Educational Post:

What Is Decentraland (MANA)?

Decentraland is a virtual world and community based on blockchain technology. Users develop and own plots of land, artwork, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). Members also participate in the platform’s Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

As a DAO, Decentraland gives its community the power to participate in the project’s governance. Decentraland’s native cryptocurrency, MANA, and all in-game assets are on the Ethereum blockchain.

How does Decentraland work?

Decentraland is an online space combining virtual reality with blockchain technology. Unlike most online games, players have direct control over the rules of the online world. The DAO allows token holders to vote directly on in-game and organizational policies. This mechanism affects everything, from the types of items allowed to investments for the DAO’s treasury.

To take part in the DAO’s governance, users convert their MANA into wrapped MANA (wMANA) and lock it in the DAO. Each wMANA represents one vote in governance proposals. You can get MANA on exchanges or by selling collectible items on the Decentraland Marketplace. The DAO also has its own MANA treasury to fund its decisions and operations.

LAND is a non-fungible token that represents the plots of land owned by players in the community. Similar to MANA, it also provides voting power as part of Decentraland’s governance protocol.

However, LAND doesn’t need to be locked up in the DAO and provides two thousand votes per LAND token. Players with numerous plots can tie them together into a single Estate token, with voting power equal to the plots contained.