Cryptocurrency has been making waves across the globe over recent years, and the influence of this innovative digital asset type is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Despite recent market volatility sending the prices of Bitcoin and the like tumbling, longer-term predictions remain promising, and with countries like El Salvador announcing Bitcoin as its new national currency, plus a plethora of luxury product and service providers now accepting crypto as a means of payment, it’s clear that we won’t be seeing it dismissed as little more than a passing fad anytime soon.
As the reach and influence of cryptocurrencies continues to spread in ways that just a few years ago would have been difficult to imagine, excitement is growing around the topic of its true potential. Today, Bitcoin is being used not only to buy houses and other properties, but also within the gaming industry, where even platforms like Neteller Casinos offer payments with crypto. And just recently, we saw the opening of the world’s first ‘crypto concept’ store in London, where fashion designer Philipp Plein’s show-stopping collections mix fashion with cryptocurrency and NFT digital art.
But perhaps the most thrilling development we’ve caught wind of of late is the fact that a real world crypto paradise is set to become a reality on Satoshi Island in Vanuatu. In the first project in the world of its kind, the island, which can be found nestled in the western Pacific between Australia and Fiji, will see all transactions made in Bitcoin, and all property owned as NFTs. Spearheaded by Satoshi Island Holdings Limited, it’s expected that the island will be divided up into seven ‘NFT zones’, or neighbourhoods, which buyers and investors can seek to own a piece of and turn their crypto into a physical assets in what is tipped as being one of the most lucrative of ways.
Prices of homes will start from $60,000, with the first round of properties set to go on sale any day now, and in summer of this year, plans are afoot for the arrival of modules designed to accommodate short-stay visitors, too. Finally, in the last quarter of the year, holders of Citizenship NFTs will also be able to get their hands on a slice of real estate.
Homes are unique in that they are made up of individual modules, which can be stacked to suit different tastes and lifestyles. With chief architect James Law of Hong Kong based firm James Law Cybertecture at the helm, it certainly seems like the possibilities could be endless, and with the beginning of 2023 heralding the moment permanent moves to the island will be allowed, many wealthy investors, as well as those simply in search of the good life, are already making plans to execute their moves to the sunshine.
According to the first promotional video that has been released in support of the project, Satoshi island will become the ‘official home for cryptocurrency professionals and enthusiasts, worldwide – a place to visit, work and live in the first true society built around an entirely decentralised financial system and blockchain based society’. Each holder of a citizenship NFT will be awarded the right to live and work on the island, as well as to vote – so it’s easy to see why the project has already begun to generate a huge amount of interest from movers and shakers across the globe.
So, how exactly do you get your hands on one of these gold-dust-like NFTs? Well, applicants will need to hold a valid Ethereum wallet address, as well as having either bought, sold or minted an NFT on OpenSea in the last year. So, if you’ve yet to do so but are eager to stand a chance of being in the running for one of the 5,620 free citizen NFTs on offer, then now is the time to act. There is, however, ‘side-door’ access to eligible parties – so if you’re a verified crypto influencer and have more than 21,000 Twitter followers, your luck is in, because your application will be automatically approved.
If you’re looking for the next big opportunity on which to spend your crypto fortune, then this might just be it – and if the craze for both crypto and NFTs continues at its current pace, then it might just be the first of many.
All imagery used in this article credit: Satoshi Island