Welcome to the Metaverse
Could SAND and MANA be two currencies that one day run the world? Yes, just not in this world. And no, not in a world on a different planet or in a different universe. A world in the metaverse. A virtual reality world. Whether you like this idea or not, one thing 2021 showed us is that there is some serious interest in the metaverse and the idea isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The two leading platforms for these virtual worlds are Sandbox and Decentraland, both running on the Ethereum network. SAND tokens power the Sandbox platform, and MANA tokens power Decentraland. The two cryptos run the world’s two largest metaverse platforms and offer a glimpse of a concept that may be a big part of our future.
SAND and MANA are used to buy and sell items in these virtual worlds. Items can include land, character skins, NFTs, and almost everything you can think of. These freedoms and possibilities are perhaps where the appeal to the metaverse comes into play: a world where anything can be created. A world where the possibilities are endless; if there’s a means in the metaverse, there’s a way to get it done.
People can do anything on the Sandbox and Decentraland platforms, from owning and building property to playing games, shopping, attending NFT shows, and exploring communities built by fellow users. As these platforms have expanded, the metaverse’s user base has become stronger and stronger.
Decentraland and Sandbox now offer a home to major corporations such as Atari, Samsung, Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Warner Music, and Miller Lite. These companies are a short part of the list of companies who have entered the metaverse. For these businesses, Decentraland and Sandbox deliver them a chance to connect with new customers and offer exclusive opportunities that can only be accessed through the metaverse.
Along with big-name companies who have jumped into the metaverse, celebrities and other pop culture figures such as Snoop Dogg and The Smurfs have also emerged as players in the virtual world. Snoop Dogg owns land in Sandbox and launched an NFT project consisting of 10,000 Snoop Dogg avatars that people can buy and use as their characters in the Sandbox. The Smurfs TV series launched an NFT collection on Sandbox’s platform. In the Sandbox, you can enter Smurfs Village and buy and sell NFTs that replicate items featured in the show. These are only a few big names who have taken a leap of faith into the unknown future of the metaverse, and we will have to wait and see if their investment into the metaverse will pay off.
As a whole, the metaverse is still a very new concept. Platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox have garnered attention, but in their current state, they don’t have a consistent enough audience to prove that they will become a mainstream part of our lives. As of January 3, 2022, Yahoo reported Decentraland has around 18,000 daily users. The daily active users for Sandbox are a little less clear, but on March 3, 2022, VentureBeat reported Sandbox had 2M registered members. If Sandbox and Decentraland want to become mainstream, they’ve still got a ways to go.
Only time will tell how large Decentraland and Sandbox can grow. There’s no telling if these metaverse platforms will play a prominent role in the future or if they’ll fizzle out and be forgotten. However, what we do know is that cryptos are asserting themselves on a global stage. As the world of cryptocurrencies and NFTs continues to grow, the metaverse may be the perfect place for these aspects to mesh together.
