What is Decentraland (MANA)?
MANA is the native token of Decentraland, an open-source, decentralized metaverse. The platform is known as a virtual world that utilizes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its game mechanics. The platform offers a wide range of functionalities that allows users to monetize their virtual experience.
Decentraland is powered by the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, and the MANA token was created using the ERC-20 standard. The token is used to purchase virtual land or other in-game assets and create minigames and applications. The most relevant MANA price data can be seen above.
Who Founded Decentraland?
Decentraland was co-founded by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano. Meilich is an entrepreneur who has worked in venture capital, and founded and co-founded other blockchain-based companies. Ordano is a software engineer with years of experience in decentralized finance and smart contract development.
Meilich and Ordano are no longer the project and tech leads at Decentraland. They stepped down in 2020 and now act as project advisors. The current CEO of Decentraland is James Ashton.
The platform acts as the next step in the evolution of social media and virtual entertainment. Users are able to interact with each other using digital avatars, and purchase goods and services that may be transferable to the real world.
Decentraland was launched in 2017. Prior to the official release, the platform held an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), during which the MANA price was around $0.02. The asset’s volatility can be considered relatively low.
Since its launch, Decentraland has generally followed the overall market trends, as reflected in its performance. H2 2021 and H1 2022 saw a significant growth period. Following Bitcoin's all-time high at the time, recorded in November 2021, the Decentraland price also peaked at $5.90 at the same time.
What Are the Key Features of Decentraland?
The Decentraland crypto world uses two types of tokens – the utility token MANA and the non-fungible tokens known as LAND. Users can purchase LAND to create their own unique virtual space. As a utility token, MANA can be used to buy LAND as well as other in-game goods and services.
Both MANA and LAND are deflationary tokens. New MANA tokens cannot be mined. The supply of MANA is regularly burned to reduce the number of assets in circulation. This is done to ensure that the Decentraland price rises over time and the deflation rates are maintained stable.
The metaverse has a total supply of 90,601 LAND tokens. Each square of land takes up 2,756 square feet. During the MANA crowdsales, it was determined that the entire Decentraland would consist of more than 50 various districts. If a user purchases LAND in a specific district, they are unable to trade it.
Proof of LAND ownership is recorded in the immutable ledger of the Ethereum blockchain. Users are limited to how much LAND they can own to ensure fair and even distribution of virtual resources. However, there are no applicable height restrictions for the owners.
The rate of how many NFTs can be purchased with the native token is set to 1 LAND = 1000 MANA. This means that the MANA price in the market determines how many non-fungible parcels a user can purchase.
The platform offers its own Marketplace. Here, users are able to purchase items such as avatars, clothing textures, rare collectibles, and others. Among the services offered in the game are digital stores that enable microtransactions, virtual art displays, and unique environments. Users are also able to purchase advertising spaces around the map.
MANA can also be used as a governance token as the ecosystem functions as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). MANA token holders are able to vote on protocol changes and propose their own suggestions to the consortium.
