It may have spiked in price during October and November, but metaverse cryptocurrency Enjin Coin (CCC:ENJ-USD) has sold off considerably in recent weeks. Dropping more than 46.7% from its all-time high on Nov. 25, this smaller “metacoin” has seen a slightly greater drop in price than its larger peers, such as Decentraland (CCC:MANA-USD) and The Sandbox (CCC:SAND-USD).
Yet while the metacoins trend seems like it could be as flash-in-the-pan as the “pupcoin” trend from a few months back, I’ll admit there may be more substance to this latest crypto-related phenomenon. Or else, tech giants like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB), aka Facebook, as well as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), wouldn’t be gearing up to try and dominate the metaverse equipment space.
With this, the recent cooldown in “meta mania” may just be temporary. Much like how crypto in general has moved in waves, yet has steadily increased in value over time, the same thing could happen here with meta-themed digital assets.
That’s not to necessarily say that now, while it trades for around $2.30 per token, is the time to buy. This category of cryptos could continue to pullback as traders may have put the cart before the horse. Nevertheless, based on its potential, it’s definitely one to consider buying if you’re bullish the metaverse is the next big thing.
Enjin Coin at a Glance
Before discussing where ENJ-USD could head from here, let’s take a closer look. First at the company behind it, then at the coin itself. As the name suggests, this is a native token of Enjin, a platform that enables sites within its ecosystem to create non fungible tokens (NFTs), including in-game NFTs such as virtual real estate.
Enjin Coin, a utility token, is powered by the Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) blockchain. It’s used to buy and sell NFTs within this ecosystem. Also, as my InvestorPlace colleague Mark Hake recently discussed, ENJ has a feature that makes it unique to other metaverse-focused cryptocurrencies. Not only can you use it buy and sell NFTs within its network, you can “melt down” said NFTs to extract its underlying value.
Started in 2009, Enjin predates the crypto/NFT era. With its solid foundation as a developer of in-game assets, it’s now becoming a major name in the fast-growing NFT space. Over 20 million people around the world play games powered by Enjin’s network.
Taking this into account, it may have a shot of catching up to — and surpassing — its larger, more well-known rivals.
How ENJ-USD Could Become the Top Metacoin
As it stands now, Enjin Coin lags Decentraland and The Sandbox in terms of market capitalization. Its market cap comes in at $1.9 billion today, versus $5.7 billion for MANA-USD, and $4.3 billion for SAND-USD.
However, it may not be this way forever. At least, that is if Enjin’s Efinity platform becomes one of the most widely used in this space. Built on Polkadot (CCC:DOT-USD) blockchain, it is governed by a separate token, Efinity (CCC:EFI-USD). But increased adoption of this platform from game developers will lead to increased usage of ENJ-USD. In turn, this means an eventual move to higher prices.
Compared to MANA and SAND, this may make Enjin Coin a much better opportunity from a risk-return standpoint. If Efinity fails to take off and this crypto ends up becoming an also-ran, its value will fall substantially from where it is today. If its network does take off, and it becomes a leading crypto in this area, it could reach a valuation far above where it is today. As this trend is just emerging, it’s tough to estimate a possible ultimate value for the token. Yet a move to a valuation in the tens of billions may not be out of its reach.
The Verdict on This Metacoin
With the high potential of ENJ-USD comes a high degree of risk as well. The metaverse may seem more than a fad, given that the tech establishment seems to believe its the next digital frontier. Still, that doesn’t mean that the road to widespread adoption will be smooth.
It’s going to take years for the metaverse to gain critical mass, if it ever happens at all. Speculators got ahead of themselves, pricing in a lot of future potential into meta-themed coins. This has started to unravel and could continue to do so in the near-term.
Even so, if you are bullish on the long-term potential of the metaverse and are mulling an investment in a meta-themed crypto, going with Enjin Coin rather than its larger peers may be the way to go.
On the date of publication, Thomas Niel held a long position in Ethereum. He did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any other securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Thomas Niel, contributor for InvestorPlace.com, has been writing single-stock analysis for web-based publications since 2016.
