For a very long time, many people have been questioning the real use cases of dApps (decentralized applications). Many people feel that the majority of dApps are only useful for crypto traders and gamblers. And without mainstream adoption outside these small niches, it would be hard to analyze what the future of dApp platforms is. 

Decentraland is a quite different project compared to most other dApps. Decentraland is a virtual reality platform that is powered by Ethereum. It tries to bring the non-crypto community to the world of blockchain by creating an attractive virtual reality world that utilizes the power of cryptocurrencies. 

So, how successful Decentraland will be, and is it worth it to invest in its native cryptocurrency called MANA? Let’s find out together!

Decentraland - Summary

Unlike most altcoin projects out there, Decentraland is not trying to compete with Ethereum or other dApp platforms. It actually utilizes Ethereum to create a blockchain-based VR (virtual reality) ecosystem. 

And because it’s powered by blockchain, the digital assets inside this VR world is fully owned by the community. For easier explanation, imagine a world like Minecraft or Second Life, but it utilizes the technology of blockchain, and the digital assets inside the world are decentralized. That’s Decentraland.

The underlying technology under Decentraland has three layers. The first one is the Consensus layer, where they use it to track and analyze land ownership and content through the power of the smart contract.

Then, we have a second layer, which is basically the layer for the land content. With this second layer, they implement a decentralized system to distribute content and render the Decentraland world. The third and last layer is called Real-time layer, which is needed for the community to interact with each other P2P.

The core developers of Decentraland use A-frame to build the ecosystem. The community can also create model units in the Decentraland world by using Blender or SketchUp.

In-game screenshot of Decentraland - image source

The economy of Decentraland is controlled by the native cryptocurrency of this platform called MANA. Yes, you need to use MANA every time you want to buy plots of LAND (the spaces that you can interact with). The hope is that there will be an appreciation of MANA price when Decentraland becomes more popular.

Analyzing Decentraland Team

Before we can understand whether it’s worth it to invest in one crypto token or not, we need to analyze the team behind the project. Why? Because, more often than not, investing in a crypto token means investing in the team’s promises. And in this case, the ones responsible for the progress of the project are the core team members themselves.

So, how about the Decentraland team? Well, the two biggest influences in the Decentraland team are Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano.

The faces of Decentraland team - image source 

Ariel Meilich acts as the Project Lead. He used to work at Charles River Ventures, one of the venture fund leaders in Silicon Valley. His position was an Analyst there. Ariel was also the founder of Benchrise, a company that utilizes Big Data to help tech-based companies to find software engineers.

Prior to his time with the tech world, Ariel was a neuroscience researcher on human decision-making at the National Institute of Health, and he was also the BPO agency that tried to serve big clients like General Electric and Amazon.

The second big name in the team is Esteban Ardano, who acts as the Tech Lead of the project. He was the co-founder of Zeppelin Solutions, a smart contract security company, and the team leader of Streamium, a payment channels implementation application that contributed to the advancement of scaling blockchain payments technology.

Esteban was also the software engineer at BitPay, a Bitcoin payment processor, and one of the most influential individuals behind Bitcore, the leading Bitcoin infrastructure libraries. It’s claimed that Copay and Insight were also developed by Esteban with the help of other developers. Copay is a bitcoin wallet application, while Insight is a bitcoin blockchain API.

Esteban spent almost his entire career with technology and software development. It’s believed he was the Tech Lead at Monits, a software company based in Argentina that was later acquired by a popular marketplace MercadoLibre. 

And not only that, Esteban was also the co-founder of Voltaire, a hackerspace that’s focused on blockchain in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Then, we have Manuel Araoz, a board member of the Decentraland team. Manuel was actually the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Zeppelin Solutions. He also claimed that he was the initiator of Proof of Existence, which was the first non-financial app that operates directly on the blockchain.

Manuel spent a lot of time together with Esteban during his time as Tech Lead at Bitpay, Insight, and Copay. And yes, Manuel was also the co-founder of Voltaire alongside Esteban.

The fourth big name in the team is Yemel Jardi. He’s known as a veteran in the world of blockchain development. He was known for his work at ChangeTip, which is a micropayment infrastructure service before ChangeTip was then bought by Airbnb. He also spent some time as a software engineer at BitPay.

Until today, Yemel Jardi is still a Professor in the field of Cryptocurrencies at the Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires. He also acts as the Chairman of the South American Business Forum. And just like his other friends that I have written above, Yemel was the co-founder of Voltaire.

Apart from the core team members, Decentraland has different advisors who are big names in the crypto space. They are the Project Lead at Aragon, Luis Cuende, the founder of CoinFund, Jake Brukhman, and InBlockchain founder, XiaoLai Li.

Based on all these veteran names, I say the Decentraland team is pretty capable, and they know what they are doing. A big positive point compared to many other altcoin projects.

Use Cases Of MANA Token

The symbol of MANA

Of course, before we understand the investment potential of a crypto token, we need to know the exact use cases of the same token. After all, we want to invest in that same token, right?

So, how about MANA, the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland? Well, MANA is used to buy plots of LAND. Basically, LAND are the spaces that you can interact within the Decentraland ecosystem. LAND are non-fungible digital assets where you can do anything you want with it. For example, after you purchase plots of LAND, you can build apps on top of it, or gambling places, or mini-tourism sites, or whatever you want.

And yes, once again, to buy plots of LAND, you need to use MANA tokens. When the community uses their MANA to purchase LAND, the Decentraland system will automatically burn the MANA tokens that the community has used. This system was built-in like this to help MANA token gets a higher price when the platform has more users as well.

If Decentraland becomes much more successful than today, MANA token price can easily go up due to the natural demand to buy plots of LAND.

Partnerships

There’s a long list of partnerships among Decentraland and other crypto projects. One of the biggest ones was the partnership announcement with Binance, where it allowed BNB (Binance Chain’s native cryptocurrency) to be used on LAND auction. 

The partnership with Binance was seen as a huge win for Decentraland

Then, we have Decentraland’s partnership with RCN to launch LAND mortgages directly on the blockchain. For your information, RCN is an Ethereum-based P2P credit network that uses smart contracts and RCN crypto token to connect lenders and borrowers regardless of country and currency.

Next, Decentraland also partnered with Status (SNT) to allow the usage of SNT token on LAND auction. The partnership was similar to the Decentraland/Binance partnership.

And on December 27, 2018, Tokenomia announced its partnership with Decentraland where they would activate and accelerate blockchain projects together. Tokenomia also made a promise to support Decentraland developer communities.

A few months prior to that, specifically on July 23, 2018, Decentraland collaborated with Next Reality Partners, a South Korean Government-sponsored accelerator program. The partnership was about blockchain gaming adoption in South Korea.

Of course, in order to attract users, Decentraland understands it needs to attract game developers as its partners as well. The gaming development partnership was done with Anomica Brands, where it was claimed that Anomica Brands were co-developing two games to be built on top of Decentraland VR platform. 

Before Anomica Brads, Decentraland also made games development partnership with Barunson Co. Ltd. And then, we have Qwellcode’s famous game, Chainbreakers, which was built exclusively on Decentraland.

And last but not least, in May 2019, Decentraland successfully announced yet another game developing partnership with Dapper Labs, the team behind CryptoKitties. The goal was to bring crypto-collectibles into the Decentraland world.

And the team did not stop at the gaming development partnership. By February 2019, Decentraland team also announced that they would debut on HTC Exodus 1, the blockchain-based HTC smartphone that was constantly hyped back in 2019.

HTC Exodus was hyped in 2019 and Decentraland partnered with them - image source

Potential Roadblocks

Decentraland is the front-runner in this industry. Even if Decentraland has competition in the blockchain-powered virtual reality world, it will take a long time before they can become as “relevant” as Decentraland.

However, just because Decentraland is the front-runner in its niche, doesn’t mean it does not have any potential roadblocks for its future. Well, Decentraland is competing in a very new niche. 

Virtual reality world hasn’t really taken off, and blockchain-based virtual reality world might need years before gamers and computer enthusiasts will ever consider it seriously. Basically, the biggest roadblock for Decentraland’s future is its own niche.

If this type of niche becomes popular in the future, for sure, Decentraland will become much bigger than today. But, again, it’s a “What If” scenario.

External Factor And MANA Price

So, we have learned all the important factors that can affect MANA price. But is it enough? Unfortunately, it is not. When it comes to altcoin prices, usually, there are two big external factors that you need to consider. The first one is Bitcoin price, and the second one is Bitcoin market dominance.

Well, the crypto world works like this. When Bitcoin enters an uptrend, altcoin prices go up as well. When Bitcoin enters a downtrend, altcoin prices often go down as well. MANA won’t be an exception, in my opinion.

So, how about Bitcoin price? Well, it’s 2020 already, and many analysts predict Bitcoin price will go up following the mining reward halving event somewhere in the middle of the year. If that prediction comes true, MANA price might go up as well.

However, some other analysts believe the halving event won’t affect BTC price, and many whales will short Bitcoin this year. And in this scenario, MANA price might go down significantly.

Either way, you need to pay attention to Bitcoin price action, as it will (most likely) affect MANA price. 

Also, you need to analyze Bitcoin market dominance against altcoins. In late 2017, many whales chose to dump Bitcoin to pump altcoins. When another altseason happens in the future, there will be a big chance that MANA price will pump significantly although Bitcoin price doesn’t go up. However, it’s hard to predict when exactly the next altseason will happen.

Conclusion

Decentraland is a unique project with a very capable team and strong partnerships. Due to all of these factors, MANA is actually a good long-term investment compared to many other altcoins out there. That being said, there are external factors (such as Bitcoin price action) that you need to consider if you want to invest in a crypto token. Stay safe!