FOR THE MODEST price of 10,000 mana tokens (about $7,000) per day, back in January anyone could have rented parcel 27,87 in Decentraland, a 3D virtual world that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Renting the land would have given the tenant the right to build anything on it-a shop, an event space, an art installation, whatever. But the real winner would be the landlord, who goes by Beatrix#7239, their virtual pockets lined with cryptocash. Not every property is as pricey as parcel 27,87, which is centrally located, near where people first spawn into Decentraland. However, a market for leasing virtual real estate is beginning to take shape, creating a new source of income for metaversian landowners. Brands like Mastercard and Heineken have long been able to rent Decentraland plots via third parties for one-off events or product showcases, but in December the platform released tools to allow anyone to rent virtual land. The objective is to democratize access to the virtual world, says Nico Rajco, who led development of the feature for Decentraland. Everybody benefits, he says, because renting gives new users an ideal "jumping-off point" and landowners can earn a passive income. But the new system is also changing the social fabric, dividing people into haves and have-nots.
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