What happened

The crypto sector continues to make a nice move higher this morning, driven by outperformance from a number of niche corners of the market. Among the winning groups investors are focusing in on this morning are metaverse-related tokens. As of 9:45 a.m. ET, The Sandbox (SAND -1.94%), Enjin Coin (ENJ -2.99%), and Decentraland (MANA -1.60%) moved 11.2%, 9.7%, and 8.9% higher, respectively, over the past 24 hours.

These moves appear to be the result of a number of positive catalysts, which are actually being priced into these tokens right now.

First, various reports that Time magazine has partnered with The Sandbox to develop a virtual rebuild of New York City has investors excited. This collaboration was announced yesterday, with Time reportedly looking to build a "TIME Square" in this virtual world.

Secondly, accounting firm KPMG has announced that the company will be opening a metaverse "collaboration hub" aimed at connecting its employees and clients via the metaverse. Various education and collaboration activities are expected to take place in this metaverse hub. While the company doesn't appear to have yet picked a platform, KPMG did note the company would continue to look for opportunities in the Web3 and crypto space. 

So what

The rush to own a piece of the metaverse doesn't appear to be over. And while many of these top metaverse-linked tokens have suffered greatly at the hands of an unrelenting market, corporate adoption of the metaverse continues to inspire investors looking for long-term upside.

Various estimates peg the aggregate value of the metaverse at between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030. That's a massive potential total addressable market, with various crypto projects looking to capture a slice of what could be a very significant pie. 

Should corporate adoption of the metaverse continue to pick up, crypto investors in many blockchain-based metaverse projects appear to have a secular catalyst to ride, at least for now.

Now what

The crypto market is still recovering from what was a rather dismal weekend. Most tokens sunk to new annual lows, with many reaching levels not seen in multiple years. Accordingly, it's easy for investors to take a bearish perspective on this market.

However, today's impressive rise in these metaverse-linked tokens could be a sign the market is still willing to price in good news. With other risk assets rebounding, perhaps this is more than just a bear market bounce. Time will tell.

For these three metaverse cryptos, investors will want to watch how adoption and partnerships ultimately work out. If a robust ecosystem can be built, there might be something here. Indeed, this is still an exciting piece of the crypto world I think is worth exploring, despite how these tokens have performed of late.