Can virtual cities of the future give rise to a Virtual Reality (VR) real estate market? Imagine owning virtual property that can give appreciation in value just as real world property gives today. This property could be of any type business, residential, retail or even community based. The uses of the property would be similar to that of real world property where people would walk through a business for example, browse products and services and make purchases. The purchases would be real and would have real world implications. So for example if a person purchases a pair of sneakers in a virtual store after he tries it on, these sneakers would be delivered to their home after they make payment.

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MARK.SPACE have capitalised on this concept and are creating whole cities divided into districts, blocks and units. They think that by adding security, verifiability and transparency of the blockchain, they would be able to even further this concept. Another benefit of merging blockchain tech with virtual reality would be ease of payments that can be carried out in MARK.SPACE’s own MRT token.

The worth of virtual

MARK.SPACE’s universe is comprised of a number of units. These units which are deemed as private property. All these units are linked to their own top-level domain. The guarantee of the private property is ensured through blockchain which records creation, sale or rental of these units. When users register on the MARK.SPACE platform, they get one residential unit for free. Other units can be purchased according to the details given in the MARK.SPACE white paper. In fact there is already a working prototype ready and users can experience the capabilities of the platform by themselves by trying out the demo. Users are also able to create their own virtual space by using the constructor kit that MARK.SPACE have come up with.

Create your own digital apartment

Registered users of the MARK.SPACE platform can now take part in a

Crowdfunding Virtual Reality

Another step that will lead to a larger participation of the public in virtual reality is the MARK.SPACE token sale, the final round of which is open to subscription till February 28, 2018. The MRT tokens would be sold during this sale. The token has become central to the platform as this would be used by users to purchase virtual properties as well as to furnish them. The token would also be the currency of choice to purchase real goods and services on the platform. A total of USD 35 mln worth of MRT tokens are up for sale during the Token Sale. The sale would allow the prototype to be expanded as funds would be raised for this purpose. The stated aim of the project is to achieve decentralization that would benefit users as well as those providing computational capacity and storage resources.

Appreciation of Virtual Property

Real world property tends to increase in value with the passage of time or as and when the utility of the property increases. As an example when there is increased footfall in a shopping centre, the worth of it is significantly increased. Similarly virtual reality property is also likely to increase in value. The white paper that MARK.SPACE have put out explains, “Once created, well-designed and unique, and filled with quality content, personal spaces will attract many visitors, thus making them valuable economic assets.”  They further explain that there is a high degree of transparency in the platform as well, “ A VR store in the MARK.SPACE Shopping District will be transparent, showing its income statement, balance sheet and cash flows, and thereby becoming a real asset, which can be evaluated using conventional methods. If there are assets to be sold, businesses like VR real estate agencies could appear, offering their services to the public.”

There are two key elements to MARK.SPACE, one is the token, which would act as the basis of the virtual economy but will be tradeable in the real world. The increased use of the token would make its worth possibly appreciate in the future. The second is the property itself, which can also charter a similar course. The interesting question is how much will virtual assets appreciate in value. That only time will answer.