What Is Sandbox?

What Is Sandbox?

Nobody had imagined that blockchain technology would stir the entire world in such a way and make significant changes in the traditional forms of various actors, including technology, fashion, gaming, real estate, and whatnot. For instance, cryptocurrency is a new, autonomous, and secure digital currency. The year 2022 witnessed a sudden surge in the discussion about the Metaverse, thus drawing the attention of the mass towards Sandbox Metaverse and several other big and small projects.

The rise of the Metaverse

The science-fiction productions have considered the idea of the virtual world for a long time. While it started because that idea seemed interesting and far-fetched at the same time, with the growing interest of more and more people, the world was already half on its way to bringing the concept into reality.

Metaverse is supposed to be a virtual world with features that humans can interact with, just as they would in the real world. This concept has huge potential for people using the internet for approximately seven hours a day.

Metaverse can be defined as an immersive digital platform that acts as an alternative to the real world. On this platform, all of us would be able to build avatars that would represent us. These avatars would be able to work, have hobbies, shop, play together, interact with other avatars, make purchases or sell something, and do many more things in that virtual world.

Via these avatars, users can explore different communities and digital spaces and interact with people worldwide. The term Metaverse became mainstream when Facebook changed its name to "Meta Platforms". While Metaverse largely exists as a mere concept, various characteristics of the Metaverse are already in use at a micro level.

The industries involved in building the metaverse claim that the Metaverse is now at its nascent stage, and it will take many more years to come to bring the entire concept of the Metaverse into reality. For instance, it will take time before they can build the reality-enhancement potentials via virtual reality augmentation devices. Moreover, they need to make a certain level of transitions in methods of using the internet. Despite this, be it an expert, an enthusiast of the blockchain industry, or just a casual observer, both are significantly invested in this concept.

Prospects for the Metaverse

With Metaverse, content curators or creators can connect with their audience in a new way. It also opens doors to monetization potential via NFTs, digital merchandise, etc. Metaverse uses virtual currencies as the most prevalent means of payment. This aspect links the concept of Metaverse intrinsically to blockchain technology.

Even in its infancy, the concept of the Metaverse has attracted a wide range of mainstream audiences attention. The major goal of the Metaverse as of now is to work on enhancing and proving its real-life application in our day-to-day lives. It will offer enhanced experience in various fields. Several companies or businesses willing to work within this space should hire experienced personnel, like crypto analysts and experts, to get a better view of their implementing ideas.

The Metaverse in 2022 and Beyond It

Several major players and businesses in the industry are making huge investments in the Metaverse sector. Business giants like Microsoft and SoftBank are acquiring platforms and talents that would aid them in building their personalized version of Metaverse. These companies like Microsoft have already invested millions and billions of dollars in the enhancement and development of the Meta universe.

Some of these companies have already started to showcase their innovations to the public. For instance, Nvidia's Omniverse Enterprise or the Horizon Workrooms of Meta have already displayed the potential of work-related digital collaboration. Altspace VR is designed to aid those who want to virtually experience live events, like concerts and shows, in the digital world. Recently, companies from the fashion industry are also dealing with the NFT versions of their clothes, which they display for the digital world.

Whether this will be a major evolution of the internet universe or will be a trend that will soon be forgotten is still debatable. However, several experts from major giants believe that the public is already getting used to several aspects of this development and experiment. They believe that within a few years, Metaverse will emerge as a full-fledged, aptly functioning, popular, and widely adopted reality.

The Evolution

In many ways, Sandbox is a compilation of various ideas prevalent in the digital universe. Sandbox combines modern and traditional gaming concepts with the phenomenon of the play-to-earn model of blockchain gaming. It pays special interest to the highly anticipated growth potential of the Metaverse. The developers of Sandbox are working to achieve an early entry and adoption of these features.

Their keen interest in this sector has been evident since the earliest. A company named Animoca Brand's started to develop a game in 2012. This game was supposed to imitate the extremely popular title of Minecraft. Fans of Minecraft showed widespread interest in the Sandbox, and as of record, it was downloaded over 40 million times. With this, the developers were drawn towards another ongoing digital trend, the Non-fungible tokens.

It was in 2018 that the Sandbox was initiated as a blockchain-based project. The Sandbox developers aimed to create a 3-dimensional Metaverse replica of the real world, and all actions within this virtual world would revolve around a central monetary unit. SAND is the native token of the game, and the NFTs and various features of the Sandbox are dependent on the use of SAND. Take, for example, a situation where you want to purchase LAND, a territory in the game; you can purchase it using the game's native token, SAND.

Sandbox supports these transactions via a smart contract technology that works on the Ethereum network. With a recorded value of over several hundred million dollars, this project is popular as one of the best in this kind of blockchain-based gaming industry.

Simply put, Sandbox can be described as a P2E game based on the blockchain industry, decentralized finance, and NFTs. Using all these, the developers have created a virtual world that enables its users to create and customize their own digital avatars, assets, and games using several in-game tools available.

The users can create their own avatars or characters via the Sandbox and enhance their features and specifics. The users can use these avatars to interact within the created virtual world. Basically, with Sandbox, the players can purchase users can purchase digitally baked real estate called LAND. They can also monetize the virtual goods and services within the game by using NFTs and selling them on the Sandbox Marketplace in exchange for the SAND tokens.

With this feature, the users can gain experience, and further share them with others. In a way, this project is similar to Decentraland or any model of a blockchain-based Metaverse. Even the crypto traders and investors are drawn towards the Sandbox because of SAND, the game's native token. Thus, this model is beneficial for gamers and serves the crypto investors interested in trading SAND via several popular exchanges like Kraken, Binance, etc.

Core Features

Sandbox runs on the Ethereum blockchain network and enables its users to create a virtual world with the help of NFTs. Here users can interact with the ecosystem and its features via ETH wallets, where they can store their SAND tokens. To create these 3D virtual ecosystem graphics, Animoca used a software called VoxEdit.

The players must create their virtual selves or avatars to access several games, environments, etc., in the Sandbox ecosystem. Given that the origin of the game aimed to mimic the game model of Minecraft, it is more like a DeFi version of Minecraft based on blockchain tech.

With the use of voxels and other game-maker tools, users can even create their own items, and store them or sell them on the exchange in return for SAND. Users can do this by uploading their creations on the Sandbox marketplace. These creations are then recorded and registered on the ETH blockchain network as ERC-1155 tokens.

Tokenization in the Sandbox

Via tokenization, the artists and creators of the digital world can create all kinds of items. Tokenizations assists in the functioning of this ecosystem. Apart from SAND, there are other tokens too, that are available in this ecosystem. For instance, a LAND token is proof of ownership of any land parcel in this ecosystem.

The members of this ecosystem can create their assets and trade them into their respective SAND or LAND wallets. While SAND can act as fungible tokens, LAND tokens are non-fungible ones. Thus, every LAND token is unique in its way. On the other hand, users can interchange the SAND coins, which allows them to be used as money.

Just like other such games, Sandbox is based on a hybrid structure. The information concerning tokens, collectibles, etc., is stored on the decentralized blockchain network. On the other hand, visualization of the VR universe is executed on centralized servers.

Comparison With competitors

While Sandbox is the first game of its kind, with the ongoing buzz around the Metaverse in 2022, certain other ecosystems have emerged as a competitor of the Sandbox. Play to Earn games have managed to gain a significant share of attention amongst people. The developer teams of several games are looking forward to achieving the technical and PE-related potential of the Metaverse.

When Sandbox was first introduced, it was a direct competitor of Minecraft. However, the current Sandbox version aims to be Minecraft that would utilize the benefits and potentials of NFTs and the crypto universe.

The biggest competitor of the Sandbox is Decentraland, another Ethereum blockchain-based game with a similar-real estate theme. Here also, users can purchase plots, craft their own NFTs, and sell them on the ecosystem's marketplace. The native token of Decentraland is MANA.

Another competitor of Sandbox is Upland. This, too, is a blockchain game that features the real-estate theme. In this P2E game, too, users can own plots in the virtual world. They can also trade their NFT plots in return for money. Upland uses UPX coins and runs on the EOS blockchain.

Roadmap and Development History

While the journey of Sandbox started in 2012, it was introduced as a crypto project in 2018. The project succeeded in raising a total fund worth $3.41 million from several strategic investors like Square Enix, Hashed, and True Global Ventures.

Over time, Sandbox has established more than 60 partnerships to create content on its platform. Some of these partnerships include cartoon-related brands like Shaun the Sheep and Smurfs. Famous gaming companies like ATARI have also been an area of interest for Sandbox.

Even after the announcement regarding this new version of Sandbox, the development has been quite slow since then. Certain glimpses of the game's content were made public in 2019, and in the same year. The Sandbox held a pre-sale of LAND and had a beta release for Voxedit.

By the end of 2021, the Sandbox was ready to release the main version of the multiplayer functionality. The play-to-earn seasons also started at the end of the year.

In 2022, the Sandbox is looking forward to opening up new Metaverse features for its LAND owners. By 2023, the platform plans on including over 5000 games per its developers' expectations. Somewhere around the time, it will also introduce new NFT partnerships and additional LAND sales.

The SAND Token

The native token for the Sandbox game is SAND. It is a crucial element required throughout this Metaverse. Almost all transactions that take place in this ecosystem require SAND. According to the developers' announcement, the total number of SAND that is 3 Billion.

As a utility token, users can use SAND to interact and make transactions with other users within the Sandbox ecosystem. The users of Sandbox require SAND for every type of transaction, whether they wish to play some games, modify their avatars, trade assets, or purchase LAND.

SAND also works as the governance token of the Sandbox. Via a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), the SAND holders can vote on important decisions related to the ecosystem. They can also propose changes to the platform.

There is also a feature whereby the SAND holders can stake SAND in the game. For this, they are rewarded in various forms, including being granted a share of the revenue generated by all transactions in SAND tokens. By staking SAND, users can increase their possibilities of finding valuable CATALYSTs and GEMs. These are the resources of games using which the users can create assets with rare features, making them more valuable.

Tokenomics

All transactions that take place in the  Sandbox require SAND, the native token of the game. SAND is an ERC-20 token. The entire game is based on the Ethereum blockchain network. Apart from SAND, the Sandbox also offers various other tokens that are used for other forms of use.

For instance, LAND tokens indicate the ownership of users of the virtual plots or lands of the ecosystem. The ASSETS are used to collect NFTs. The game's in-game resources come under the category of ERC-721 tokens.

Users can also obtain more SAND, Gems, and Catalysts by staking their SAND. Catalysts and Gems are ERC-20 tokens. Catalysts represent the scarcity in the user's ASSETS.

Sandbox bears the Ethereum gas fees for the user's transaction. This makes it easier for the players to use this platform.

Price Predictions

When we talk about the price prediction of SAND, and whether investors have a scope if they invest in SAND, there are several factors that we have to take into consideration. First and foremost, the price of SAND hugely depends on the game's evolution. Over the past few years, the Sandbox has been in its development stage. The alpha version of several Sandbox features was made available only in 2022. However, with the growing adoption of this platform, the interest of several experts is also rising in this project.

Since the project came into force, its price reached its all-time high of around $6.3 in 2021. According to crypto experts and analysts, the price of SAND is supposed to gain back its momentum and grow to around $4 by the end of 2022. However, that depends greatly on the mass adoption of the project, and with the ongoing bearish trends, up until now, it hasn't been able to do so. These experts have also predicted that the value of SAND would go up to $6 by the end of 2023 and $9 by the end of 2024. (the data is just an analysis and is subject to changes)

The users of Sandbox can have ownership rights over plots of land. This ownership of plots is denoted by what is called LAND. With this ERC-721 token, the user can access the platform's version of the Metaverse. LAND can be purchased using the native token of the Sandbox, SAND.

With the LAND token, the users can own a plot of 96 x 96 meters in the game. They can also purchase several plots and combine them into one. When other users want to use these plots, they can purchase them or take them on rent for some amount of crypto as fees.

The NFTs that the users create on the Sandbox platform are referred to as ASSETS. The players can use these ASSETS as valuable items within the frame. They can create these NFTs, store them, or trade them on the game's marketplace or any external marketplace that supports them. Trading these ASSETS is considered one of the most popular methods of earning SAND.

ASSETS are ERC-1155 tokens that represent different elements within the game via voxels. These NFTs can be anything ranging from your avatar, any equipment your avatar wears, or even some digital pet you wish to keep within the ecosystem.

Overall, since its emergence, the evolution of the Sandbox has witnessed a mostly positive trend. It has partnered with several business giants and artists that have contributed to the increase in its value. On top of it, its implementation of the phenomenon and features of the Metaverse also serves as a plus point. This concept has gained people's interest across the globe and various sectors, ranging from gaming to real estate to fashion industries.

When the market witnesses a bullish trend for most cryptocurrencies, it is obvious that SAND will also benefit largely. With the increase in the adoption of the game, the value of the native coin of the Sandbox is bound to rise. There is no plausible reason why SAND wouldn't meet the most positive price hike expectations, given that all the elements of the project map are resolved.

You can purchase SAND on several prominent crypto exchanges and trading platforms like Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com, Gemini, Huobi, KuCoin, etc. You have to follow just the standard steps that are required in the purchase of other cryptocurrencies. You can store these tokens in your exchange or move them toward the game, where you can use them to purchase LAND or NFTs.

You can stake SAND in liquidity pools that are available on the platforms. You'd receive rewards based on the amount of SAND you've staked. If you own LAND, this reward is further multiplied based on the amount of LAND you own. Apart from this, you can also earn special NFTs or features like Gems and Catalysts.

Whatever you earn from the pool, is divided between the staking fund and the foundation fund. While the staking fund incentivizes those who are staking, the foundation fund is a reward for the creators of the digital world.

There are several ways you can get SAND in the Sandbox game. You can purchase the native token of Sandbox via a crypto exchange platform like Crypto.com or Binance, etc. You can also earn SAND by participating in several contests within the game or through airdrops or the Sandbox Ambassador programs.

Sandbox, as a play-to-earn cryptocurrency-based game, features SAND as its native token. Almost every transaction within the Sandbox ecosystem requires SAND as its price. SAND acts as the money requires to purchase several NFTs, LAND, etc., that the players can use as resources. The users or investors can also gain from SAND by exchanging them for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies over several popular crypto trading and exchange platforms.

Given the highly volatile nature of the crypto universe, even the most proficient experts can't predict whether investing in SAND would give you the expected return or not. However, given the trends of SAND since its inception in the crypto world, the token is doing considerably well. It reached its peak at $6 in 2021.

And with the ongoing evolution of this game, its increasing number of downloads and adoption across the world, and its efforts in the Metaverse industry, the coin is witnessing growth again. In fact, it is safe to say that during the bullish trends of other major cryptocurrencies, there is a high chance that SAND would benefit too.

Sandbox is one of its kind play-to-earn cryptocurrency-based game that operates on the Ethereum blockchain network. It was founded in 2012, aiming to mimic the popular Minecraft game. However, in 2018, the developers introduced the feature where this game was based on the blockchain network. This game's major competitors are no longer Minecraft but DeFi games like Decentraland.

The Sandbox offers users a virtual world where they can purchase plots, called LAND, and customize them. They can further sell these plots or put them on rent and earn from them. Apart from this, the users can also create their avatars and customize them. They can use these avatars to interact with other users worldwide and trade LAND, NFTs, etc. with each other. There is a limited supply of SAND and LAND tokens. The players can use these tokens to create, purchase, or enhance their NFTs, Avatars, lands, etc. They can also stake their SAND to earn rewards and valuable items like catalysts and gems.

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