Sandbox vs. Decentraland: SoftBank Helps the SAND Crypto Give MANA a Run for Its Money

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As the metaverse becomes a more trendy investing space, there are a number of blockchain meta coins that are vying for decentralized dominance. Thanks to Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) rebrand to Meta, following in their roadmap toward the ultimate goal of creating an expansive metaverse, meta coins like Decentraland (CCC:MANA-USD) are seeing vastly increased attention and properly huge gains. But there’s another play that’s stealing the spotlight from MANA called Sandbox (CCC:SAND-USD). Thanks to a new investment, it looks like the Sandbox vs. Decentraland battle is heating up still.

Decentraland logo displayed on smartphone screen, teal background behind the phone
Source: shutterstock.com/Piotr Swat

On a basic level, metaverses are largely similar. They are virtual realms that add a third dimension to social media. Users can log into the metaverse and have a virtual hangout with friends, experience a music festival from the comforts of home or attend a meeting at a cyber representation of their company conference room. Decentraland and Sandbox each offer these bridges between online social connection and the physical realm. And, they represent two of the largest blockchain metaverses.

Decentraland is the leader of the pack currently. The network’s MANA token saw a huge upswing in interest beginning last week. As investors turned to blockchain metaverses in the wake of Facebook’s rebrand to Meta, MANA saw a boom in transaction volume. Where daily average volume rested between $100 million to $200 million up until last Thursday, volumes since have averaged in the billions. Today alone, $5 billion in MANA is trading hands. The new influx of buyers is pushing MANA up 260% on the week.

With a Huge SoftBank Investment, the Sandbox vs. Decentraland Battle Grows Hotter

Decentraland has been soaking up a lot of the spotlight, although Sandbox’s SAND token has been growing as well. The crypto surged an equally impressive 230% over the last week, even without the same level of coverage as MANA. In fact, transaction volume of SAND today is outperforming MANA, with over $7 billion in tokens exchanging hands. Now, a piece of news around Sandbox is making a rock-solid argument for SAND overtaking MANA in the Sandbox vs. Decentraland fight.

Reputable Japanese holdings firm SoftBank (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) is making its own foray into the metaverse industry, and it’s selecting Sandbox as its long-term holding. The firm raised $93 million in Series B funding for the network, aiming to expedite its development. With this new rush of capital, Sandbox developers can push for more robust offerings like live music and new games for users.

As it stands right now, the two tokens are close in value, making it a great time to pick a side. SAND is trading at $2.82 after today’s 35% upward charge. Meanwhile, MANA is trading at $3.10 after a 7% gain heading into the afternoon. MANA is still definitively larger in size though, holding $5.6 billion in market cap against SAND’s $2.5 billion.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Brenden Rearick is a Financial News Writer for InvestorPlace’s Today’s Market team. He mainly covers digital assets and tech stocks, with a focus on crypto regulation and DeFi.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/11/sandbox-vs-decentraland-softbank-helps-the-sand-crypto-give-mana-a-run-for-its-money/.

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