Somebody did that in December, Decrypt reports, as the famous rapper was selling a “parcel” in the Snoopverse, which is the metaverse that he built in the Sandbox platform, where he plans to host events and has built a virtual replica of his house.

Parcels of metaverse real estate near other celebrities are selling at premium prices too. In January alone, sales of metaverse real estate topped $85 million, according to MetaMetric Solutions.

A report from BrandEssence Market research shows that between 2022 and 2028, the metaverse real estate market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 31%. Before you go ahead and purchase, here’s the lay of the land.

When you buy a plot of virtual real estate, you get a non-fungible token representing, essentially, digital space. After you create an account in one of the metaverse platforms, you can use your crypto to purchase land either through a land sale of a project or directly from landowners. Land can be bought through bidding or at a fixed price, and once it is yours you can build your own plot of real estate in the metaverse—be it a digital house, tower, museum, or the like. Or you can sell it in a secondary market.

There are four major platforms that you should know, which collectively have a total of 268,645 parcels.

The Sandbox

What started as an online video game in 2012 transformed into a metaverse platform in November 2021. In real estate, it’s the largest metaverse platform, owning 62% of available metaverse land, equivalent to 166,464 evenly divided parcels. The metaverse real estate market can fluctuate in value just as much as the real-world one. In January 2022, a parcel of land was worth $14,099, a jump in value from $12,700 just a month before. Land can be bought using SAND currency available on Binance or can be acquired through auctions. Its currency is $SAND, which is equivalent to $2.80, according to Analytics India Mag.

Decentraland

Decentraland was founded in 2015 as an open-source 3D world. Its parcels sell for $14,440 each and its cryptocurrency is $MANA, which, as of Jan. 11, went for $4.40 apiece. It is one of the oldest metaverse platforms and had 90,600 equally divided parcels as of January 2022. Land, however, is limited and only the community can create more of it.

Cryptovoxels

The smallest of the virtual blockchain worlds, Cryptovoxels originally consisted of only 3,026 parcels. Prices per parcel vary and are sold through OpenSea, the leading marketplace for NFTs. They can be acquired in USD or ETH. While it isn’t currently the largest metaverse, it keeps on expanding, according to Metaverse Property, the world’s first virtual real estate company. 

Somnium 

First made available to the public in September 2018, Somnium had 5,000 unevenly divided land parcels in January 2022. However, it releases more land every once in a while. The space is used for VR, PC, and web. The currency is $CUBE and is the equivalent to 7.19 USD as of Jan. 11, 2022.

The big debate

Investors and companies alike are rushing to try to uncover what the next big city hub will be on the metaverse, which is why location might be important. 

Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Tokens.com, has spent $2.4 million in land in Decentraland’s fashion district. He has also said that he will be renting part of the acquired space to apparel brands for storefront experiences. He sees the opportunity in metaverse land to be most fruitful if used for commercial purposes such as renting the space and hosting events. Janine Yorio from Republic Realm has a similar view and predicts that what will determine the value of the land is not what owners build but the functionality of it. So building a museum or popular attraction might bring prices up in the area.

Another celebrity who is also investing heavily in the metaverse is Paris Hilton, who has created a virtual island on Roblox and played an electronic set for the revelers last New Year’s. Other brands and celebrities endorsing the metaverse include Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, and Reese Witherspoon.

However, on the other hand, there is the argument that location doesn’t really matter. After all, the whole point of the metaverse is that you can teletransport anywhere, which makes some investors question the true value of the land. Some even believe this could all eventually become worthless, arguing that unlike on earth, where land is limited, the metaverse is infinite, making location not as important. 

So while the idea of buying land or real estate in the metaverse and potentially living next to or in proximity to your favorite celebrity sounds tempting, think twice before you drop (your money) like it’s hot.