A plot of digital land just sold for $2.3M on Axie Infinity

> Is the metaverse they mention in the article the same metaverse that Zuckerberg talks about? My understanding is yes, the term has been in use for awhile and now is being further broadcast by Facebook. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse

> Also, how is this different than any other digital asset? Don't some online games rely on "whales" to be profitable? How is this different than selling items or whatever in those games?

What makes these digital assets different is ownership is all on a public blockchain, commonly referred to as an "NFT". Unlike buying a special upgrade in a regular game, this special upgrade is provably of limited quantity.

See NFTs on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token