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What Is Decentraland?

Decentraland (ticker MANA) is a virtual world, or metaverse, built on Ethereum and owned by its users rather than a single company. People explore a shared 3D world, attend events, play games, and create content on virtual parcels of land. What makes Decentraland distinct is that the land, items, and even the rules of the platform are controlled by the community through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Decentraland was created by Argentine developers Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano, with development beginning around 2015 and an early token sale in 2017. The browser-based world opened to the public in 2020. The project is now overseen by the nonprofit Decentraland Foundation, while major decisions rest with the DAO. Both founders later stepped back from day-to-day roles and continue as advisors.

The platform uses two main on-chain assets. MANA is an ERC-20 token that serves as the world's currency, used to buy wearables, names, and other items, and historically burned to mint LAND. LAND is a non-fungible ERC-721 token representing a parcel in Decentraland's finite map; owning LAND lets you build and publish experiences on your plot. Collections of parcels can be combined into larger Estates.

Governance runs through the Decentraland DAO, where voting power is based on holdings of MANA, LAND, and NAMES. DAO members propose and vote on everything from grants and policy to which smart contracts are allowed and how the shared treasury is spent, making Decentraland one of the more fully community-governed metaverse platforms.

MANA started with a large initial supply that has been reduced over time through burning, leaving a total supply of roughly 2.19 billion tokens, most of which is in circulation. The token's role is to power the in-world economy: buying digital fashion and items, paying for names, and participating in the marketplace, where creators can sell their own wearables and emotes.

Decentraland gained wide attention in 2021 and 2022 as part of the metaverse boom, hosting virtual concerts, brand activations, and events. Like the broader sector, its activity and token price fell sharply after that peak, and the project has since focused on improving the actual experience of the world.

Getting Started With Decentraland

Getting started with Decentraland means setting up a wallet and stepping into the world:

  1. Step 1: Set up an Ethereum wallet such as MetaMask, or use a guest login to explore first.
  2. Step 2: Acquire MANA on an exchange and withdraw it to your wallet to buy items or LAND.
  3. Step 3: Download the Decentraland desktop client (or use the mobile app) and enter the world.
  4. Step 4: To take part in governance, use your MANA, LAND, and NAMES to vote on proposals in the Decentraland DAO.

How to Get a Decentraland Wallet?

MANA and LAND are Ethereum-based tokens (with MANA also available on Polygon for cheaper in-world transactions), so a standard EVM wallet works.

MetaMask

MetaMask is the most widely used Ethereum wallet and is the standard way to log into Decentraland, hold MANA, and manage LAND and wearables.

Coinbase Wallet

Coinbase Wallet is another popular self-custody option that supports MANA and Decentraland NFTs and connects easily to the platform.

Hardware Wallets

A Ledger device can be paired with MetaMask to keep your private keys and valuable LAND offline, which is recommended for larger holdings.

Decentraland Resources

How to Buy Decentraland?

MANA can be bought on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Centralized Exchanges

MANA is widely listed on exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Gate, typically traded against USD or USDT.

Decentralized Exchanges

MANA is an ERC-20 token and can be bought on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap on Ethereum or QuickSwap on Polygon by connecting a wallet and swapping from ETH, MATIC, or a stablecoin.

Latest Decentraland News

Decentraland's recent focus has been on modernizing the experience. In late 2024 it launched Decentraland 2.0, a new desktop client built on the Unity engine that replaced the older browser-based world with better graphics, dynamic lighting, quests, and minigames. The project has since expanded beyond the desktop client, launching on Android and the Epic Games Store, with an iOS app planned, aimed at making the world easier to access.

Governance continues through the Decentraland DAO, with MANA, LAND, and NAMES holders steering the platform. Because user activity, features, and tokenomics change over time, the official website, documentation, and DAO governance portal are the best sources for the current state of the project.