Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer and actor JJ Lin has purchased three virtual lands at Decentraland, a cryptocurrency marketplace where virtual real estate can be bought and sold, and users can log in and in the "metaverse".
The 40-year-old international superstar lives primarily in Taiwan but is home to Singapore and currently owns three Decentraland virtual plots: Prime Gallery 1, Primary Gallery 2 and SECOND to GENESIS PLAZA. The three plots were purchased on the OpenSea Non-Homogeneous Token (NFT) marketplace at a price of 6,000 MANA (Decentraland's cryptocurrency) or approximately $30,000 (S$41,000) each based on the current price (about $5 per MANA).
According to OpenSea's transaction records, about a month ago, two of the three plots (Prime Galleries 1 and 2) were purchased by an OpenSea account owner named Dan309 and then transferred to (presumably) JJ Lin's OpenSea account , username Meta_Enigma five days ago. For the most recent visit to GENESIS PLAZA, the record shows that Meta_Enigma purchased directly from the user DCF753.
With each pixel on the Decentraland site plan measuring 52.5 sq ft, Lin paid approximately S$780.95 per sq ft of Decentraland real estate. This is approximately the price per square foot of Geylang Serenay 4 Bedroom HDB or Luoyang Villa 4 Bed Corner Terrace.
Since Lin Junjie tweeted about his purchase on November 23, it has been shared 389 times with 441 comments.
While most users buy NFTs and virtual lands for speculative reasons, others do so because of an affinity for what these virtual environments require. Some people buy them to build their own virtual homes, build their own brands, or showcase their NFT collections for users to access and appreciate.
One reason for this interest or hype is that Facebook recently changed its name to Meta and plans to develop its own version of Metaverse.
Lin Junjie recently purchased one of three virtual plots. This is the closest place to GENESIS PLAZA (X:29, Y:-5), for which Lin paid 6000 MANA (or about S$41,000). As the owner, he can renovate the plot into anything he likes, or hold it for resale in markets like OpenSea. (Image source: Decentraland)
Near Lin Junjie's Decentraland plot (X: 30, Y; -5), the same seller has listed a house for sale. If you can't be Lin Junjie's neighbor in real life, maybe the virtual option can be used as an alternative? (Image source: Decentraland)
The other two plots are next to each other – Prime Gallery 1 and 2. In the image above, it's a floating giant Thwomp (from super Mario Bros. game) and a 3-story virtual greenhouse in the back. (Image source: Decentraland)
For most of us who have experienced the real estate industry, we may have paid for these "fictitious" land prices in the baulking forest. However, Lin is no stranger to the idea of buying NFTs or virtual assets, such as digital 3D paintings, memes or avatars on the blockchain.
Earlier on November 8, he purchased the rare CryptoPunk NFT (Number 8601) for 125 Ethereums or ETH for short (valued at $555,000, or S$761,000 at current prices).
Two reasons why some NFTs are highly valued (some say overrated) are that they are immutable on the blockchain (i.e. they cannot be changed or deleted) and rare (for example, only 10,000 CryptoPunks are in circulation).
Of course, Lin is also a savvy home buyer in the real world, spending S$18.9 million in Taipei, Taiwan, in August 2021 to buy two luxury high-rise apartments.
He already owns a 2,846-square-foot home in the area and a 2,134-square-foot home (worth NT$63 million or S$3.1 million) in Daan District. Previously, 99.co reported that whenever he was in town, he typically lived in his 571-square-foot one-bedroom apartment in OUE Twin Peaks.
During the roughly same period as Lin's most recent purchase, another Decentraland plot sold for $2.4 million – setting a record for the most expensive virtual real estate ever bought in Metaverse (to date).
The deal took place in the "Fashion Street" area of the Decentraland map and was acquired by Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of the publicly traded Tokens.com, for 618,000 MANA – the equivalent of $2,428,740 at the time.
That plot consists of 116 smaller plots, each with an area of 52.5 square feet, forming 6,090 virtual square feet. This equates to approximately $400 per square foot (S$548 per square foot). Metaverse Group intends to work with Decentraland to develop real estate for fashion shows and commercial use.
Not to be outdone, on November 25, another digital plot was sold for $550 ETH or $2,339,700 in the Axie Infinity Game Earning Virtual Environment. The sale has been holding the plot since January 22, 2019.
Yes, the Genesis plot in Axie Infinity, a game-based blockchain game, just made a net $2.3 million for the owner. (Image source: Axie Infinity / Sky Mavis)
While speculation on any cryptocurrency, NFT, or virtual real estate is a volatile and high-risk endeavor (i.e., the cautionary story is that the value of these virtual assets can fall to zero overnight), it's worth noting that more celebrities, sports teams, and brands have been jumping on the NFT and virtual real estate bandwagon (and sharing their purchases publicly) lately.
From TV talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Snoopy Dog, and even brands like the Smurfs, South China Morning Post and ATARI have invested in virtual real estate on platforms like The Sandbox (SAND/LAND) and Decentraland (MANA).
Sandbox is a virtual real estate platform that competes with Decentraland, with partners including brands such as the South China Morning Post and ATARI. (Image source: Sandbox, Animoca Brands)
No one can really predict or predict these virtual platforms, let alone how their environments, assets, and technologies will evolve over time. The general rule is to do your own research (DYOR) and not to use any publicity for these services as a form of investment advice.
Anyone who invests in real-world real-world property will tell you this – you can't see or touch something that can collapse overnight like a house of cards. Speculators will tell you to only invest what you can afford to lose – just like you see hopeful bettors lining up at TOTO and 4D booths every week.
This is the opposite view for most millennials and Gen-Z, who typically make up the majority of these virtual real estate buyers and sellers. Most of them can't afford to own a luxurious waterfront property or land like their ancestors. So, for them, taking ownership of these virtual real estate lands early or early on (in pixelated form) is like a virtual gold rush.
Most people just want to build their virtual world to share with their followers. Some people intend to resell for a profit. But there may be quite a few who want these lands to exist indefinitely so that they can pass on their value to the next generation, just as our great-grandfather did to our pre-war bungalows and land.