Decentraland launches virtual LAND renting

The Decentranland metaverse announced a new platform feature that allows its virtual LAND owners to officially rent out the rights to the space for predefined periods through the digital marketplace. Decentranland users who own LAND can now become landlords to earn passive income from their metaverse assets.

In an official statement, Decentraland describes LAND owners as accounts or wallet addresses that own the smart contract for LAND, whether it be “a Parcel, an Estate, or both.”

All rentals are performed in Decentraland’s native token MANA and paid upfront in total. As an example, digital universities could rent out land to build campuses, or DJs renting space for a club or party. Similar to most rental contracts of physical properties, Decentraland landlords cannot sell the land, nor can they receive any purchasing bids for purchase until after the rental contract period is over.

The renting notification by Decentraland reads that to-be tenants can find all available LANDS for rent or sale in the marketplace under the LAND section. To rent a LAND, tenants must select the allow the Renting Smart Contract to manage their MANA first before selecting the duration of the rent and paying for the LAND. Once payment is made, and LAND renting is approved, the tenant receives the Operator Permission, which is reclaimable by the LAND owner once the expiration date is due.

According to the agreement, it’s important to note that a tenant does not own the LAND being rented (so secure your content on the LAND before the expiration date), and LANDs cannot be sold during the renting period.

The platform’s community response was mostly positive. Decentraland followers on Twitter suggested the same rental service should also be available for wearables.

Launched in 2020, Decentraland is a virtual world where users can buy virtual plots of land using one of its native tokens, MANA, on the Ethereum blockchain. Apart from buying lands, users can also engage with each other, play games using interactive dApps, and carry out trades to earn money.

Recently, the GameFi developer Animoca confirmed rumors that it will create a billion-dollar metaverse fund for developers seeking to build out digital reality. Meanwhile, the word “metaverse” itself was nominated for the Oxford dictionary’s word of the year but ultimately came in second place.