What happened
The Sandbox (SAND 4.00%) and Decentraland (MANA 3.41%) soared 38% and 30%, respectively, on Wednesday as investors' excitement for metaverse-related cryptocurrencies reached a fever pitch.
So what
An increasing number of people believe the metaverse will be the next evolution of the internet. They envision an immersive 3D virtual world in which people work and play, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge technologies.
While the idea of a metaverse has been around for decades, the thought that it could soon come to fruition gained steam after Facebook chose to change its name to Meta Platforms (META 1.54%) in October. The social media giant plans to spend as much as $10 billion to develop metaverse-building technologies.
Since that time, investors have sought out ways to profit from these exciting developments.
Image source: Getty Images.
Decentraland is one of the leading virtual environments. Users can create scenes, structures, and other attractions on digital real estate. They can also buy and trade goods on digital marketplaces. To do so, they exchange MANA, the native token of Decentraland's virtual world.
On Tuesday, a virtual plot of real estate in Decentraland sold for a whopping $2.4 million. The sale helped to boost excitement for digital real estate among investors. It also helped to drive up the price of MANA, as well other metaverse-related tokens like The Sandbox's SAND.
Now what
Excitement is also building for The Sandbox Alpha. The multiweek event is slated to begin on Nov. 29. Players will have a chance to enter The Sandbox metaverse for the first time and earn rewards, such as SAND tokens and exclusive non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
