Shiba inu (SHIB) is, first and foremost, a meme coin. However, since its inception it has grown to launch an exchange, ShibaSwap, and is now adding extra utility with the Shiba Inu metaverse.

Specifically, SHIB holders can mint land plots in SHIB: The Metaverse. The project initially only supported payments in ether (ETH), but that situation has changed to avoid massive liquidations of SHIB across exchanges and trading platforms.

This piece is part of CoinDesk’s Metaverse Week

Users can mint four different types of plots, ranging from 0.2 ETH to 1 ETH in value. Users can use ETH or spend the equivalent value in SHIB to gain access to these land plots via the Shib.io platform.

It is worth noting that SHIB: The Metaverse will be built on Shibarium, an up-and-coming layer 2 scaling system for SHIB. Shibarium will receive a public test net in the next few months and will go through a public beta testing phase afterward. Once Shibarium goes live on the main network, all SHIB will be migrated there. Additionally, the new system will provide minimal transaction fees that will be "near zero."

SHIB: The Metaverse will feature 100,595 plots of land that will be minted by users, according to the people behind the Shiba Inu project. Landowners can generate passive income from their plots, collect in-game resources and generate rewards. Additionally, the developers plan to introduce a way to earn and ensure players have a personal space where they can build and manage their projects.

Read More: Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB): A Beginner’s Guide 2022

Not all of the lands are available to mint or purchase because some are locked as key locations for travel within the metaverse. Those lands will remain private and serve as common grounds, representing corridors between different parts of the metaverse.

SHIB: The Metaverse spans four different districts:

In these districts, users can explore land plots ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4. Tier 1 is the "rarest" of them all and has the fewest lands available. They are also the most expensive ones, as they cost 1 ETH – or its SHIB equivalent – to mint.

Read More: What Is ShibaSwap?

Minting land in this metaverse is not the only utility for SHIB in the virtual world. Users can leverage SHIB to add pictures and logos to land plots. If those pictures change, the ecosystem will burn SHIB tokens.

Additionally, users can spend SHIB to name or rename land plots. Furthermore, SHIB is used to lease HUBS, which represents the most valuable land plots in the metaverse. There will be use cases for the LEASH and BONE currencies, too, as the development phases roll out.

Developers of SHIB: The Metaverse plan to offer creative ways to foster immersion and community, including strong partnerships and foundational resources.

The minting of land in SHIB: The Metaverse occurs through the Shib.io website. Users can see their reserved and acquired lands through the top menu, where they can also mint their land plots individually or in one transaction to avoid unnecessary gas fees.

To bid on or purchase SHIB lands, a user needs to set up a MetaMask wallet or a wallet compatible with WalletConnect and connect it to the Shib.io website.

Read More: How to Set up a MetaMask Wallet

As of writing, the sale has entered the Public Sale phase, meaning it is open to all and not just those who lock up LEASH or Shiboshis.

SHIB: The Metaverse is the brainchild of Shiba Inu developer Shytoshi Kusama and is supported by other Shiba Inu team members.

All funds collected from the land plot minting were to be used for future metaverse development when only ETH was supported. It is unclear if that approach will change now that SHIB is an accepted payment method.

The team initially deemed their ecosystem tokens to be a "risk," as the team would need to sell SHIB to pay for project development. Although the team has not offered an official statement on that aspect, that may still happen.

A key event to expect is the upcoming finalization of a deal between SHIB: The Metaverse and an AAA game developer studio, which is still pending. If finalized, the game studio will handle artistic development while the Shiba Inu team focuses on the blockchain implementation aspects.

Rather than letting players port weapons or powers between games, non-fungible tokens will more likely serve as building blocks for new games and virtual worlds.

Fundamentally, the "metaverse" is a game – but one with real consequences and opportunities.

The future possibilities of the metaverse are presumably limitless, but is there anything you can do in the metaverse right now?