Decided The Sandbox is a good investment? You can get SAND on Gemini today!
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), formerly known as Facebook, shocked the world when it announced that it would change its name to “Meta” and start building a metaverse. The concept of the metaverse is not particularly new. Video games built around entire virtual worlds like Second Life have been around since the early 2000s. However, the idea has not been on the minds of millions until now. Surprisingly, metaverse games intertwined with decentralized cryptocurrency economies only started popping up recently. One of the largest of these projects, called The Sandbox, is an Ethereum-based virtual world focused on user created, owned and traded in-game items.
What Is The Sandbox?
The Sandbox (SAND) is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network that acts as the native asset of The Sandbox virtual economy. The maximum supply of SAND will be 3 billion, and about 900 million tokens are circulating now. Strangely, for a project that loves to call itself decentralized, a majority of the total supply is allocated to the company, team, advisors and investors. At the time of writing, the token has 2 major functions on the platform. It can be staked to earn interest and used to purchase in-game items in the marketplace.
The foundation of the game lies in the editing software made available by The Sandbox team. With this software, users can create 3D items like creatures, costumes, buildings, vehicles and pretty much anything you can imagine. The items are added to the blockchain as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and can be sold on either The Sandbox’s marketplace or secondary markets like OpenSea. You don’t even need to know how to code to design entire 3D games that can be played inside the virtual world. If you are hell-bent on making money on this endeavor, you can monetize your games, racking up SAND every time someone plays it.
The Sandbox game is played on a massive map of segmented areas it calls LAND. Each piece is its own NFT, and they sell for thousands of dollars each. Many players have become virtual real-estate moguls, improving their plots with items bought on the marketplace. LANDs can combine together to become larger and more valuable estates and districts. You can take part in other ways to make money with your LAND than just flipping it. You can hold events and games, charging an entry fee and hopefully attracting lots of paying users.
The developers claim that SAND will eventually also act as a governance token. According to the project’s whitepaper, The Sandbox will integrate a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in 2023. When this is complete, SAND holders should be able to vote on decisions that impact the fate of the game and ecosystem as a whole. A majority of tokens, and thus voting rights, will likely still be in the hands of the company, its team and its backers, so it’s hard to imagine a truly decentralized Sandbox. It’s possible that a large amount of the supply will be sold to the public in the future, but as of now, the platform’s token is far from decentralized.
The Sandbox Price History
The most important event of The Sandbox’s price history by far was Facebook’s announcement. Before it, the token barely managed to reach an all-time high of $1 in September. SAND was trading at about $0.05 for months until late January 2021 when it started following the rest of the market in the amazing 2020-2021 bull-run. It had its first major peak at about $0.85 in March a few months before Ethereum hit its May high. Even though its run-up to $0.85 and then $1 was massive, it was outdone the first week of November, shooting up to $3 in a matter of days. After it nudged $3 and nearly a $3 billion market capitalization, it dropped about 15% and hasn’t recovered yet. It still has a market cap above $2 billion, which easily places it within the top 100 cryptos.
The Sandbox Competition
Right after Facebook’s announcement, tokens like SAND skyrocketed. On the surface, this reaction makes perfect sense. More people are learning about the technology, so it might drive a lot of adoption to the existing platforms. However, Facebook just announced that it will be launching what assuredly will be The Sandbox’s greatest competition. A tech giant is joining the space, likely with the intention of driving over the existing projects with a metaphorical steamroller.
Until Meta’s metaverse releases, Decentraland is likely its greatest rival. The 2 projects are quite similar on the surface. They are both metaverse games built around a cryptocurrency and have an NFT-based economy. There are substantial differences between them, however. The Sandbox allows its users to create almost anything with their innovative 3D editing software.
Decentraland is a little more basic, but that might be more desirable for the average person. Decentraland also has many more active users at the time of writing and seems to be getting a bit more brand attention. For example, Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) decided to start selling branded NFTs in the game. The Sandbox has quite a few notable partners like Atari and Snoop Dogg, but it still seems to be lagging behind its rival in this regard.
How to Buy The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a relatively popular token, so it is available on a bunch of the top cryptocurrency exchanges. Some of the best trading platforms that offer the token include FTX and Gemini. Before you can start trading you have to verify your identity with the exchange. This process is often a little different on each exchange, but most require you to provide your address, Social Security number and a picture of a valid ID (like a driver’s license). The exchanges recommended above support ACH deposits, so as soon as you’re verified you can link your bank account and start trading immediately. Usually, it’s a good idea to move your cryptos off of the exchange to a personal wallet for safety if you aren’t planning on trading with them in the near future.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that offers investors access to 26 coins and tokens. Founded in the US, Gemini is expanding globally, in particular into Europe and Asia. Offerings include both major cryptocurrency projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and smaller altcoins like Orchid and 0x.
Gemini is 1 of the only brokers with multiple platform options based on skill level. New investors will love the streamlined interface of Gemini’s mobile and web apps, while advanced investors might appreciate all the tools that come with ActiveTrader.
In addition to a host of platform choices, Gemini users also have access to insured hot wallets to store tokens without worrying about digital asset theft. Learn more about what Gemini can do for you in our review.
Best For
- New investors looking for a simple mobile and web app
- Experienced investors who need a more advanced platform with more tools
- Users looking for a 1-stop-shop to buy, sell and store all of their coins
- Easy and quick signups — can get started in as little as a few minutes
- Multitude of platforms to accommodate traders of all skill levels
- Hot wallets include insurance to protect your from theft and hacking attempts
- Charges both a commission and a convenience fee for users buying and selling through the desktop or mobile app
Best Hardware Wallet for The Sandbox
Want to ensure your SAND and other cryptos are safe? Look no further than Ledger’s top-quality hardware wallets.
Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger
Ledger is the leading hardware wallet brand in the world and the go-to option for millions of crypto investors. It offers 2 fantastic models: the Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X. The Nano S is the somewhat simpler model with everything you need to keep your crypto portfolio safe. The Nano X adds a larger screen and even Bluetooth functionality for seamless on-the-go use. Both devices have the same certified secure chip that randomly generates, encrypts and stores your wallet’s private key. Without this key, it’s impossible to access the wallet, and it never leaves the device for maximum security. Ledger wallets support more than 1,000 different cryptos including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple and all ERC-20 tokens (like SAND).
Cryptocurrency Market Outlook
The cryptocurrency market is still in shock from both Bitcoin and Ethereum re-entering price discovery mode. Bitcoin dipped down towards $60,000 right after its recent peak but exploded back within a percentage point of its all-time high a few weeks later. Ethereum is performing even better and seems like it is breaking its all-time high prices twice a day.
Many of the top altcoins like Binance Coin, Solana, Terra and Avalanche are following suit. There is still room for many of the best altcoins to explode, too. Most crypto investors are bullish for at least the short term, but the bull run can’t last forever.
Bonus Section:
The success of SAND will likely heavily depend on driving future adoption of the game. Even if the metaverse becomes an incredibly popular concept, The Sandbox needs people to actually play the game and support its ecosystem.
Is The Sandbox a Good Investment?
The Sandbox could be a fantastic investment, and it has been, for some investors. If you bought it in January, you would be up almost 5,000%. However, it is an extremely risky investment, like most altcoins. If the game fails to bring in users and investors, the price of SAND will probably plummet over time. It’s impossible to tell whether The Sandbox will be a major player in metaverse games in even a year’s time, but it’s likely a better bet than some of its smaller competitors.
Benzinga crafted a specific methodology to rank cryptocurrency exchanges and tools. We prioritized platforms based on offerings, pricing and promotions, customer service, mobile app, user experience and benefits, and security. To see a comprehensive breakdown of our methodology, please visit see our Cryptocurrency Methodology page.
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