A Texas man named Justin Reed has given up his US$18,000 life savings to buy a piece of virtual land called the Khorum Coast.
Tbe Khorum Coast is located within a video game called Entropia Universe. Entropia uses a micropayment model that allows players to make money in the real world through in-game transactions, mostly real estate.
The new virtual land that Reed has acquired allows him to collect tax revenue on anything a player finds mining on his land.
Reed, who appears online under the alias “David Joker,” said he has already earned US$1,200 since buying the Khorum in March, comparing the risk of investing to starting a real-world brick-and-mortar business.
“I know it sounds like a lot, and it’s a crazy thing to tell someone that, you know, I’m a virtual landowner and I put my life savings into it. But I believe in Entropia. I could have went out and started a bakery with my money, and no one could have bought my bakery rolls. With this, I just feel that I have more control,” Reed said.
Reed, like many other users around the world, is banking on the imminent expansion of an immersive, big-tech-driven Metaverse.
The sources for this piece include an article in FUTURISM.
