NFT game Upland announced end of 2021 that their fiat out program is going into a new beta phase, where everyone is allowed into the USD program. Time to do a little explainer on how to get those $$$ in your hand! Especially because Upland is a bit unlike other NFT games, as they are not affected by the fluctuations of the crypto market. That is why I wrote this article, to give an introduction into how getting USD works.
Upland is a metaverse, mapped out on the real world, with virtual real estate and other NFTs who are traded for in game token UPX. So the way to earn money here is to buy and sell digital real estate! There are lots of other features implemented here that create different revenue streams too (for instance the NFLPA legits, American Football NFT cards, or later this year maybe the introduction of having cars within the metaverse). And end of 2021, Upland announced NFT-to-USD Beta, the phase where everyone can sell properties (and in the future other NFTs in the game) for US Dollars. I will explain what this program entails, how this feature expanded and what steps you need to take to use this yourself now.
In this article you will find:
- What is NFT-to-USD
- History Upland USD Program
- I want to sell for USD, how do I do that?
- Limitations to the Program
What is NFT-to-USD
The NFT-to-USD Program in Upland is a feature that makes it possible for players to sell their Upland properties for US Dollars, also known as Fiat Out. Why this is such a big deal in the game, is that it transforms Upland in a real play to earn game. UPX is the in game token of Upland, but that is an in game token only (why? It's all in their white paper). You can buy UPX with dollars (or crypto), but you can't sell it. What you can do because of the NFT-to-USD program, is buy NFTs like Upland properties for UPX, and then sell those for dollars. A lot of "regular" games have the feature to buy in game items (think of skins or special items), but in this case you are able to sell those for money to use out in the "real" world. Earnings in game can become real life earnings.
As of 2021, Upland players earned over $1.8 million through this program. But the excitement is not purely in these numbers (because all $ earned comes out of someone else's pocket), the excitement is in the Upland economy getting into maturity with this feature by connecting to the real world. Combining that with the current hype of NFTs, blockchain games and interest in metaverses, fiat out is an essential feature for Upland that has now became available for all players.
History Upland USD Program
May 2020: Partnership with Tilia
The first big step into the USD program of this NFT game was the partnership with Tilia, a payment provider for virtual world platforms, as they did for Second Life. Tilia is handling the financial structure of the Upland USD Program. It is a licensed money transmitter in the US.
October 2020: Closed Alpha
In October last year Upland went into Closed Alpha. Meaning that a select group of 30 players were selected to try out the Property-to-USD program. They were allowed to sell their properties for USD. This was a very exciting moment as this was the very first blockchain metaverse that connected through the real world economy by having this feature live.
July 2021: Closed Beta
After more than half a year the initial testing was complete and Upland started expanding this feature to 100 players to the program, and after that slowly more and more players who applied for the program.
November 2021: Open Beta
And end of 2021 it was finally time to let everyone in on it! Starting November 2021, every player who levels up from visitor to Uplander will automatically be part of the Open Beta program. That means you will see the USD feature when you want to sell a property. The name of the program changed from Property-to-USD to NFT-to-USD, so we expect the possibility to sell other Upland NFTs like ornaments and block explorers to become part of this program soon. But at the moment we focus on selling properties for USD first. There are still some steps to take to get fully approved, but no more traveling to City Hall in game! Continue reading to find out how to sell for USD.
I want to sell for USD, how do I do that?
Good thing about Upland, you don't need intricate Metamask syncing, paying high gas fees, or other difficult set ups to be able to earn USD. The biggest difference with other NFT games is that the Upland token (UPX) is an in-game token only. The annoying part about it, is that you won't be able to trade UPX for USD directly, but the good thing is that UPX is very stable. When the whole crypto market does a bear run downwards, UPX is not affected at all. This keeps the Upland economy way more predictable and less pegged to outside influences. But you are here because you wan't to know how to get that USD back in your hand! You do that not by selling UPX, but by selling properties! You buy Upland properties for UPX, and sell those properties for USD (paid out to your Paypal account). You don't need to set up a wallet, you only need a Paypal account + get verified for fiat out in Upland.
These are the steps for the USD sale verification:
I am a new player:
Step 1: get to Uplander (or above)
If you didn't start playing Upland, start doing some research first to find out more about this. It is not a get-rich-quick type of game, you will need to put in some effort to get into it. Some people are free to play, but you will need to do some grinding if you are not putting in some $ yourself. Becaus that is the easiest way to level up to Uplander: put in $5+. I wrote this article about beginners mistakes for players who want to get to Uplander F2P, so if you haven't started yet you might want to read that first (also some interesting tips for players who do invest). If you are looking for a referral link, this is mine (we both get a bonus from Upland on top of the first upx you buy). Best tip is to head over to the official Upland Discord server, if you want to become better at flipping in this virtual real estate game and have more questions apart from the USD program.
Once you become an Uplander, you can continue with step 2.
Step 2: KYC
Now click on one of your properties and click on the sell button: 
If everything is correct, you will now see the option to sell for US DOLLARS (if not, please read below at "I already had an Upland account, but I am not able to sell for USD yet"): 
Click on US Dollars and you will move into Tilia's KYC (Know Your Customer) environment. You will need to provide information like the country you are in, your ID, and other information that you usually have to provide to apply for financial payout providers. It will automatically show you the USA form, but if you are from another country there is a link (tiny letters below on the form) that will take you to the international form. The selling for dollars option is available for almost all countries.
It can take a couple of days to get verified, so I would advise doing this already even if you are not wanting to sell for dollars yet. If it takes longer than 2 weeks to pass the KYC, you might want to contact support ([email protected]).
Step 3: Sell your property for USD
Once you are verified it is time to sell! There are some limitations to which properties you can sell when (see limitations further down in this article), but other than that, selling is pretty easy. Just click on your property, again click on the sell button, click on the US DOLLARS option and fill in the amount that you want to sell for. As you can see, this automatically deducts a fee of 5% when putting up for sale. The buyer also has to pay a fee of 5% to Upland.
WARNING: double check if you clicked $ and not UPX, as you don't want to undersell your property by accidentally selling for UPX.
As for deciding what price to sell your property for, it totally depends on the current market, the location of the property, the mint price of the property, collection or not, and other factors. I am not going to give any financial advice, I would just advice you to DYOR into the current market and pick a price point that seems good to you.
Usually USD prices are roughly 20% lower than the current UPX market value, to attract buyers to buy it. Thats why using the fiat out option right at the beginning might not be the most profitable way. Most players decide to let their account grow with UPX flips first, and then cash out as efficient as possible. So you might want to consider that and don't go for USD sales right at the start. But just to give you an idea: properties that are minted for 6,000upx a year ago in Manhattan, are now being sold for 180,000upx or $160 (the cheapest Manhattan properties for sale while writing this article). With some smart trading, you can flip for profit in a way shorter timeframe. On top of that you receive 14.7% interest (subjective to change) paid out in upx on all properties you hold, with ways to boost this through holding collections. A small tip is to join the Upland Discord, to learn more about the economy to be able to get the most out of your trading.
Step 4: Cash out
Once someone buys your property for USD, you can see your USD balance in your Upland profile (go to the menu in game, and open your profile). There you can also click on "withdraw" to take your fiat out of the game. This will send it to your Paypal account, after deducting a 5% fee. Enjoy your USD!
I already had an Upland account, but I am not able to sell for USD yet:
If you already had Uplander status or above before the program went into Open Beta, it could be that you were not admitted into the USD program automatically yet. They will start rolling this out slowly for players who weren't approved before. What you can do in that case is:
Fill in this application form: https://forms.gle/qgzhLY37qLKZFD598
Wait. It could take a couple of days or even weeks. Keep an eye out for a confirmation email, and check now and then if you see the $ feature show up when you open your account. When you see that, continue with step 2 of the plan above.
Limitations
There are some limitations, that might change over time. This is probably the "beta" part of this program, as Upland states:
Agreement to the terms affirms that the player understands that this program is in Beta. This means that service is susceptible to interruption and certain mechanics and restrictions are subject to change.
The limitations at the moment of writing (January 2022) are:
- Players can sell up to 20 properties at a time with a $10,000 maximum on individual transactions (this will be adjusted soon, expected somewhere this year).
- Players will be unable to purchase properties worth more than $100 until their account has been active for at least 14 days.
- Properties are unable to be sold via Property-to-USD for a fixed period following the acquisition of the property (through either minting or secondary marketplace purchase.) See below for restrictions by Upland Status.
- Uplander: 30 Days
- Pro: 14 Days
- Director: 7 Days
- Executive & Chief Executive: 3 Days
- Players from the following countries will be unable to withdraw funds via PayPal: Ukraine, Greece & Lebanon. People from Iran are also unable to withdraw funds through PayPal. Also people who are unable to use PayPal for other reasons, cannot cash out as of this moment. Maybe this will change in the future, but other ways to cash out are not on the roadmap as of this moment.
