The term was initially coined by sci-fi novelist Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, “Snow Crash”. It was later on reimagined as the Oasis in “Ready Player One”, another sci-fi novel written by Ernest Cline in 2011. The story was set in a dystopia in 2045 which depicts the story of protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game. Although the book got terrible reviews for some reasons, it gave us a glimpse of what “metaverse” looks like.
Now, we are looking at the realization of “metaverse” with blockchain technology. With various metaverse projects and the buzz created by metaverse itself, investors will have a wide range of investments to choose from. Definitely, 2022 will be the beginning of more innovation from these projects attempting to achieve a metaverse. Let’s have a roundup of the most promising metaverse projects in the crypto space today.
Decentraland
It is a 3D virtual world platform built on the Ethereum network. With the platform, users can buy virtual plots of land in the platform as NFTs using MANA (Decentraland), the native token of the platform. Decentraland was created by Argentinians Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordino and has been in development since 2015. It was launched in 2017 where parcels of digital lands were sold for $20 and MANA token was offered for $0.02 which raised a total of $26M. It was opened to the public in February 2020 and is overseen by the nonprofit Decentraland Foundation. Sotheby’s auction house and New York-based digital real estate developer Republic Realm both purchased a parcel of digital land from the platform. The government of Barbados also announced its plans to open an official diplomatic embassy in Decentraland in November 2021.
Currently, the cheapest parcel of digital land in the metaverse platform is now at 3.46 ETH or $10,992.77 with ETH (ethereum) current price at $3,177.10. MANA (Decentraland), the native token of the Decentraland, is currently at $3.24 and with a market cap of $4,992,393,581.
Sandbox
It is a play-to-earn game that combines blockchain technology, DeFi, and NFTs in a 3D metaverse. Using the platform, players can play, build, own, and monetize their virtual experiences. The Sandbox was launched by Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget in 2011. The platform is powered by its utility token, SAND (Sandbox). According to Borget, co-founder and CEO of Sandbox, digital land sales have exploded and have now generated a total sales of $211 million. Snoop Dogg, Deadmau5, The Walking Dead, Smurfs, and Care Bears were just a few of the big names who own virtual lands in Sandbox. In recent reports, an NFT collector spent $450,000 to buy a parcel of digital land in Snoopverse and officially became rapper’s neighbor. The cheapest digital lot in Sandbox costs between 0.3 ETH and 0.5 ETH or $953 to 1,588 with ETH (ethereum) price at $3,177.10.
SAND (Sandbox), the utility token of the metaverse platform is now at $4.52 with a market cap of $4,893,260,161 as of writing.
Radio Caca
The platform unifies several current subjects such as DeFi, NFTs, and play-to-earn games. The Maye Musk Mystery Box (MPB) NFT and DeFi+GameFi vehicle for the USM Metaverse is managed by Radio Caca. It is also the exclusive manager of Maye Musk Mystery Box (MPB) NFT and it is also a DeFi+GameFi vehicle for The USM Metaverse.
Although a new player, the project should not be underestimated given its powerhouse list of partners with the likes of Google AI, Microsoft, and Space X which will help realize its vision of a large metaverse. RACA (Radio Caca) in recent data by Crypto.co is now at $0.002237 and now holds a market cap of $430,288,483.
Alien Worlds
It is a blockchain-based metaverse where players can play to earn NFTs. Players get the opportunity to mine the token TLM (Alien World), the platform’s token through battling with other explorers and earning commission from their virtual real estate. Launched only in December 2020, the game had broken through 200,000 users in August 2021. Before the end of 2021, the number of users of the metaverse game has already reached more than 1.4 million.
TLM (Alien World), the platform’s token is now at $0.151141 and has reached a market cap of $193,951,216.
Star Atlas
It is an open-world, space exploration, grand strategy MMORPG set in a galactic universe, with play-and-earn mechanics and player ownership. Using the platform, players pilot ships and engage in trade, commerce, and battle with other players over scarce resources. Super Atlas is built on the Solana blockchain and has utilized the recent technological breakthroughs by using Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite to create cinematic quality video games and visual experiences.
The metaverse will be utilizing two tokens: the ATLAS (Star Atlas) and POLIS (Star Atlas DAO). ATLAS will serve as the powering token of the entire metaverse while POLIS is the governance token. ATLAS (Star Atlas) is now at $0.053603 with a market cap of $118,243,160. POLIS (Star Atlas (DAO)on the other hand has reached a market cap of $61,155,827 with its current price at $1.55.
NFTs, DeFi, and now comes metaverse, the crypto market has now become an even more diversified market where investors can explore all possibilities to earn. Although still at an early stage, the metaverse has caught the attention of a large number of investors. The metaverse will surely open doors for opportunities to explore the power of blockchain and will finally pave the way for real-world use cases for cryptocurrencies.
