The metaverse came and the metaverse went. Its ascent and steep decline correlates closely to the increase in inflation and subsequent interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Now that it appears that peak rates are at hand, the metaverse is back. That means investors are again looking at metaverse stocks and cryptos.

Investors are bound to return to the familiar, directing their capital to prominent firms that dominated the early stages of the metaverse’s development. Thus, investors should expect the greatest returns to occur here.

Let’s revisit those names as the  metaverse comes back into fashion as the business cycle again tilts in its favor.

Meta Platforms (META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has had a storied run over the past few years. The company shocked the stock market in late 2021 when it chose to rebrand from Facebook to Meta Platforms. 

Rebranding sent a strong signal to the tech world that the metaverse would be more than a passing trend. However, at the same time, the rebrand was poor timing for Facebook. Mere weeks later, the markets began to price in the expectation of rising rates. That made Facebook’s pivot appear to be a strange choice and poor decision.

In 2022, Meta Platforms performed much worse than the other tech giants. This year, factors look to be swinging back in Meta Platforms favor, making it a good time to invest in META.

The virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) environments of recent Meta Platforms are better developed. The company will continue to push its hardware. Those sales will determine its success in the metaverse. It’s too early to tell at this point but the company deserves respect for sticking to its decision in riding out the business cycle and its rebrand. It could pay off in a major way. 

The Sandbox (SAND-USD)

The Sandbox (SAND-USD) was and continues to be one of the most prominent metaverse cryptocurrencies and projects. It’s a blockchain-based gaming platform in which users create and monetize their own digital assets. 

The Sandbox is competing with other blockchain-based cryptocurrency metaverse offerings including Decentraland (MANA-USD). Currently, more than 850,000 active players are using and developing The Sandbox, with approximately 5.7 thousand active daily users.  

Basically, The Sandbox will continue to excite investors because it offers similar growth trajectory to other assets like Roblox (NASDAQ:RBLX). 

Users will find all kinds of interesting and creative ways in which to monetize their assets. Whether in-game purchases, advertising, or unique game experiences, users will continue to create. 

The Sandbox remains exciting because it’s still early in its development. Its upside potential continues to be massive, persisting through a challenging 2022 and 2023.

Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has arguably been the best stock of 2023. Its strong performance has little to do with the metaverse and much more to do with the rise of artificial intelligence. Nvidia dominates the chip landscape in relation to AI.

That’s no secret. CEO Jensen Huang has mentioned exactly that at several conferences, repeatedly stating that Nvidia’s greatest opportunity is in AI. However, he’s also quick to note that he still believes in the  metaverse.

The company’s Omniverse platform is its answer to the metaverse opportunity. It will allow engineers and developers to create virtual and augmented worlds that Huang himself has stated could be twice the size of New York City.

Nvidia’s investment into the metaverse probably won’t be the reason that most investors will consider the stock. However, that investment doesn’t look to be a detractor at this point. Instead, it’s just one more reason to believe in Nvidia. The markets have recently checked Nvidia in relation to its valuation. It’s cheaper than it was, and  it has a metaverse catalyst. There’s plenty of reason to invest in Nvidia stock right now.

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois 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.