New York, NY (December 29, 2021) – 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.
DCG is one of the largest owners of digital real estate (“LAND”) in Decentraland. Jamestown is the owner of One Times Square, which is the site of the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Celebration.
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.”
“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.”
“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 Party
The virtual One Times Square (-106, -119) will launch in Decentraland on New Year’s Eve with the MetaFest 2022 global party featuring music and entertainment acts, rooftop VIP lounges, CryptoArt galleries, and immersive games. Live feeds of the real-world Times Square and virtual Zoom parties will stream on digital billboards, bringing global partygoers together in the metaverse to celebrate the New Year.
Official programming will begin at 11:00 p.m. EST and continue into the early hours of 2022.
CoinDesk, the leading crypto media and events company, will debut year-in-review video content in its auditorium (-103, -120) and broadcast interviews with people on its “Most Influential” list. Partygoers who visit the space can claim QR codes for discounted tickets to Consensus, the annual crypto festival, taking place in Austin in June 2022.
The Build
Leading metaverse development firms GrowYourBase and MetaVenture Studios were engaged to construct and operate the virtual One Times Square in Decentraland. It is the first high-rise build in Decentraland and includes the recreation of the physical asset’s digital signage and New Year’s Eve Ball.
In addition to the One Times Square building, the build area, which spans approximately 170 LAND parcels, includes five buildings, each with distinct exteriors and activated interiors.
The Metaverse
Decentraland is a decentralized metaverse; anyone can enter as an avatar and purchase LAND and other in-world goods with Decentraland’s native MANA currency. It launched publicly at the start of 2020 with events starting in 2021. Since its launch, Decentraland has attracted celebrities like DeadMau5, 3LAU, and Paris Hilton to headline its virtual festivals. In 2021, Decentraland saw a 15x increase in daily active users.
The History
MetaFest 2022 is the latest chapter in a long history of New Year’s Eve celebrations focused on Times Square. Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square in 1904, and the New Year's Eve Ball made its debut atop One Times Square in 1907. Over a century later, it is still the focal point of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world.
Today, hundreds of thousands of people typically attend the real-life Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration each year, while more than 1 billion people worldwide view one of the many live broadcasts of the festivities. People also can experience New Year’s Eve in Times Square through VNYE, an immersive virtual experience launched by Jamestown in 2020. Through the VNYE app and vnye.com, which reached more than 3.7 million people in its inaugural year, people can explore Times Square, play games, and livestream New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square and around the world.
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About Digital Currency Group
Founded in 2015 by CEO Barry Silbert, DCG is the most active investor in the blockchain sector, with a mission to accelerate the development of a better financial system through the proliferation of digital assets and blockchain technology. Today, DCG sits at the epicenter of the industry, backing more than 200 blockchain-related companies in over 35 countries. DCG also invests directly in digital currencies and other digital assets. In addition to its investment portfolio, DCG is the parent company of Genesis (a global digital asset prime brokerage), Grayscale Investments (the world’s largest digital currency asset manager), CoinDesk (a leading financial media, data, and information company), Foundry (a leader in bitcoin mining and staking), Luno (a leading cryptocurrency platform with a large international footprint), and TradeBlock (an institutional trading platform).
About Jamestown
Jamestown is a global, design-focused real estate investment and management firm with a 38-year track record and mission to create places that inspire. Since its founding in 1983, Jamestown has executed transactions in excess of $35 billion. As of September 30, 2021, Jamestown has assets under management of $13.1 billion and a portfolio spanning key markets throughout the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. Jamestown employs more than 400 people worldwide with headquarters in Atlanta and Cologne, and offices in Amsterdam, Bogotá, Boston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. Current and previous projects include One Times Square and Chelsea Market in New York, Industry City in Brooklyn, Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, the Innovation and Design Building in Boston, and Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam. For more information, visit www.jamestownlp.com.
