Blockchain protocol Boson has purchased a $704,000 plot in Decentraland to establish a virtual mall, according to Decrypt.
The retail space will allow players of Decentraland’s browser-based game to purchase digital assets they can then exchange for physical goods and services.
The purchase price represents the largest ever for a plot in Decentraland’s virtual world. Boson’s mall will allow some of the world’s best-known brands to sell their products in the virtual retail space.
For example, someone who purchases a handbag or pair of shoes as a non-fungible token (NFT) can exchange it for the real thing. Boson, which provides decentralized infrastructure via its blockchain protocol, hopes to attract users from other Decentraland communities.
Boson raised $10 million over multiple funding rounds from 2019 to 2021. It raised nearly $26 million from a public token sale earlier this year. (One of its investors is CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group.)
Decentraland is an Ethereum-based virtual reality blockchain platform where users can purchase, build and monetize applications. In its 3D world, users use tokens to interact with the platform and purchase virtual land, goods and services. It is divided into a limited number of parcels known as LAND (represented by a non-fungible ERC721 token), which can be purchased with MANA, an ERC20 token.
The company had its initial coin offering in 2017, raising about $24 million in bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Decentraland’s commerce landscape is quickly evolving. Last week, Sotheby’s Auction House established a virtual duplicate of its London galleries on Decentraland. The digital space allows for artists to sell their unique NFTs to Decentraland players.