NFT FAVORITES
These are some of the hottest NFTs in the game, and ones that we collect at HODLUS. To be clear, we were not involved in the creation of these projects, we're just highlighting them as fans.
Decentraland
When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, decentralization became one of the most important values shared by the entire crypto community. But over the years, many centralized blockchain-based projects appeared, and decentralization became more of a buzzword than something that people actually pay attention to.
Decentraland is different. It treats decentralization very seriously, and the entire project - not just the in-game virtual world - could be shown to blockchain developers to teach them the true meaning of the word “decentralized”.
So how did Decentraland manage to achieve this level of decentralization? The answer is simple: the Decentraland DAO.
DAO is an acronym for "Decentralized Autonomous Organization". The Decentraland DAO is the real owner of the entire Decentraland ecosystem, which includes all the smart contracts utilized to create the virtual world.
DAO enables the community members not only to own pieces of in-game LAND as NFTs, but also to decide on the way in which Decentraland as a project will develop. The users have a final say on all policy updates, adding or removing in-game items or introducing any other relevant changes. Thanks to the DAO, Decentraland is much more than a virtual world - it’s a great example that decentralized and democratic communities can truly work.
Upland
Upland is definitely one of the most complex and advanced projects utilizing Non-Fungible Tokens. While officially still in the open beta test phase, Upland has already proven itself to potentially become one of the most groundbreaking applications in the blockchain ecosystem.
What Is Upland?
Upland is an innovative type of a blockchain-based virtual world called a “NFT metaverse”. What distinguishes Upland from virtual spaces like Second World is the fact that every in-game location of the Upland ecosystem is mapped to real world location (currently mostly based in the cities of San Francisco and New York, but aiming to include every major location in the world in the next few years).
Upland allows the users to develop a city neighbourhood for themselves and their friends. The NFT metaverse of Upland is fully flexible and empowers the people with full creative freedom to build everyone they want - from simple homes to business franchises generating real-life profit.
What Makes Upland So Unique?
One of the main differences between Upland and other virtual worlds is its extremely heavy focus on the in-game economy. Like in case of other similar projects, everything within the game world can be purchased, sold and traded. However, Upland enables you not only to build a house, but also to create a business, multiple businesses or even a massive economic empire!
The complex in-game economy of Upland is powered by the native utility token called UPX, which allows you to turn your piece of virtual land mapped to real world locations into a source of not only virtual, but also actual profit.
Since Upland is created specifically with money-making in mind, you can use various mechanics to turn your NFT real estate into a source of passive income. You can earn returns on your properties by leasing them to other users, or build a virtual museum in which you will display NFT works of art and collect a ticket fee from every visitor - the possibilities are endless.
After the beta tests are finished, Upland will introduce a feature called “fiat out”, which will allow you to directly sell your in-game properties and items for fiat currencies. By doing so, Upland will make history by becoming the first NFT project ever allowing the direct sales of Non-Fungible Tokens created in a virtual ecosystem for dollars or euros.
A Welcoming NFT Ecosystem
One of the reasons why Upland has the potential to become the biggest and most vibrant virtual economy in the blockchain ecosystem is how accessible its NFT metaverse is.
While most virtual worlds are accessible only through PC, Upland is also available on iOS and Android. What’s even better is the fact that Upland doesn’t require any crypto knowledge from the users - anyone can jump into the NFT metaverse of Upland immediately, without having to know a single thing about blockchain.