Virtual Land Sales Take a Plunge Amid Broader Crypto Downturn

Virtual real estate is seeing a crash of its own as prices of land in various metaverses, as well as sales volumes, have plunged to the lowest levels in months – amid a broader crypto downturn that has seen around USD 2trn wiped from the crypto market capitalization.

According to a dashboard tracking metaverse sales by Dune Analytics, an open-source data provider, almost all projects have seen a significant drop in the sales volumes and average prices of their virtual land.

Decentraland, The Sandbox, and NFT Worlds, three of the largest projects, marked their worst performance so far this year in July.

The average price of virtual land in Decentraland dropped to its lowest level in the past 24 months, plunging to around USD 4,006 in the past month. In comparison, the average price of land here was around USD 17,736 in July 2020.

Similarly, the average price of land in The Sandbox has dropped significantly compared to January 2022’s high of USD 6,291, plunging to USD 3,377 in July. NFT Worlds has taken an even harder hit, with its average price dropping to USD 2,328 in July this year, down from March’s high of USD 18,095.

These projects have also seen a significant plunge in sales volume. In July, Decentraland registered around USD 1.6m in sales, the lowest in the past 24 months. In comparison, the metaverse reported more than USD 10m in sales volume in the first month of the year.

The Sandbox also posted its worst sales in more than 16 months, which dropped to around USD 2.86m in July, compared to November 2021’s high of over USD 65m.

The slump comes after a major boom in prices of virtual land that started in late 2020 and continued all the way to earlier this year. According to a report by CNBC, sales of virtual land exceeded USD 500m last year, and topped USD 85m in January 2022 alone.

The virtual land price meltdown in the metaverse should not come as a surprise given that the broader crypto market, as well as the real-world economy, has been battered due to the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, among other reasons.

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