Decentraland is a virtual,3D world built on the Ethereum blockchain, owned entirely by its users, in a true decentralized manner. The platform offers a fixed 90,601 parcels of virtual real estate (LAND), which are NFTs that can be bought using the platform’s native token MANA. MANA is an ERC-20 token that is burned whenever users acquire the non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. Decentraland's native token can also be used for purchasing other collectibles within the marketplace, including avatars, wearables, names and more. 

The MANA token burst onto the scene in late 2021, following Facebook's decision to rebrand its firm as Meta, with a commitment to developing the metaverse. The concept of the metaverse, which Decentraland offers, shot to popularity, sending investors into a buying frenzy for LAND and MANA. As of late December 2021, Decentraland's MANA had surged by over 4,800% in the foregoing year, and it has risen by nearly 540% in the past three months alone. 

With more mainstream brands and celebrities looking to enter the metaverse, Decentraland is likely to see considerable interest in the coming months. The rush for LAND, of which there is a fixed and limited quantity available, is likely to keep the price of MANA supported and drive it higher, as the demand for the metaverse rises in the future. 

Decentraland Breakdown

MANA is the native token used within Decentraland's ecosystem, mainly to make purchases of its NFT, LAND. These are parcels of virtual real estate that users, businesses and celebrities purchase to develop their brands and engage with their community of fans in the metaverse. In addition to being used as currency to purchase LAND and other digital collectibles within the Decentraland marketplace, MANA holders also get to participate in the governance of the ecosystem by voting on policy updates, land auctions, subsidies on new developments and any other updates. 

In this regard, Decentraland functions as more than just an NFT marketplace. It has turned into a DAO by controlling the kind of content allowed to be developed within its metaverse. The ecosystem also allows LAND holders to generate revenue in MANA, by leasing, advertising or hosting paid experiences on their virtual real estate. Users can also leverage the marketplace to create and sell items in exchange for MANA tokens. 

As the demand for LAND and services on Decentraland goes up, it puts deflationary pressure on MANA, ensuring a higher burn rate, which drives up the MANA rate. On every transaction that takes place within Decentraland, the burn rate for MANA is fixed at 2.5%. In the original design, the developers behind this metaverse had plans to introduce inflation of 8% in MANA in the first year, which would gradually reduce with the passage of time. However, the inflation feature is currently disabled. 

Decentraland History

Co-founded by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano, Decentraland's origins can be traced back to 2017 when its ICO was launched, generating $24 million in funds for the team. The first LAND tokens introduced in the game, Genesis City, were auctioned in December 2017. A few months later, in March 2018, the Decentraland Marketplace made its debut, letting users buy and sell LAND in Genesis City. Its closed beta release took place in 2019, followed by the public launch in February 2020.

Decentraland enjoys the backing of several prominent investors, led by Animoca Brands. Other investors in the project include Boost VC, Digital Currency Group, Fabric Ventures, Fundamental Labs, HASHED, and more. 

The Decentralized Foundation, which is a non-profit organization, is tasked with fostering the decentralization efforts of this ecosystem. Free from the control of its founders, it ensures network neutrality by holding the property rights of Decentraland's IP, trademarks, web domains, open source repositories and social media accounts. 

Decentraland entered into a partnership with Animoca Brands in October 2018, to co-develop two games, swapping $500,000 worth of tokens and shares with each other. In June 2021, leading auction house Sotheby's set up a digital replica of its New Bond Street headquarters as a virtual gallery in Decentraland, showcasing digital artworks. 

Decentraland Price Factors

The price of MANA varies, based on the demand for Decentraland's parcels of LAND among users. Rising interest in the metaverse and the virtual world could result in a mad rush among businesses to purchase parcels of virtual real estate on metaverses, including Decentraland, which could favor the sentiment towards tokens such as MANA and keep its price high. On the other hand, a decline in interest in NFTs and the metaverse among crypto traders, investors and users  could drive a sell-off in MANA, and send its rate lower. 

Higher demand for LAND and an increase in transactions within the Decentraland marketplace for other digital collectibles increases the burn rate for MANA and sends its value higher. However, the MANA price could drop if fewer tokens are burned amid a drop in the number of transactions taking place. 

In addition to the demand for the metaverse, the Decentraland price could also be affected by the overarching market sentiment towards cryptocurrencies and digital assets in general. Negative sentiment on account of increased regulations could see investors move away from the asset class as a whole, sparking a sell-off. But, on the other hand, positive news of mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies in general and the metaverse concept specifically could drive up investor interest in MANA and send its price up. 

Trading Decentraland

In order to trade MANA successfully, it helps to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of the metaverse. Take a look at its history and adoption rate to understand how the demand for the technology could pan out in the future. You can base your buy/sell decisions in the MANA token, in line with this research. 

You can also spend some time getting to understand the world of NFTs and GameFi, as both play key roles in driving the demand for Decentraland and other metaverses. This will help you gauge how popular Decentraland could become as a marketplace or as an ecosystem supporting blockchain gaming projects. 

In addition to news related to the metaverse, NFTs and crypto gaming, keep an eye on all developments taking place in the wider crypto market, especially on the regulatory front. News about increased regulatory scrutiny plays a significant role in determining investor confidence in cryptocurrencies in general, and also towards MANA. 

Once you feel sufficiently confident about your research, your next step would be to look for a reliable crypto exchange or broker that offers the MANA token on its platform for trading. Register an account with the platform and convert your trading capital from fiat, so that you can purchase MANA. Perform fundamental and technical analyses regarding decisions to buy, hold or sell the metaverse token.