{"id":46032,"date":"2021-11-26T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T06:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/?p=46032"},"modified":"2022-06-13T17:35:04","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T09:35:04","slug":"singer-jj-lin-spends-usd90k-virtual-real-estate-record-metaverse-land-sold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/singer-jj-lin-spends-usd90k-virtual-real-estate-record-metaverse-land-sold\/","title":{"rendered":"Singer JJ Lin spends USD90K+ on virtual real estate, after a record USD2.4m metaverse land was similarly sold"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Lim Junjie (JJ Lin) has purchased three pieces of virtual real estate or land in Decentraland, a marketplace in the cryptocurrency sphere where virtual property is bought, sold, and users can log in and hang out in a “metaverse”.<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old international superstar, who is primarily based in Taiwan but calls Singapore home, currently holds three Decentraland virtual plots of land: Prime Gallery 1<\/a>, Primary Gallery 2<\/a> and NEAREST to GENESIS PLAZA<\/a>. The three plots were purchased on the OpenSea non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, for 6000 MANA each (Decentraland’s cryptocurrency), or roughly USD30k (S$41k) apiece based on current prices (about USD5 per MANA).<\/p>\n

Based on OpenSea’s transaction records, two of the three plots (Prime Galleries 1 and 2) were purchased by an OpenSea account owner named Dan309 about a month ago before being transferred to (presumably) JJ Lin’s OpenSea account – username Meta_Enigma – five days ago. For NEAREST to GENESIS PLAZA, records show that Meta_Enigma purchased it directly from user DCF753.<\/p>\n

As each pixel on Decentraland’s site plan is 52.5 square feet, Lin’s paid roughly S$780.95 per sq ft of Decentraland real estate. That’s around the psf price of a 4-room HDB in Geylang Serai or a 4-bed corner terrace in Loyang Villas.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>
Since JJ Lin tweeted about his purchase on Nov 23, it’s been shared 389 times with 441 comments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While most users buy NFTs and virtual lands for speculative reasons, others do so because of an affinity to what these virtual environments entail. Some buy them to build their own virtual houses, self-brand or display their NFT collection for users to visit and admire.<\/p>\n

One reason for this resurgence in interest, or hype, is due to Facebook’s recent rebranding to Meta and its plans to develop a version of its own metaverse.<\/p>\n

\"Decentraland<\/a>
One of three virtual plots JJ Lin purchased recently. This is NEAREST to GENESIS PLAZA (X: 29, Y: -5), for which Lin paid 6000 MANA (or roughly S$41k). As the owner, he can refurbish this plot into anything he likes or hold it to resell on marketplaces like OpenSea. (Image source: Decentraland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Decentraland<\/a>
Adjacent to JJ Lin’s Decentraland plot (at X: 30, Y; -5), a house has been put up for sale by the same seller. If you can’t be JJ Lin’s neighbour in real life, maybe a virtual option can serve as an alternative? (Image source: Decentraland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Decentraland<\/a>
The other two plots are adjacent to one another – Prime Gallery 1 and 2. In the image above, it’s the one with the floating giant Thwomp (from Super Mario Bros game) and the 3-storey virtual glasshouse at the back. (Image source: Decentraland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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For most of us experienced in the real<\/em> real estate sector, we’re probably baulking at the prices Lin’s paid for these “non-existent” lands. However, Lin is no stranger to the idea of buying NFTs, or virtual assets, such as digitised 3D paintings, memes or avatars on the blockchain.<\/p>\n

Earlier on November 8, he bought a rare CryptoPunk NFT<\/a> (No. 8601) for 125 Ethereum, or ETH for short (which is worth USD555k, or S$761k at current prices).<\/p>\n

Two reasons why some NFTs are highly prized (some say over-valued) is because they’re immutable on the blockchain (ie. they cannot be altered or removed) and rare (eg. there are only 10,000 CryptoPunks in circulation).<\/p>\n

Of course, Lin is also a savvy property buyer in the real world, having splurged S$18.9m on two luxurious high-rise apartments<\/a> in Taipei, Taiwan in August 2021.<\/p>\n

He already owns a 2,846-sqft home in the area and a 2,134-sqft house (worth NT$63m or S$3.1m) in Da’an district. Previously, 99.co reported<\/a> that he usually stays at his 571-sqft one-bedroom apartment at OUE Twin Peaks<\/a> whenever he’s in town.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by JJ Lin (@jjlin)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n