How To Buy Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland is a decentralized virtual world you can access on a web browser. This virtual world is called a “metaverse” and consists of 3D land plots that can be purchased with the native MANA cryptocurrency. Land ownership comes in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Users can also develop their own plots of land on the Decentraland platform.

The platform operates on the Ethereum blockchain so asset ownership is controlled by smart contracts on Ethereum, as well as any transaction that takes place in the Decentraland Metaverse.

Although individual users can own individual plots of land, the overall metaverse is owned by the MANA token holders as it is a decentralized ecosystem. This makes Decentraland a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

Transaction volume on the network is what gives the MANA token its value since it is used as the payment tender on the platform, just like the national currency of a country.

You can now buy MANA tokens on CEX.IO with your credit or debit card. Read further to learn how to buy Decentraland cryptocurrency on the CEX.IO exchange.

What is the Decentraland (MANA) token?

MANA is Decentraland’s native cryptocurrency that is used in land purchases. During these transactions, MANA payments are burnt on the Ethereum blockchain to create non-fungible LAND tokens in return. Buyers receive these LAND NFTs, which serve as deeds for land ownership in the Decentraland metaverse.

MANA is an ERC-20 token, a generic digital token type that lives on the Ethereum network.

The more transaction value happens on the network, the more MANA tokens are removed from circulation. This suggests that rising land prices in the Decentraland metaverse could likely create a higher level of scarcity for the token.

The MANA token does not only function as a digital payment currency but also provides each holder with voting power in the Decentraland DAO. Each MANA represents one vote in governance proposals.

MANA’s current supply in circulation is 1.84 billion tokens while its total supply is 2.19 billion tokens.

How does Decentraland work?

As discussed, you need the MANA token to purchase or develop LAND on the Decentraland metaverse.

How large is the Decentraland metaverse?

To add further scarcity to the Decentraland ecosystem, land plots are limited and divided into a total of 90,601 individual parcels of LAND. Each LAND is represented by an ERC-721 non-fungible token.

What is the size of each LAND?

Each LAND measures exactly 16 x 16 meters (256 square meters) and can be found at a particular coordinate in the Metaverse. When you buy virtual land with the MANA token, you in return get a LAND NFT as the deed of ownership for your property.

How much is LAND?

As of July 2022, the cheapest land plot in the game (a 16 x 16-meter plot) sells for around 4,000 MANA – the equivalent of $3,200. However, large parcels located in prime locations of the Metaverse can fetch up to 6-figures. In fact, there have been many million-dollar LAND purchases during the peak of the 2021 bull market.

What can you do with LAND?

While there is a limit to the amount of land you can buy on Decentraland, there is no limit to the height of what you can build on these land parcels. You can build anything you like from a skyscraper to a virtual farm, from an entire virtual town to a specific activity area.

Decentraland also enables LAND owners to create visual applications, games, creative 3D scenes, informative sites, etc, and locate them on the things they build on their land plots. Anything you dream of, you can develop on top of these LAND parcels.

Source: Decentraland.org

Decentraland also has a marketplace (Decentraland Marketplace) where people exchange avatars, wearables, names, and digital accessories that they design or buy from someone else. MANA is also used as the payment tender on the Decentraland Marketplace.

Governance of the DAO

The amount of land a person owns (in the form of LAND NFTs) determines their voting power. Holding MANA tokens also give the right to participate in the Decentraland DAO’s governance.

To participate in DAO governance, users need to convert their MANA tokens into wrapped MANA (wMANA) and lock them in the DAO. Each wMANA represents one vote in governance proposals.

Anyone with voting power can vote on various regional issues that happen in the Metaverse, as well as vote on major topics like the DAO treasury’s funding and investment decisions.

Why do people buy MANA?

Virtual real estate in decentralized metaverses has been a burgeoning field since 2021. Many people believe that virtual real estate agency will become a popular profession in the future and want to join this space early by investing in projects like Decentraland (MANA).

Since 2021, many major companies and fashion brands have bought virtual properties in Decentraland to promote their products and services in this new, digital world. Samsung’s buying land to open a virtual store, Sotheby’s opening of a virtual gallery, and the launch of The Luxury Fashion District in Decentraland with partners like Dolce & Gabbana, Etro, and Elie Saab all hint at the possible potential of the virtual real estate industry.

View of the virtual Samsung store in Decentraland. Source: The Crypto Times

Metaverse Fashion Week in Decentraland. Source: The Industry Fashion

Considering the limited amount of land in Decentraland (90,601 16x16 meter parcels), people believing in this project’s potential have so far rushed to buy LAND NFTs which required a substantial MANA token purchase.

The Decentraland team

Decentraland was co-founded by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano in 2015.

Ariel was the Project Lead at Decentraland between 2017 and 2020 while Esteban was the Technology Lead during the same period. The project also got contributions from many renowned tech professionals like Chris Burniske from ARK Invest, Michael Bosworth from Google, Simon de la Rouviere from ConsenSys, and Jesse Walden from Mediachain/Spotify.

Although Ariel and Estaban are no longer leading the project, the development of Decentraland is still ongoing, with efforts being directed by the recently established Decentraland Foundation.

History and development of Decentraland

Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano gathered together and started working on the project in 2015. The company raised $26 million in its initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017.

With the proceeds from the ICO, the company started creating virtual world models and designing land textures on the Ethereum blockchain. They also integrated the blockchain as a platform to create decentralized applications for Decentraland.

The Decentraland metaverse was developed in multiple stages, which mimic the World’s history. For example, it similarly started with the Stone age in 2015. That is the period when the development team developed and tested the proof of ownership for the LAND non-fungible tokens.

The team specifically created 2D pixel grids for the land plots. Each pixel contained metadata that helped to identify its owner. The metadata also detailed the color of the land pixel. After mining a block on the blockchain, a user would be rewarded with a pixel at a specific coordinate recorded in the block’s template.

A visual representation of pixel land in the Stone Age. Source: Medium

In 2016, the Bronze age started, which was a virtual world divided into multiple land parcels.

Decentraland is currently in its Iron Age which enables the community to experience land ownership and monetize the content they create by exchanging on the Decentraland Marketplace.

Where to buy MANA?

You can conveniently buy MANA on CEX.IO in U.S. Dollar terms using a credit or debit card. On CEX.IO, you can also buy Bitcoin with a credit card, buy Ethereum with a credit card, as well as receive crypto staking services for your cryptocurrency assets.

How to buy Decentraland with a credit/debit card

You can buy Decentraland tokens with your credit/debit card using the CEX.IO Instant Buy service. CEX.IO Instant Buy offers one of the easiest ways to buy & sell crypto.

To do that, first, you need to link a card under your name to your CEX.IO account.

Your account must be verified to buy and sell assets on CEX.IO. If you have not yet verified your CEX.IO account, you need to click on the Verification button under the Profile dropdown menu, which is located at the top right corner of your homepage.

In the first step of the account verification process, you need to indicate your country of residence. If you’re a U.S. resident, also indicate the state, county, and your social security number (SSN).

Then, on the next page, you need to submit a proof of identity document - with a photo of you in the document, a selfie taken with it, and identity document details (serial number, date of issue, issuing country, expiration date).

Within an hour of applying for identity verification, you will receive a confirmation email regarding the outcome of the verification.

You are ready to link your credit/debit card as soon as your account is verified.

To link your card, you click on the Cards button at the top of your CEX.IO homepage.

On the next page, enter the number, expiry date, and CVV code for your card. After you click on the Proceed button down below, your card gets linked to your account immediately.

CEX.IO accepts Visa and Mastercard credit/debit cards.

If you would like to check the live Decentraland token prices before you make a purchase, as well as check other cryptocurrency prices listed on CEX.IO, you can go to our Bitcoin calculator.

In the list below, you will find how to buy Decentraland coins using the Instant Buy service.

Click on the Spot Trading button on the top left corner of your homepage, right next to the CEX.IO logo. In the dropdown menu that pops out, click on Instant Buy under the For Everyone list.
After you click on the Instant Buy button, the screen below will open. The default choice is buying Bitcoin with Visa or Mastercard, but there is a dropdown menu to choose MANA. Find MANA in this dropdown menu, boxed in red in the image below.View of the Instant Buy opening page
Once you select MANA from the left dropdown menu, you can buy Decentraland in the USD currency, located on the right dropdown menu.
Considering this, CEX.IO Instant Buy can be one of the best ways to buy MANA in the U.S.
After you choose the quote fiat currency that you want to buy MANA with, select your purchase amount. There are several predetermined amounts that you can click and buy immediately, such as $200, $500, and $1,000.
If you would like to purchase a different amount, click on the box to the right, Your Amount, and enter either the amount of MANA you want to buy or its fiat currency equivalent.
View of the MANA Instant Buy page
Click on the Buy button to finalize your Decentraland purchase.

The Instant Buy service also makes it very easy to directly convert BTC to USD so that you would not need to sell Bitcoin on a regular spot exchange.

How to store MANA tokens

Once you purchase MANA tokens, you can either opt to keep them in your CEX.IO exchange account or move them to a crypto & Bitcoin wallet.

CEX.IO Wallet is a self-custody crypto wallet that allows you to store a wide range of popular cryptocurrencies. On the Wallet, you can conveniently keep track of your cryptocurrency holdings, whether on a mobile device (iOS, Android) or on the Web.

Since it is a non-custodial wallet, you always stay in control of your funds and there is 24/7 support available for your questions and inquiries.