A look inside our Metaverse Commerce strategy

We announced yesterday that we have signed a six-figure deal to purchase a large plot of land in Decentraland. This is why we did it.

Real estate purchases seize the popular imagination like few other asset transfers. Prime plots of land in desirable locations are prizes that are fought over by the rich and the famous, determined to leave a legacy and, in some cases, change the face of history.

Sometimes the buildings themselves are iconic — New York’s Chrysler Building, the Shard in London, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. And sometimes it is what happens within those walls that changes the course of human history: think of the buildings, still in existence, that house the world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and the world’s first department store, Le Bon Marché in Paris.

We are standing on the threshold of a similarly significant step change in the history of human commerce: the transition from a world where we transact more or less in the physical realm, assisted by Web 2.0 technology, to one where our virtual selves can work, play and shop in virtual worlds, and where commerce seamlessly bridges the physical-digital divide.

Real estate in the Metaverse

While evolving technology has meant that the Metaverse — previously the stuff of novels and films — is rapidly becoming a reality, it is the decentralized metaverse, enabled by blockchain technology, that has truly opened up the possibilities of a digital economy that can truly mirror the physical world.

Buying assets or land in centralized games or worlds cedes power to the game’s owners or developers. Where Decentraland, and The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels, Somnium Space and others, are different, is the ability to own a plot of land whose ownership is entirely censorship-proof and permanent.

Since Decentraland’s Terraform event in 2017, interest has been slowly growing — and in the last year, the slow burn has become an explosion of creativity and demand. Land prices have more than tripled in the last year, and at least one bricks-and-mortar property investment fund has set up an equivalent to invest in Metaverse property. Demand for MANA, Decentraland’s native currency, has seen the price rocket from $0.03 to $0.82 over the last year.

It is against this backdrop that the most expensive private property deal in Decentraland has just taken place, laying the foundations for a revolutionary new approach to the way we interact in the Metaverse.

Boson Protocol move into Vegas City

Boson Protocol’s six-figure purchase of a large, premium plot of land in Decentraland’s Vegas City is destined to be one of those epoch-defining moments in culture, finance and human society.

Boson aims to create a freeport in Vegas City where commerce and innovation will thrive in the space in between the Metaverse and the Universe. Brands, artists, creators and sellers will be able to sell or reward players with their real world products tokenized as Boson commitment NFTs, which players can then redeem in the physical world.

Vegas City is one of the most vibrant commercial neighbourhoods in Decentraland — and recently hit the headlines when Atari celebrated the launch of their new co-branded casino with a glittering virtual launch party in April.

Elsewhere in Decentraland, in the Voltaire Art district, prestigious London auction house Sotheby’s last week announced a digital replica of its London galleries, featuring an avatar of Sotheby’s London Commissionaire Hans Lomulder, who will greet visitors to the five-storey virtual space.

Some investors have bought land purely for speculative purposes, but for Boson Protocol, it is an opportunity to seize the imagination of the Metaverse’s new citizens — and build experiences and capabilities that will push forward the dream of the Open Metaverse.

Events and experiences in the Metaverse

Boson uniquely enables a true Project Multiverse, where it is possible to execute the decentralized exchange of any physical, digital or on-chain Thing in a common, interoperable format. This means that your avatar can browse products in-store in Decentraland and transact in an arbitration-minimized way with any type of seller, whether they are a household-name brand or a small retailer offering cutting-edge, boutique products.

However, as we build our experiences and products, we intend our landmark Vegas City plot to become an exciting destination in itself, hosting a range of events and experiences that will attract Metaverse immigrants to our location and help them see the boundless possibilities of the new worlds we are creating.

Boson Protocol’s approach to Metaverse Commerce

At Boson we’re building the commerce infrastructure to power the Metaverse, so creatives can focus on their art instead of worrying about fees. We are extending the capabilities of Boson Protocol to facilitate the exchange of any physical, digital, or on-chain thing. This will not only allow the sale of in-game items but enables brands and games to sell physical objects that have a digital and physical life.

For example, this will enable a real-world fashion item to have a digital life as an NFT, allowing the owner to use it as a skin in their favorite video game or granting them exclusive access to online communities.

We are working towards a Metaverse retail experience that is immersive and thrilling, where the shoppers of the future will wander through virtual malls with their friends, trying on clothes and getting a far better 360-degree view of how they will look, safe in the knowledge that the physical version of the product will be seamlessly delivered to their door..

Boson’s commitment NFTs enable our purchases to arrive on our doorstep with the same certainty as if we had walked into a shop on the high street. This works via an escrow mechanism that facilitates the exchange of digital value for real-world goods and services. By tokenizing a commitment to transact, rather than the physical item itself, Boson Protocol offers an entirely new path for commerce, free of the boundaries and monopolistic behaviour of the current incumbents.

Speaking about the purchase, Justin Banon, Co-Founder of Boson Protocol, said, “We have incredibly ambitious plans for the land. By providing the ability to buy something in the Metaverse, and then take ownership of it in the real world, we are enabling new and exciting experiences that encapsulate the possibilities of dCommerce, allowing brands to have direct contact with their customers without requiring intermediaries. There is an immense potential for commerce in virtual worlds, and we look forward to bringing the decentralized autonomous commerce revolution to the forefront of the metaverse. Watch this space.”

About Decentraland

Decentraland is a decentralized virtual social platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Within the Decentraland platform, users can create, experience, and monetize content and applications.

About Boson Protocol

At Boson Protocol, we are creating a decentralized commerce ecosystem that everyone can use and anyone can trust.

Boson Protocol is a decentralized infrastructure for enabling autonomous commercial exchanges of anyThing, specifically off-chain items. Boson is a peer-to-peer system which replicates the benefits of a market intermediary, without the disbenefits of centralized systems.

Keen to learn more?

Enjoy the dCommerce Stack outlining the services we’ll need to build a dCommerce ecosystem.

In a hurry?

Check out how the protocol works here.

Want to get involved?

• Apply for a Boson Ecosystem Grant today
• See our live job openings

Where are we going?

See our ROADMAP and embark with us.

Got more questions?

Our FAQs ought to have you covered.