Most expensive metaverse properties – including $4.3m purchase of EMPTY virtual land

IF YOUR wallet is feeling a little bulky, you could always lighten the load by buying up virtual property.

It's one of many opportunities that the metaverse provides to throw away cash on largely pointless commodities.

The metaverse is a loosely defined virtual realm made up of connected 3D virtual worlds where people can work, play or do business.

Visitors to the social spaces can buy goods and services, such as property, much like they would in the real world.

And while that largely takes the form of a few square metres of space that fetch a buck or two, prices can go into the millions.

Vast metaverse estates are fetching big prices as investors buy up land in the hopes of making a tidy sum.

Traded in cryptocurrencies, they are owned as NFTs. Much like with real property, owners splash out in the hopes they'll be worth more in future.

However, just like their real-world counterparts, the value of the plots can go up or down. They are considered a risky investment.

The Sun has put together a list of some of the most outrageously priced real estate that has changed hands in the metaverse so far.

$4.3m – The Sandbox

Republic Realms is a metaverse real estate company that splashed out $4.2M on land in virtual world The Sandbox.

The acquisition included 100 private islands that have exploded in value in the months since.

CEO Janine Yorio told CNBC that her company initially sold the islands for $15K each last year.

"Today, they’re selling for about $300,000 each, which is coincidentally the same as the average home price in America," she told the outlet.

The company's digital land purchase back in November last year was the largest land acquisition The Sandbox had seen.

Republic Realm snapped up 792 parcels in The Sandbox amounting to 3sq miles of in-game land.

One 24x24 plot, in a prime location, was bought from Atari, with the realtor co-developing some of the land with the company.

Yorio says that neighbours are just as important as location, telling CNBC: