A Decentraland is a digital world run on Ethereum that you can play, explore, and participate in a wide variety of activities. It attempts to form a global network of users who operate a shared virtual world.
You can also buy parcels of land on which you can build your applications, environments, and marketplaces. The platform has evolved to include interactive apps, in-world payments, and peer-to-peer communication with time.
Two different types of tokens govern the operation of Decentraland.
LAND: LAND is a non-fungible token (NFT) used to represent digital real estate land parcels.
MANA: A cryptocurrency used for purchasing LAND and virtual goods and services in Decentraland.
In Decentraland, software changes are enacted through blockchain-based smart contacts, which allow participants who own MANA to vote on policy updates, land auctions, and subsidies.
Decentraland: How does it work?
LAND tokens are used to track real estate parcels in the Decentraland application. The software uses the Ethereum blockchain to track ownership of this digital land. It requires users to store the MANA token in an Ethereum wallet to participate in the ecosystem.
Developers are also free to innovate by creating their own animations and interactions on Decentraland’s platform.
Decentraland’s Architecture:
Smart contracts are built on Ethereum power, many of Decentraland’s layered components. Land parcels are tracked by the consensus layer, which maintains a ledger of each parcel’s ownership. Each parcel has a unique coordinate in the virtual world, a named owner, and a description file showing the parcel’s content.
It contains various files required to render each parcel, as well as controlling what happens within each parcel:
Content files – It contains all static audio and visuals
Script Files – defining how the referenced content should be displayed and behave
Interaction Definition: A peer-to-peer interaction is when peers interact by gesturing, chatting, and messaging.
As a final feature, the real-time layer facilitates social interactions in Decentraland through user avatars, such as voice chat and messaging.
Market Place and Builder:
The Decentraland team has also released a marketplace and a drag-and-drop editor that users can use to create scenes outside of the gaming environment. Participants can move LAND tokens in the marketplace, which are priced in MANA. Owners can use the marketplace to transact or transfer in-game items, such as wearables and unique names.
It is important to note that all transactions are settled between Ethereum wallets, and therefore are verified by Ethereum’s network and logged on its blockchain. With Decentraland’s builder tools, owners can design a unique experience within their LAND parcels. Interactive scenes can be designed through its editing tools, with developers able to access customization libraries and payment implementations.
