Ripio Credit Network (RCN) And Decentraland Partner For Smart-Contract Virtual Land Mortgages

We’ve reached the day where there are platforms now offering individuals the “opportunity” to purchase virtual land based on the Ethereum network. The purchase is meant to enable individuals to purchase and develop interactive contented that is on a decentralized platform.

https://twitter.com/bendavenport/status/1060202388894572544

The platform, called Decentraland, partnered with RCN to allow users to receive on-chain mortgages that provide ownership records in the decentralized marketplace.

Through the system, users can purchase LAND parcels that are for sale. Sebastian Serrano, RCN’s CEO, stated,

“The partnership between RCN and Decentraland – two of the most promising Ethereum-based projects – is one of the first examples that highlights how different smart contracts-based applications can work together,”

and,

“At RCN we drive our efforts to connect lenders and borrowers and offer them. Doing so in virtual reality is an exciting new horizon.”

The process of a virtual land mortgage requires purchasers to complete an application that features the details about the transaction, such as the amount, minimum interest, duration, interest rate, and termination date. Further, participants must put a down payment of 10% at the least.

When a user requests a mortgage on the marketplace, a loan is automatically published on the platform’s dApp. This then leads to a smart contract being established and the transfer of “land” ownership.

Users can either repay the mortgage as the contract requires, or they can do so all at once. Once the mortgage is paid off, the user receives full ownership of the land.

According to Ariel Meilich, the CEO of Decentraland stated:

“Decentraland is dedicated to making the exciting new world of virtual reality decentralized – ruled by open standards as opposed to one central organization. This partnership will help us fully commit to that mission, as the buying and selling of land – the basis of all the exciting things our users can create in VR – will not just be decentralized, but done on the leading global blockchain-based credit network.”

Not everyone has jumped on the smart-contract bandwagon – and rightly so. Ben Davenport Tweeted, “Peer-to-Peer mortgages on highly speculative virtual ‘land’? What could possibly go wrong!”