Indubitably, the COVID-19 pandemic showed the world its virtual side at large. If it wasn’t all, Facebook’s name change to Meta in 2021 grabbed the eyeballs and made ‘Metaverse’ a debatable topic.
In between these debates and conversations, people from the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry started making it a reality.
Fast forward to this day; we have Decentraland and Sandbox – the two most talked about Metaverse projects. But what are these? Are they any different from each other? How do you invest in them?
If you have all these questions, this article is for you to get an idea of the features and differences of both these leading Metaverse projects. Rest, you can decide!
The Sandbox
In 2017, The Sandbox was migrated from its 2D platform to 3D gaming built on the Ethereum blockchain. Since then, further investments and developments have been made in The Sandbox metaverse.
In this virtual world, you can build, play, own, and monetize all your virtual experiences. The Sandbox aims to empower artists, players, and creators across the blockchain community to build the platform that they have envisioned for a long time. The Sandbox also provides the means to develop the gaming world such that it unleashes everyone’s creativity.
The $SAND NFT marketplace is amongst the top 5 NFT projects by sales volume as reported by CryptoSlam.
It has a SAND token that is listed on multiple leading exchanges.
Decentraland
Decentraland is a 3D immersive Ethereum blockchain-based metaverse project that allows players to buy land, explore games, casinos, concerts, galleries, and more. Since its inception in February 2020, it is the longest-running 3D metaverse project.
After multiple investments, Decentraland has been growing and developing in the metaverse universe. Unlike other similar platforms, Decentraland is not a game that runs on multiple devices. The applications created within its universe are limited to users who have experience in developing graphic content.
Decentraland has a MANA token that is listed on multiple leading exchanges.
The Sandbox Vs Decentraland
You may have gotten an idea of both the metaverse ecosystems that have been built on the Ethereum blockchain. While both MANA and SAND are ERC-20 tokens, both ecosystems offer different experiences with multiple similarities.
The NFT collection of both these platforms is available on OpenSea where you can bid and become an owner of a specific coordinate on one of the metaverse. If you want to own a piece of land on the Decentraland ecosystem, you may want to bid for ‘Parcels’. If you want the same on The Sandbox ecosystem, place your bid for ‘LANDS’.
The Sandbox consists of 166,000 LANDS that are divided into districts (owned by 2 or more people) and estates (owned by one person). You can customize and monetize your land by featuring play-to-earn games or renting the space. Further, you can also trade items on the Sandbox ecosystem.
Decentraland consists of 90,601 PARCELS that you can purchase in their marketplace with MANA. They are generally grouped with estates and districts similar to The Sandbox ecosystem.
The Difference!
- The main difference is that Decentraland can be accessed easily through a web browser even without creating an account whereas you must have an account for The Sandbox.
- The team behind The Sandbox is actively involved in its development process and has been in the industry for almost a decade. However, the founders of Decentraland have stepped down from the project and only act as advisors now.
- The Sandbox has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Skybound Entertainment, Big Fan, and Ubisoft, and multiple big names in different industries. SoftBank has also shown support with a USD 93 million investment in The Sandbox ecosystem.
- Decentraland is backed by more than 20 investors including Samsung, Polygon, and the South Korean Government. Greyscale also recently created a trust of 20 million MANA tokens.
The Road Maps
Decentraland has no specific road map as the founders have stepped down from their positions. As it has become more community-driven, a delegation of the Decentraland Foundation may bring some perspective to it.
However, it has been expanding its NFT marketplace with in-game art galleries wherein any person can buy or sell art or even communicate with the artist through voice chats. Many interesting auctions like 914 Wonder Woman NFTs have made their way through this NFT marketplace.
A proposal is in progress to make Decentraland interoperable with at least four metaverses that could potentially change the Metaverse universe.
The Sandbox has its roadmap laid out for upcoming developments and years. The Alpha Hub launch is currently running until December 20 and features three experiences – The NFT Institute, Dungeon of Dum Yz, and Club XYZ. During this period, 5000 Alpha passes will be given, of which 1000 will be given to LAND owners, and the remaining 4000 will be given to the activity winners each day.
Besides this, Sandbox’s team is also proposing to launch the gaming ecosystem over gaming stations like Xbox and PlayStation.
Let’s Talk Price!
Now that we know enough about both the ecosystems and how they plan to move ahead, how do we know where their prices are heading?
The current price of the SAND token on CoinMarkeCap at the time of writing is the US $4.87. One year forecast by WalletInvest suggests the price of SAND to reach around the US $8.33 and five-year forecast to be the US $21.17.
The current price of the MANA token on CoinMarketCap at the time of writing is US $3.29. One year forecast by WalletInvest suggests the price of MANA to reach around the US $5.37 and five-year forecast to be US $12.91.
Final Words!
The social media hype around Metaverse is leading people towards this virtual world that is also driving prices. However, you must look at the projects closely and find your interest before you invest.
If you want to stick with the original and steady, you can stay invested in Decentraland because it was the first 3D metaverse ever to be created.
If you want to explore evolving metaverses, The Sandbox is your best bet. It also has entered the top 10 NFT marketplaces by 24-hour sales volume.
Look at the project visions of both and choose for yourself. Don’t let trends drive your decisions.
Reference & Sources:
https://thevrsoldier.com/metaverse-coins-comparison-decentraland-mana-vs-the-sandbox-sand/
https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-sandbox-vs-decentraland-where-should-you-set-your-bets-3b80785b985b
https://cointelegraph.com/news/sandbox-metaverse-alpha-launches-nov-29-after-four-years-in-development
https://twitter.com/TheSandboxGame/status/1460599573987143684/photo/1
https://www.cryptoslam.io/
https://decentraland.org/
https://www.sandbox.game/en/