Decentraland, an open-source initiative that is attempting to develop a virtual reality space that utilizes the Ethereum blockchain for asset management, has raised 86,260 ETH ($25.5 million) in an initial coin offering.

Having first gained public attention back in 2015, Decentraland is attempting to build an open VR platform that is a sort of Second Life without as many physical restrictions. The company said its virtual world will enable users to explore or create their “own piece of the universe.”

Ethereum blockchain comes into the picture as the way Decentraland intends to manage assets such as “land” purchases as digital spaces within the platform itself in order to create an “immutable record of ownership.” Land is split into virtual spaces of 100 square meters (roughly 1,090 square feet) with “MANA” tokens used as currency. “No one can limit what you build,” the company claims. Users can visit a casino, watch a concert, attend a workshop, shop with friends, test-drive a car and visit an underwater resort within a 360-degree, virtual world.

What isn’t clear at this point is how easy it is for owners of land to use it. For example, Second L,ife makes it fairly simple for people to design and create things like buildings and structures but the white paper for Decentraland only refers to the “Decentraland scripting language” as the basis for in-world design.

The scripting language will cover tasks like creating objects, loading textures, handling physics, encoding user interactions, embedding sounds, transacting payments and calling other programs, the white paper notes, inferring that coding knowledge will be required. That would create a barrier to entry for a layperson compared to Second Life.

Decentraland claims that its initial coin offering was oversubscribed with only the first 2,000 applicants successfully obtaining MANA tokens. The company said it’s looking at other ways to enable people to buy tokens prior to launch.

Decentraland follows in the footsteps of other recent ICOs, including platform developer BLOCK.ONE, fintech startup The Bancor Project and supercomputing firm SONM Pte. Ltd.

Image: Decentraland