Digital real estate is so hot right now and there’s no wonder why many investors want to know whether or not digital real estate is a scam or a serious investment opportunity. This type of investment hasn’t been around for even a decade, and it’s already grown into a multi-billion dollar business. But is this all hype without much substance? Or is digital real estate legit and will digital real estate investing usher in a new age of investing? Let’s find out!
Type of Digital Real Estate
“Digital real estate” has become a blanket term for making money with almost anything on the internet. When one person says “digital land”, they think of a VR-Metaverse, but someone else may think of something as simple as an online blog. Before you start fighting your friends over who has a cooler piece of online property (yours is cooler), here’s what we mean by “digital real estate.”
- Metaverse real estate aka Digital Properties on The Metaverse: This is the most common use of the term “digital real estate.” These are pieces of land that you can buy on the blockchain to make money via advertising, renting, or appreciation!
- Ebooks and Media Files Sold/Rented: Another common type of digital asset is marketable content. This could be an Ebook, a song, an image, or almost anything else.
- Software: You may have a music player, a VPN, and a work application all on your computer. All of these are rentable, and sometimes licensable digital assets.
- Websites That Make Money: Affiliate websites, popular blogs, recipe databases, regardless of what it is—if it makes money, it’s digital real estate. Since Web 1.0 is primarily concerned with URLs and traffic, the higher ranking your website is and the more marketable traffic it brings in, the more money you’ll make!
- Social Media Accounts: Social media gave the internet new meaning when it came out and it still operates as an extremely profitable form of online real estate. Popular pages make money selling ads, reposting other accounts, and marketing to followers.
- Digital Tokens: NFTs are collectible digital assets that have become popular over the past decade. Since these are parked on the blockchain, they too can be considered a form of digital real estate.
- Cryptocurrency: It’s the thing that makes this whole system work! Cryptocurrency is bought and sold in the transaction of digital land sales. It’s the main reason people invest in the blockchain at all!
Is Digital Real Estate Legit or One Big Scam?
Now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty. You know what digital real estate is, but is it legit?
For the most part…it’s legit. But, you’ll need to be careful what you buy and how you buy it. Most people see digital real estate as a risky investment because there are so many ways to get a transaction wrong. Thankfully our article on how to buy digital real estate goes over the common pitfalls so you don’t get stuck buying a worthless pixel!
Beware of False Promises with Digital Real Estate
Online gurus, digital real estate and metaverse course promoters, and scammers love to convince people how risk-free digital real estate is. Just as many people have been burnt buying fake foreclosures or wiring money to the wrong account, you too can lose money buying a worthwhile asset. Before you purchase any type of digital real estate, make sure you stay away from these empty promises.
1. It’s easy
Remember, if it was easy, everyone would do it! Buying digital real estate takes a fair amount of research, time, and faith to get right. There is no guaranteed way for you to simply put money into a Metaverse and walk away with doubled, tripled, or quadrupled profits. Remember, researching is key to making the right investments!
2. You’ll Get Rich
Digital real estate may, or may not, gain value over time. This is why it’s of crucial importance that you invest in the right Metaverse. Thankfully, digital real estate has multiple avenues that can help you build wealth whether it’s through short-term passive income or long-term appreciation. But, as stated above, there is no guarantee that you’ll get rich.
3. It’s 100% Secure
These are the words many people read right before they get money stolen straight from their accounts. Remember, cryptocurrency, NFTs, and digital real estate are NOT FDIC-insured, and they don’t operate the same way physical real estate does. If anyone steals your assets, or your wallet key for that matter, there will be almost no one to go to when trying to get your investments back!
A recent article from FinTech Magazine highlighted some of these common digital real estate investing threats; “There are many potential threats, but the major ones would be threats to our privacy. For instance, stealing biometric data can later be used to steal your identity. Another one is digital property loss – digital goods can be more exposed, like digital tokens, skins, art, etc.”
4. We’re Going To The Moon!
Cryptocurrency and digital land values have not yet proven their worth in the mainstream investing markets. Anyone who says that digital land is a surefire “sit down, wait, get rich” type of investment, is probably leading you astray. Take time to research each metaverse, get to know how cryptocurrency works, and apply the same fundamentals to your digital real estate as you would your physical real estate.
Final Thoughts On If Digital Real Estate is a Scam
Is digital real estate a scam? When done correctly, no. But, there are many ways to get scammed within the cryptocurrency/digital real estate environment. Double-check who and where you send money, do your research before you invest, and talk with those who have already invested. Digital land experts and long-time investors have fallen into traps that you don’t have to. So, do as much research as you can, whether that be reading blogs like this, watching YouTube videos, or skimming whitepapers. Remember, digital real estate CAN be a scam, but almost any asset class could be as well—when done wrong.
