DECENTRALAND

Decentraland is a decentralized virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Within the Decentraland platform, users can create, experience, and monetize content and applications. The native cryptocurrency of Decentraland, MANA, facilitates various transactions within this virtual world, including the purchase of land parcels, payment for goods and services, and other governance activities.

History

Decentraland was first described in a white paper that was published in March 2017 by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano. The project sought to create a virtual reality platform on the blockchain where users could both create and monetize their content and applications. The Decentraland ICO (Initial Coin Offering) was held in August 2017, raising approximately $24 million in less than a minute, with the total supply of MANA tokens capped at 2.6 billion.

What is Decentraland?

Decentraland represents a virtual reality world where users can buy and sell digital real estate, while exploring, interacting, and playing games within this digital universe. The platform leverages the Ethereum blockchain to track the ownership of the digital land through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital assets that represent ownership of a specific piece of virtual land called LAND.

How does Decentraland work?

The Decentraland application is built to track real estate parcels defined by LAND tokens.  The software leverages the Ethereum blockchain to track ownership of this digital land, and it requires users to hold its MANA token within an Ethereum wallet to engage with its ecosystem.

Further, developers are free to innovate within Decentraland’s platform by designing the animation and interactions experienced on their virtual real estate.

Architecture

Decentraland has many layered components built using Ethereum smart contracts.

The consensus layer maintains a ledger that tracks the ownership of land parcels. Each parcel of LAND has a unique coordinate in the virtual world, an owner and a reference to a description file representing the content within the parcel.

The content layer controls what happens within each parcel, and includes various files required to render them:

• Content Files – referencing all static audio and visuals
• Script Files – defining the placement and behaviour of the referenced content
• Interaction Definition – peer-to-peer interactions such as gesturing, voice chat, and messaging.

Finally, the real-time layer facilitates social interactions within Decentraland through user avatars, including voice chat and messaging.

Tokenomics

• Total Supply: The total supply of MANA is fixed at 2.6 billion tokens.
• Distribution: Initial distribution of MANA was conducted during the 2017 ICO with 40% sold to the public. The remaining 60% was allocated towards community incentives, the Decentraland team and advisors, and the Decentraland Foundation.

 

“Decentraland represents a virtual reality world where users can buy and sell digital real estate,
while exploring, interacting, and playing games within this digital universe

• Inflation: There is no inflation; the total supply of MANA is fixed.

 

Token Utility

MANA serves several purposes within Decentraland. It is used to purchase LAND parcels and to participate in the platform’s governance by voting on policy updates and other decisions. MANA is also the currency for transactions on the Decentraland marketplace, where users can trade virtual goods, services, and content.

The primary use case of Decentraland revolves around its digital real estate market. Users can develop their parcels of LAND by building a variety of experiences ranging from simple 3D scenes to complex interactive applications and games.

Shariah Opinion

Decentraland and MANA token do not add any real-world value or benefit. In fact, data shows that the users of this platform are extremely small. Therefore, such a platform and token should be avoided as it does not qualify under Shariah principles as a valid asset nor a valid service.

Conclusion

Decentraland and MANA token do not add any real-world value or benefit. In fact, data shows that the users of this platform are extremely small. Therefore, such a platform and token should be avoided as it does not qualify under Shariah principles as a valid asset nor a valid service.

 

*Attention is drawn to the term ‘Sharia’ and ‘Sharia compliant’ and its interpretation thereof as expressed in the following link https://shariyah.net/glossary/