A Virtual Mega Yacht Was Just Sold for $650000 in the Metaverse

A virtual yacht built in the metaverse for the online game The Sandbox was just sold for a whopping $650,000, making it the most expensive item ever sold on the platform, Business Insider reported. 

Ever since Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of his social media company to Meta, events in the metaverse have been getting a lot of media attention. Considering Jack Dorsey's first tweet fetched just under three million dollars as an NFT, it is safe to say that digital assets now seem to be in greater demand. If you thought that Dorsey's tweet was a historic moment in the digital realm, then you'd probably think that this virtual yacht is no different when we're talking about the metaverse. 

Jalopnik explains that The Sandbox is much like any other building video game that you can play in the digital realm. You can build, own, and monetize stuff using virtual experiences on the platform. However, unlike Minecraft, where no matter what you build it ends up being owned by the platform developers, in The Sandbox, as a creator you are also the real owner of the digital asset and can sell it off, as though it were real estate in the real world. 

The mega yacht dubbed Metaflower would be a prized possession in the real world. It features a DJ booth, helicopter landing pads, and a hot tub among the few listed amenities, and has three decks to entertain your guests. Part of the Fantasy Collection series on the platform, the mega yacht gives you access to the Fantasy Marina. While it might not look great in 2D, it is designed to be the crown jewel of The Sandbox, according to the description on the metaverse's eBay equivalent: Open Sea. 

According to activity details listed on the site, the MetaFlower was sold for 149 ETH just six days ago. When converted to USD that is about $650,000 and might seem like exorbitant for a luxurious asset you can physically never step upon. However, as crypto-platforms see it, these are still early days for the metaverse and people are just buying up assets that they can monetize later, like the virtual plot that was sold on Fashion Street for $2.4 million.

If you think that the metaverse is also a bubble that will soon burst, then you are not alone. As Futurism points out, the purchase of this yacht or any other similar assets, that are still available for sale under The Fantasy Collection series, is a way to set your money on fire. However, being a digital asset, the yacht needs no upkeep and you can clean it up with the tap of a button if you ever had a virtual party on it. Also, for the individual who ended up buying this block beauty, 149 ETH is probably loose change.

Would you be willing to buy virtual assets for the metaverse?