Metaverse Crypto: Where To Invest And Why

The metaverse is a virtual universe that combines social media, online gaming, augmented reality, virtual reality, and digital currencies. The metaverse has gained momentum after Facebook rebranded itself as Meta Platforms. As the metaverse continues to grow, investors are now searching for the best metaverse cryptos to buy.

Some of the top metaverse cryptocurrencies include Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and The Sandbox. These cryptocurrencies have seen significant gains over the last 12 months, with Axie Infinity skyrocketing more than 29,700%. Other notable mentions include Bloktopia, UFO Gaming, and Star Atlas.

Metaverse cryptos are combining NFTs, crypto, gaming, and social media, offering a diverse range of experiences and opportunities for investors.

Axie Infinity (AXS)

The Axie Infinity ecosystem has its own unique governance token, known as Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). These are used to participate in key governance votes and give holders a say in how funds in the Axie Community Treasury are spent. AXS token holders will soon be able to stake their tokens to receive regular rewards.

Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT) with different attributes and strengths and can be entered into 3v3 battles, with the winning team earning more experience (exp) points that are used to level up an Axie's stats or evolve their body parts. The Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) is the central mechanism for running the Axie Infinity game. Players can buy, trade and earn tokens simply by playing. In addition, the best players of the season receive rewards in AXS. Moreover, AXS serves as a governance token that allows holders to vote on gameplay changes and influence the evolution of the platform.

The Axie Infinity network is primarily tied to its arena-fighting game. Users purchase Axies, which are in fact NFTs, and can become increasingly rare through "breeding". Users can combine their Axie NFTs into more rare and powerful ones through the supplementary token Smooth Love Potion (SLP). SLP is earned through playing the game, but it can also be bought, so players can earn a fair bit of income simply by playing the game and selling the tokens rather than using them.

The network is fitting in with the metaverse industry through its incoming land project. Developers are implementing a virtual community to the network, where users will buy plots of land and continually upgrade them through gameplay. The upgrade doesn't just add a "metaverse" label to the network, it also vastly expands the capabilities of the actual game. It implements things like resources and crafting, and adds a player-versus-environment element, where players will have to fight it out with computer-generated enemies in addition to other players.

AXS is the largest crypto play by market cap. As of November 2021, it had a market cap of $7.8 billion with 60.9 tokens in circulation. It has skyrocketed in popularity, seeing gains of over 325% since the beginning of August 2021.

Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland is divided into 90,601 parcels of land, each of which is an NFT. Users can develop and monetise their parcels however they want, and can also create and sell wearables, emotes, games, and interactive experiences. MANA is the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland and can be used to buy land parcels, avatars, wearables, and other products on the platform's marketplace. It can also be used to participate in the management of the platform by voting on policy updates, land auctions, and subsidies to improve the platform.

Decentraland has a market cap of $499.58 million and a circulating supply of 1.87 billion coins, with a max supply of 2.19 billion MANA. The current price of 1 Decentraland is $0.27, with a 24-hour trading volume of $19.88 million.

Decentraland has been described as the "poster child" of what the metaverse is thought to be. It gained popularity during the NFT trend as users sought a place to display their digital art, and its partnership with Sotheby's brought further attention to the platform. The reveal of Meta's rebrand from Facebook also contributed to increased interest in Decentraland as users sought a platform that was more controlled by its users than its developers.

Investors may be interested in adding MANA to their portfolio if they believe in the future of virtual reality and its ability to connect users worldwide.

The Sandbox (SAND)

SAND is an ERC-20 utility token built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is used for value transfers, staking, and governance. There is a finite supply of 3,000,000,000 SAND, with 680,266,194 tokens in active circulation as of March 2021. SAND can be purchased on several third-party exchanges, including Binance, Uniswap (V2), Gate.io, and LATOKEN.

The Sandbox consists of three main products: Game Maker, VoxEdit, and The Sandbox Marketplace. Game Maker is a set of tools that allows users to create and test 3D games on their LAND using ASSETS, without requiring advanced programming skills. VoxEdit is a free software for 3D voxel modelling and NFT creation. The Sandbox Marketplace, launched in spring 2021, is an NFT marketplace where players can upload, release, and sell their NFT creations (ASSETS) using SAND tokens.

The Sandbox offers a "play-to-earn" model, where users can be both creators and gamers. They can create, build, and trade digital assets, as well as monetise their time on the platform by keeping 95% of the SAND revenue. For example, users can create and sell ASSETS on the marketplace as NFTs, buy LAND and rent or populate it with content to increase its value, and build and monetise games using the Game Maker.

The Sandbox has gained significant traction, with a current market cap of $573.59 million as of August 2024. It has also attracted support and investments from notable brands in the gaming industry, including Atari, Helix, and CryptoKitties.

Efinity Token (EFI)

The Efinity platform prioritises NFTs and other forms of token creation and transfers, while keeping transaction fees in the background of platform activities. This shift in focus from transaction fees provides users with a better experience without requiring them to understand the network mechanics.

The total supply of EFI tokens is limited to two billion. As of September 2024, the circulating supply is 86,915,138.614 EFI, with a market cap of $8.17 million. The current price of EFI is $0.0940, having decreased by 0.05% in the last hour, 0.49% in the past 24 hours, and 2.37% in the past week.

It is important to note that the digital asset market, including cryptocurrencies like EFI, is not currently governed by specific regulatory frameworks in the UK, Europe, or the US. Investing in cryptocurrencies carries inherent risks, and individuals should carefully consider their investment strategies and conduct their own research before investing.

Bloktopia (BLOK)

Bloktopia's native token is BLOK, which is an ERC-20 token built on the Polygon network. BLOK can be used to access exclusive events and buy things within the Bloktopia metaverse. For example, BLOK is required to purchase customised avatars or lease virtual real estate within Bloktopia.

There are several ways to earn revenue in Bloktopia. One way is by purchasing real estate blocks in the form of NFTs, which can then be leased to advertising parties or used to host events. Another way is through ADBLOK, which is the revenue stream generated by Bloktopia advertisements. A proportion of the advertising fees generated will be redistributed to Bloktopia token holders.

Bloktopia has partnerships with major brands, including Polygon, Babylons, and Elrond. Elrond has purchased a virtual HQ on Level 1 of Bloktopia's skyscraper, which is a privileged location as it is where all players spawn by default.

To participate in the platform, users will need to buy the BLOK token. Token holders will be able to explore the 21-story skyscraper, attend events, purchase NFTs, and buy virtual real estate, among other things.

If you are considering investing in BLOK, it is important to keep in mind that there is competition from other metaverse projects and that BLOK has experienced a lot of volatility. However, investing in BLOK now could be a way to get in early on the metaverse trend.

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