In terms of popularity, Decentraland is one crypto metaverse project that has frequently been in the news. This was partly because of the NFT craze, which also led to significant gains for the platform’s native tokens, MANA. Many NFT owners started using the platform to show off their NFTs. But NFTs aren’t the only thing on this metaverse platform. As its main feature, you can also buy virtual land and create virtual games and other digital assets –– hence the name. Sotheby’s, the broker of luxury goods and art, bought a plot of land in Decentraland and used it to create a replica of its London offices. This goes to show that even big companies are eyeing metaverse projects. Created in 2017, Decentraland is one of the older projects that has taken time to get recognition. Although MANA’s performance hasn’t been something to write home about, its market cap impressively stands at $1.8 billion as of august 2022, making it the second-largest metaverse token by market cap. MANA is down significantly since the beginning of the year, but it’s up slightly compared to a year ago.

Pixowl founded The Sandbox in 2012 as a mobile gaming platform and is a play-to-earn blockchain version that allows users to create their own avatars to access the various hubs, environments and games on the crypto-driven metaverse. This version of the game, launched in 2018 by its cofounders Sebastien Borget and Arthur Madrid, lets players create their virtual worlds with non-fungible tokens on Ethereum, earning rewards while participating in the ecosystem. In 2021, Borget and Madrid released the blockchain version of The Sandbox, which eventually became one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency games. The software allows users to build endless 3D items, ranging from buildings and vehicles to costumes and creatures. They can then add these items to the blockchain as NFTs, which they can sell on secondary markets such as OpenSea or The Sandbox’s crypto marketplace. With no background in coding required, players can design full 3D games they can monetize.