Metaverse property sales are accelerating as investors stake out virtual land in the potentially $1 trillion market. Here are 3 recent examples that have sold for eye-popping amounts

• The metaverse is becoming a hot property market with investors buying millions of dollars worth of virtual land.
• A recent transaction on Decentraland was worth about $2.5 million of cryptocurrency.

The property market is heating up — the virtual one, that is, with some investors shelling out millions of dollars to secure their place in the so-called metaverse that crypto asset management firm Grayscale said presents a $1 trillion a year revenue opportunity.

The metaverse — the space online of interconnected 3-D, experiential worlds — is accelerating as the new frontier where people can socialize, work and shop and, as in the real world, entities are scooping up land where such activities thrive and generate money.

The metaverse is still "in its early innings," said Grayscale, which runs the world's biggest cryptocurrency fund, in a recent report. Here's a look at three high-profile virtual deals:

1. Metaverse Group's $2.43 million land purchase in Decentraland

Metaverse Group is a subsidiary of Tokens.com and this month it finished purchasing a patch of digital land for 618,000 mana, or about $2.43 million at the time. That news came from Decentraland — an online, virtual-only environment — where the land patch is located. The purchase price was more than double the previous record-high sale for virtual real estate.

2. $913,228.20 plot sale on Decentraland

Republic Realm, a digital real estate investment firm, in June reportedly purchased a non-fungible token, or NFT, for nearly $1 million representing a plot on Decentraland. The plot comprised of 259 parcels, or around 16 acres of digital land and the purchase price was slightly higher than the average home price in Manhattan.

3. $2.3 million land buy on Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn gaming platform and on Thursday it said one of its Genesis Land plots had just sold for 550 ether, or more than $2.3 million at the time. Before this, the largest transaction on the platform that features colorful, competitive creatures called Axies was worth 888.25 ether for nine plots of land, or more than $1.5 million at the time of the February sale.

The accelerating activity surrounding the metaverse has been fueling a recent surge in cryptocurrencies linked to that world, including Decentraland's mana token, Sandbox's sand, and Gala Games' gala.

4. $650,000 metaverse mega yacht on The Sandbox

Not real estate exactly, but a virtual mega yacht was sold this week on The Sandbox for an astounding $650,000. The Metaflower Super Mega Yacht was purchased for 149 ether. It was released by metaverse developer Digital Republic for The Fantasy Collection line of luxury NFTs designed for The Sandbox virtual gaming world.