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Decentraland is a virtual reality platform built on the Ethereum blockchain where users can create, explore, and earn from content and applications. It allows users to buy virtual land, known as LAND, which they can develop and monetize. The project launched after a $24 million ICO in 2017, with a closed beta in 2019 and public access in February 2020. Since then, users have built various experiences on their LAND, including games and interactive scenes. Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA, an ERC-20 token, and LAND, an ERC-721 non-fungible token. MANA is burned to acquire LAND and can also be used for avatars, wearables, and other items in the marketplace.

Decentraland was co-founded by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano, who have since moved to advisory roles. Meilich served as project lead from 2017 to 2020 and has a background in entrepreneurship, having founded several startups and worked as an analyst at Charles River Ventures. Ordano, the former tech lead, has experience as a software engineer at BitPay and co-founded Zeppelin Solutions, a blockchain infrastructure company. Although they are no longer leading the project, development continues under the Decentraland Foundation.

Decentraland is designed for creators, businesses, and individuals seeking a new artistic medium, business opportunity, or entertainment source. The virtual world, called the Metaverse, consists of 90,601 parcels of LAND, each represented by an ERC-721 token and measuring 16m x 16m (256 square meters). LAND holders can develop their plots as they wish, but the Metaverse is also organized into themed districts created through MANA crowdsales, with some LAND in these districts being non-tradable. As of January 2021, the largest district is Aetheria, with 8,008 LAND. Decentraland also uses a DAO structure, allowing MANA holders to propose and vote on governance decisions.

As of January 2021, over 1.49 billion MANA tokens were in circulation, representing about 68% of the total supply of 2.19 billion. The original supply was 2.8 billion, but more than 600 million MANA have been burned through LAND auctions. Additional burn mechanisms, such as a 2.5% burn on marketplace transactions, also reduce supply. MANA was initially designed to inflate at 8% in the first year, decreasing over time, but inflation is currently disabled with no plans to resume unless necessary. Of the total supply, 40% was sold in the 2017 ICO, 20% was reserved for community incentives, 20% went to the team and early contributors, and 20% was held by Decentraland. Project lead tokens are no longer vested.

MANA is an ERC-20 token, meaning it operates on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is secured by a large decentralized network of miners and thousands of nodes that work together to protect the blockchain and its tokens from attacks. As one of the most established blockchains, Ethereum is a popular choice for tokens that do not have their own native blockchain.

MANA has strong liquidity and can be traded on around 100 exchanges. As of January 2021, Binance, OKEx, and Coinbase Pro were among the most liquid platforms for MANA. It can be traded against Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and Ethereum (ETH), and can be purchased with fiat currencies like KRW and USD. A complete list of markets is available in the Markets section.