accessible communities through these virtual worlds where people can engage with each other.
The combination of owning NFT assets together with creating experiences for others in the metaverse may very well lead us to the next evolution — one that goes from multiple screens and platforms to an unbroken experience across all aspects of our lives.
The steps to becoming an NFT landowner
I believe in this promise so much that I followed the simple steps to becoming an NFT landowner, starting with signing up for the Next Earth platform – and I hope you too will take these first steps toward becoming a more NFT-savvy citizen of the metaverse.
After signing up, and connecting your BSC address, you can browse the Mapbox-powered map interface and see what’s for sale. The map interface has a variety of different NFT types so that you can get an idea of what types of assets are on the platform and where they are located, such as urban tiles, water tiles, and non-urban tiles.
By connecting my Binance Wallet via Chrome extension, I was able to buy a lighthouse in Portugual – which comes with a beautiful view!
I could then see my lighthouse in “my lands,” from where I could also choose to re-sell it on the NFT marketplace. The NFT marketplace is a fascinating place to check for prime virtual real estate, which many early adopters are re-selling.
For example, while many famous locations in the likes of Vatican City and Macao are taken, many users opt to re-sell these virtual properties in the marketplace. As you can see below, you could even buy Shrek world Dubai or the Asakusa Shrine!
That said, with many exciting developments in the pipeline, such as the ability to create land art, you may very well just want to hold on to your virtual estate.
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