Joshua Parfitt
SPANISH real estate has just gone meta.
For between €2,000-€20,000 you can now buy up the ‘first’ plots of land in the Spanish-language metaverse known as Uttopion.
These exclusive ‘presale’ plots of land are said to come with ‘free houses’ in a virtual space that’s aimed at ‘connecting with friends’ through digital avatars.
“Our mission is to create an incredible virtual world to help Uttopians, metastreamers and brands connect with their communities in a virtual space that’s acquired like an NFT and can be totally personalised,” said Soraya Cadalso, cofounder of Uttopion.
Far from being a crackpot idea, the start-up was financed by the Lanzadera accelerator set up by Juan Roig, the owner of Mercadona of one of Spain’s richest people.
“We’re a hybrid metaverse, guaranteeing the property of our real estate owners through a blockchain,” Soraya, who appears only as a digital avatar on the Uttopion website, said.
“You can create a virtual replica of your business or idea and sell digital products, create virtual events with ticket sales o create unique experiences for your clients and fans.
“The possibilities are infinite.”
Uttopion has two very different spaces: one is Musichood, a space for events and businesses in the music industry; and the other is Sportsvilla, specialised for sports.
Currently 500 plots of land in each space are up for grabs.
Uttopion reportedly already has 1,000 requests for the total 1,000 pre-sale plots – though the pre-sale period is over, the sales have not yet been finalised.
The metaverse spaces boast different types of terrain depending on price, and including Content Terra for content creation, Art Terra for NFTs, Delivery Terra for delivery companies, Branding Terra for brands and marketing, and many more.
“Every terrain has a related activity to make use of, and it’s made so the metaverse with infinite possibilities has some kind of order,” Soraya said.
Each new property owner is given an NFT ERC-721 with a unique code that guarantees ownership through a smart contract.
It functions similarly to the cryptocurrency Decentraland, though this comes with its own native token for buying up new items.
Property owners can pay Uttopion to design their digital space as well as buy up items for their homes and make design changes, though it’s not yet clear in what currency.
According to CNBC, metaverse real estate sales generated €$500 million revenue across the world.
According to MetaMetric Solutions, sales in 2022 could hit $1 billion.
