Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Jamestown announced plans on Wednesday to recreate One Times Square in to the Decentraland Metaverse
Partnership
Digital Currency Group (DCG), the most active investor in the blockchain and digital assets industry, and global real estate firm Jamestown today announced a joint partnership to recreate One Time Square in Decentraland, the leading decentralized virtual world. Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square, is recreating the 26-story tower at the heart of New York’s New Year’s Eve ball drop in Decentraland.
Value of virtual real estate in popular Metaverse games like Decentraland and The Sandbox continues to soar. And involvement from real-world real estate developers like Jamestown could be a trend to watch. It comes at a time when the real Times Square ball drop will be limited to 15,000 socially distanced. As well as fully vaccinated attendees due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. The event typically hosts 58,000 and is watched on TV by many more.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on December 23rd that celebrations in Times Square would be reduced in density for social distancing purposes. While attendees would be required to wear masks, provide proof of vaccination and show identification. De Blasio made the decision in step with Mayor-elect Eric Adams and health officials. Because the rate of positive COVID cases keeps surging, with the state seeing an infection rate of 19.33 percent as of Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Quotes
“The Decentraland community is ready for this perfect capstone to an incredible year,” said Fede Molina on behalf of the Decentraland Foundation. “We can’t wait to ring in 2022 with friends all over the world and show off how far our ecosystem has come. The partnership between Jamestown and DCG to develop One Times Square embodies the beauty of Decentraland: brands and builders bring their diverse assets and ideas to our virtual world, and, in so doing, enrich the experience for all.”
“The future of real estate is the thoughtful integration of the virtual and physical worlds, optimized for user experience,” said Michael Phillips, President of Jamestown. “The Metaverse is an important part of the evolution of real estate and the built environment. Whereas physical real estate is largely limited to people with geographic proximity, the Metaverse can give people around the world meaningful access to places through immersive virtual experiences. Recreating One Times Square in the Decentraland Metaverse is part of a larger digital asset strategy to evolve and enhance our physical real estate for Web 3.0 and open new pathways for our assets to exist in multiple Metaverses in the future.”
Simon Koster, DCG’s Head of Real Estate, stated, “The Metaverse is quickly evolving to bring together the most interesting and alluring parts of our favorite physical places around the world. From destinations, to gaming, education, retail and more, we can expect the Metaverse to revolutionize our current online experience. This event highlights how virtual events can cohesively integrate with real ones in an effort to bring once-in-a-lifetime experiences to so many that would have never been able to participate otherwise.”
