A Guide to The Sandbox (SAND) Crypto

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The Sandbox

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The Sandbox is a monetized virtual world built around in-game assets like decorations, plots of land and games. The developers wanted to make a game similar to Minecraft and Roblox, giving users full ownership of their creations using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Sand coin is the cryptocurrency players use to buy and sell these NFTs on the Sandbox marketplace. 

Even though it’s still in the public beta stage, its community and partners have already built an expansive world in the game. Plots of land and assets in the game can accrue significant value if demand for them increases. Many investors have already bought up some of the best locations, hoping to sell them for a premium once the game attracts a wider user base.  The game could make you a virtual real estate mogul, buying up and improving land before selling it to the highest bidder. 

What is The Sandbox?

The Sand token is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network and is the native asset of the Sandbox ecosystem. It is mostly used to monetize in-game items like land and decorations, but it can also be staked to earn interest. Sand is used as a governance token as well, allowing holders to participate in the decision-making process of the platform. The platform provides 3D editors where users can create and animate games and different kinds of items. They can sell these assets on the marketplace for Sand tokens. The tokens are added to the Sandbox’s blockchain as NFTs, ensuring they are unique and can’t be counterfeited.

The Sandbox game is played on a large map segmented into small areas called lands that can be bought and sold as NFT real estate. Land owners can enhance their plots with other NFT assets from the marketplace to increase their value. They can also rent their land to other players or even hold events and charge an admission fee. Lands can be joined together to create an estate or a district to attract more paying users. You can purchase land from the company when available or from marketplaces like OpenSea. 

The total supply of Sand will be 3 billion, although a majority of it will go back to the platform and its founders, advisors and team. Much of this allocation and some coins sold in initial sales will be locked from 3 to 5 years, keeping the circulating supply of Sand low. The project has a long list of partners including Atari, CareBear and Square Enix. These partners have already purchased large plots of land and built unique experiences for players. 

Brief History of SAND

Before building the most recent game in their franchise, the Sandbox team developed 2 incredibly popular mobile games in 2011 and 2016 with 40 million downloads together. Recently, the company and its partners decided to focus on monetizing user-generated content for creators. The platform wanted to allow users to fully own the content created in the game. To meet this goal, Sandbox developers incorporated their already popular IP into the Ethereum blockchain.

Sand was listed in Q3 2020 via an initial exchange offering (IEO) on Binance Exchange. It opened trading on Binance at a price of $0.0083, and its price stayed mostly flat before it surged in price in February 2021. In early 2021, SAND tokens soared to over $0.90 per coin, appreciating multiples over its value just months prior. However, SAND fell over 50% in the summer months of 2021. After Facebook announced its rebrand to Meta, The Sandbox surged past $8 before retracing back down at the end of November 2021. The token currently is in the top 50 coins by market cap, and it's per token price is over $6.

Is The Sandbox Useful?

As with traditional gaming platforms and most online commercial platforms, the utility can be determined by the loyalty of the user base. With a community of more than 750,000 supporting across social channels and 12,000 land owners, there is certainly a portion of the population that deems this metaverse useful. 

As creators continue to monetize their creations using the $SAND token, the utility increases within The Sandbox ecosystem. The Sandbox uses several token types to grow its circular economy within the metaverse. SAND is the main cryptocurrency most investors buy, and it’s an ERC-20 token used as the basis for all transactions. LAND tokens are unique NFTs that denote the virtual piece of real estate one owns, and ASSETS tokens are used as rewards for builders of user-generated content in the marketplace.

There are predictions that real-world assets will be traded as digital assets within the virtual world. However, the existing community is currently in building mode, and SAND will continue to be used to purchase services, trade assets, play games, create assets and govern the virtual world through voting and staking.

How to Play The Sandbox

While you don’t need expensive computer hardware to get started playing The Sandbox, you will need a cryptocurrency wallet. A common option is Metamask, as it’s easy to use with Ethereum and Layer-2 solutions like Polygon. You’ll also need some SAND tokens to make any in-game purchases or buy plots of land for yourself. It’s important to note you don’t actually need to own land to play in The Sandbox.

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 over $7 in a matter of days. After it nudged $8 and nearly a $8 billion market capitalization, it dropped about 30% and hasn’t recovered yet. It still has a market cap in the billions, which easily places it within the top 50 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. 

Facebook's Metaverse

Toward the end of 2021, Facebook announced its rebrand to Meta, which took many by surprise. The firm did this to emphasize its goals of creating a metaverse –– the company plans to invest $10 billion into developing its own metaverse. This caused metaverse cryptocurrencies to soar in value; both Decentraland's token and The Sandbox's token have increased over 500% since the announcement.

SAND Market Capitalization

SAND is currently trading around $6 with a market cap of nearly $6 billion. It currently ranks in the top 40 cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap. Much of its growth has been attributed to Facebook’s recent focus on the Metaverse.

Market cap is a strong metric because it takes both the price and supply into account. The price alone does not say much. A token’s price is largely dependent on the supply. However, the supply alone does not say much. 

Both metrics can be manipulated, but market cap combines these 2 metrics to create a solid picture of the token. It essentially says how much money is invested into a token, which is much more valuable than just the price or supply alone. 

While SAND’s market cap is much lower than some major tokens, it is still formidable. It has attracted new investors and has room for more — only 30% of the total supply has been released. 

Bull Case For The Sandbox (SAND)

If Facebook’s Metaverse is distributed for public use and integrates The Sandbox’s technology, the token could certainly appreciate. However, this is somewhat unlikely as Facebook already has its own cryptocurrency in development and may want to control this aspect of the Metaverse.

Another way the token could appreciate is if the game gains even more popularity. This is the major use of the token, and more users would drive the price up. However, The Sandbox faces competition from other projects like Decentraland (MANA).

Bear Case For The Sandbox (SAND)

If The Sandbox cannot gain steam and users stop playing the game, the price could fall. If users stop playing the game, the token will not be utilized, driving down the token’s price. This could happen if its competitors attract users from The Sandbox or if metaverse games become less popular. 

Another risk for SAND is scaling. If the game cannot support influxes of users, then the game will suffer. For example, if it cannot regulate content in the game effectively, then users may leave the game for alternatives. 

How to Buy the Sandbox

Best Crypto Exchanges for The Sandbox

Sandbox is currently available on Gemini, Crypto.com and Binance. While these are all great options, Binance will need to approve your account before you can start trading, and this may take a few weeks. With the large variety of altcoins available on Binance, it's well worth the wait. If you're looking to start trading sooner, then Crypto.com or Gemini may be better options for you.

Best Cryptocurrency Wallets for SAND

As previously mentioned, the safest way to store cryptocurrency is with a crypto wallet. Cryptocurrency wallets let you control access to your cryptocurrency funds, whereas exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini and others must hold custody of your funds. Checkout our top pucks for the best software and hardware wallets on the market today.

Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger

Ledger makes 2 fantastic hardware wallets that prioritize security without making it difficult to access your funds. The Ledger Nano S is the simpler model that is perfect for beginners. The Ledger Nano X includes Bluetooth functionality and a larger screen, maximizing ease of use. Both devices have the same certified secure chip, which ensures no one can access your cryptocurrencies without your device and its seed phrase. Ledger wallets support more than 1,000 cryptos and all ERC-20 tokens, including Sand.

Best Software Wallet: Exodus Wallet

Exodus is a software wallet that lets you earn interest on your digital assets. It also supports connection to the Trezor hardware wallet for maximum security and convenience. The wallet has a desktop and mobile app, giving you convenient options to access your digital assets. There are several other apps available for saving with over 145 cryptocurrencies supported.

Aside from storing your coins and earning interest, you can also exchange, send and receive coins at any time. 24/7 support, a large knowledge base, FAQs, videos and charting ensure that you always have the best information.

Exodus doesn’t charge anything to use its wallet. However, remember that there are network fees when transacting on the blockchain. For networks like Solana and Polygon, this may only be a few cents, but for blockchains like Ethereum, you may need to pay significantly more to process transactions.

The Sandbox Versus Decentraland

For any newcomer to the metaverse, the main difference you will notice between these two virtual worlds are the visuals — The Sandbox is pixelated and the other is not.

With approximately 30,000 monthly active users in The Sandbox and 18,000 monthly active users in Decentraland (source), it is fair to say that both metaverses are becoming more popular by the day. Both platforms have built their metaverses on the Ethereum blockchain. There are 166,000 plots of land in The Sandbox in comparison to 90,601 parcels of land in Decentraland. Both platforms allow users to create, build and monetize their land using NFTs and play-to-earn games.

Another similarity is that both metaverses have built-in creative tools. The Sandbox has Voxedit graphics editor and Decentraland has a custom builder tool, allowing users to customise and build unique digital assets for their estates.

Decentralnad has evolved to include many well-known businesses today, including ConsenSys, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and even the Barbados virtual embassy. It also recently sold its Fashion District for a whopping $2.9 million. The Sandbox has targeted famous faces and brands to offer a creative home for the world of NFTs and game developers.

Another difference between the platforms is the team structure. The Sandbox founders have vast experience in the world of gaming and are very involved in the direction of the brand. This gives it a more centralized feel with a dedicated roadmap outlined. Conversely, Decentraland is more community led with the Decentraland Foundation making decisions for the platform. 

SAND and MANA tokens have seen dramatic increases this year. This may continue as more users become familiar with the events and gaming opportunities offered within both platforms. 

How Long Will It Take For The Sandbox (SAND) To Reach $25?

A major price goal for SAND is $25. Many wonder if the token can reach this price. It is unlikely, but it is not impossible.

SAND was trading at around $0.10 for most of 2021, until it shot up to over $8.50 in November 2021. This is over an 8,000% return. A 400% increase would land the token around $25. While this does not seem like much compared to past gains, it is very unlikely.

A price of $50 would make the market cap around $50 billion, higher than that of projects such as Polkadot (DOT) and XRP. While unlikely, a $50 SAND is not impossible to reach. 

If institutional investors place money in the project or they see an influx of players, the price could certainly appreciate. Radical changes would have to occur in order for the token to go from a low of less than $0.04 in 2021 to $50 in a short amount of time. 

Trade, Sell or Convert your SAND Tokens

Altcoins like Sand can be extremely volatile, and you need to know how to sell your coins before making a purchase. If the platform starts to bleed users and creators, the Sand token will likely decrease in value. It could be smart to sell your Sand before player attrition becomes a major issue. The process to sell your coins for USD or USDT (a stablecoin pegged to the USD) on Gemini and Crypto.com is easy. Once you find the Sand/USD (or USDT) pair on the exchange, just complete the trade. Then you can withdraw your USD back to your bank account or keep it in the exchange to buy another crypto. 

Current Crypto Prices

Bitcoin and Ethereum led the cryptocurrency market in a massive bull run over the past year, reaching all-time highs of over $67,000 and $4,700 respectively. Many altcoins have yet to recover from their all-time high prices earlier this year, but certain layer 1 smart contract blockchains as well as metaverse cryptocurrencies have outperformed the general market. Check out our table below for real time cryptocurrency prices.

Is Sand a Good Investment?

Sand is a high-risk investment that has seen both massive upside and downside in its short history. Buying at the right time could earn holders immense returns, as the hype behind the metaverse is only increasing thanks to institutions joining in on it. However, Sand’s performance heavily relies on the game, and if it doesn’t attract enough paying users, the coin could lose much of its value.

Is Now a Good Time to Buy The Sandbox (SAND)?

Now might be a fantastic time to buy The Sandbox judging by its recent price action. Predicting whether SAND or the crypto market as a whole has bottomed out yet is too difficult. If the crypto market starts tumbling again, SAND will almost certainly follow. However, if the metaverse becomes anywhere near as important as Web3 people claim it to be, SAND has incredible upside potential already.

Does The Sandbox Have a Future?

The metaverse mania may very well continue into the future with the influx of big brands and individuals who realize the potential of building communities in the virtual world. Companies are seeing workers of all ages reimagining their careers entirely and searching for new opportunities where they can work from home. Perhaps, the metaverse is key to providing these opportunities.

A clear focus on partnerships with leading brands has increased the value and reputation of The Sandbox across numerous industries. Clever collaborations with celebrity names has allowed this innovative platform to differentiate itself from others. 

The Sandbox has managed to carve out a unique selling point as a metaverse housing some of the biggest brands. It has a clear goal to bring the platform to mobile devices before the end of 2022. As it invests in the creation of in-game jobs, continues to monetize the assets and adds features, The Sandbox should have a vibrant future. 

How Long Will the Crypto Bear Market Last?

It’s impossible to predict exactly when the crypto bear market will end, but historical technical analysis can be used to make an informed guess. The cryptocurrency market has always at least partially followed the stock market. Historically, stock bear markets last a little more than a year on average.

Experts are currently divided on how long it will take for the crypto bear market to end. Avichal Garg, a partner at Electric Capital (a massive crypto fund), believes that “the next two years will be rough.” He notes that organic growth in both new developers and founders is increasing in Web3, but it might not be enough to prevent a prolonged bear market. He rightly points out that no one knows what the crypto market will do during a macroeconomic bear market. It hasn’t had to suffer through one yet.

Catching the exact bottom or top of any financial asset is extremely difficult, let alone volatile ones like SAND and other altcoins. Luckily, therefew potent trading strategies that circumvent this problem. One of the best is called dollar cost averaging. In this practice, an investor makes a bunch of smaller purchases over a period of time instead of making one or two large buys at once. This process can lower the investor’s cost basis without having to time the bottom and lessens the risk of catching a falling knife. 

Will The Sandbox Ever Reach All-Time Highs? 

The Sandbox could certainly reach its all-time high again, but it all depends on a few major factors. It will not be easy. SAND fell more than 85% from its impressive all-time high of about $8.44. To put this into context, its market capitalization at this price was more than $7.5 billion. That would make it the 11th largest crypto today, barely falling behind Dogecoin. The team behind The Sandbox could potentially make this happen, but it will likely need to attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of new users to do it. 

One of the best arguments for SAND eventually reaching all-time highs again is its user growth. Sebastien Borget, a co-founder and the COO of The Sandbox, announced in April that its monthly active user figure had increased more than 10-fold since it launched in November 2021. It grew from 30,000 monthly active users during the alpha phase to 350,000. It may have continued to grow even more since April. 

Is The Sandbox (SAND) a Good Long-Term Investment?

SAND could be a fantastic long-term investment if it fits into your investment strategy and risk tolerance. It is an important part of the metaverse ecosystem right now and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

SAND already has extensive utility within The Sandbox. It is the main currency for the game and is the basis for all transactions and interactions within it. Users who want to buy cosmetic items to decorate their metaverse land plots need to pick up some SAND first to make the purchase. Sand is also used to monetize in-game experiences. For example, a player can build a roller coaster or minigame on their land and charge other players to experience it.

SAND will eventually be a governance token. The Sandbox will soon implement a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Holders of SAND, land plots and character avatars will be able to vote on important proposals deciding the future of The Sandbox. 

If The Sandbox can keep bringing in more users who need to buy and trade SAND, the token will likely perform well. Further utility might be announced later on to propel the token’s price too. 

How to Store The Sandbox Safely

Many investors don’t realize that keeping cryptos on a centralized exchange puts them at risk. If the exchange loses money from a hack or a liquidity problem, some (or sometimes all) of its users may not get their funds back. This risk can be entirely eliminated by holding your cryptos in a personally controlled wallet. The easiest to use and most common kind of wallet is a hot or software wallet. They store your info online, making it easy to make transactions and connect to crypto platforms like decentralized exchanges. One of the best hot wallets is Coinbase Wallet, which is available as a Google Chrome extension and an app on iOS and Android devices.

Hot wallets are often a better option than storing cryptos on an exchange, but they aren’t perfect. The safest way to store your SAND and other cryptos is by using a hardware wallet. Software wallets can be vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks and phishing. Hardware wallets are essentially invulnerable to cyberattacks because they are always kept offline. The leading hardware wallet brand in the world, Ledger, offers three devices: the Nano S, Nano S Plus and Nano X. All Ledger wallets support more than 1,000 different cryptos, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Dogecoin and all ERC-20 tokens (including SAND). 

How Does The Sandbox Fit in the Bigger Picture? 

The Sandbox is not the only token of its kind. In fact, a few tokens perform extremely similar functions in their respective ecosystems. For example, MANA powers the Decentraland metaverse as both a currency and as a governance token, just like SAND. SAND is not a governance token yet, but it will be as soon as The Sandbox DAO launches later this year. MANA is SAND’s biggest competitor right now, but ApeCoin could potentially beat out both of them. ApeCoin is the native token of the Otherside, an upcoming metaverse game by Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club. APE will likely have similar utility to SAND and MANA but within the Otherside ecosystem.

So, Is Now a Good Time to Buy The Sandbox (SAND)?

Now may be an amazing time to buy The Sandbox if it doesn’t exceed your risk tolerance and you believe metaverse games will take off. However, there is no way to be entirely sure that SAND and the market have already reached a bottom. If the metaverse game blows up eventually, propelling SAND into the top 10 cryptos, this might not matter much though. 

Frequently Asked Questions