BIC Video News Show: Sandbox (SAND) Review

In this episode of BeInCrypto’s Video News Show, host Jessica Walker digs into The Sandbox. 

With the world going mad for everything metaverse-related, a less-known project caught our eye this week. It started way back in 2011, but the Sandbox seems to be hitting its stride exactly ten years later! A 325% gain for their SAND token since October is also a very strong signal.

So, in this video, we’ll tell you everything about the Sandbox — what it is exactly, who are its founders, its competitive advantages, the chart of the SAND token, as well as who has invested in the idea, and what you need to know before its big launch at the end of the month!

What is The Sandbox?

Launched in 2011 by Pixowl, The Sandbox is a blockchain-based virtual world that allows users to create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game. By combining the powers of decentralized autonomous organizations and non-fungible tokens, the Sandbox created a decentralized platform for a thriving gaming community.

According to the official whitepaper, the Sandbox platform’s main mission is to introduce blockchain technology in mainstream gaming successfully. The platform focuses on facilitating a creative “play-to-earn” model, which allows users to be both creators and gamers simultaneously. The Sandbox also employs the powers of blockchain technology through the SAND utility token, which facilitates transactions on the platform.

Who Are the Founders of The Sandbox?

Arthur Madrid is co-founder and CEO at Pixowl, and he is one of the driving forces behind The Sandbox. He graduated with a degree in economics from Université Paris Dauphine in 2000. Madrid’s professional career began as a consultant for Eurogroup Consulting France, but he soon found his entrepreneurial spirit.

Sebastien Borget is also a co-founder at Pixowl and serves as the COO of the company. His professional career began as a project lead for 1-Click Media, and since then, Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borget have been an entrepreneurial duo. They founded Pixowl in 2011 and have been continually working on projects together.

What makes The Sandbox unique?

The Sandbox is a unique platform because it introduces blockchain technology to the world of gaming. The gaming industry is a huge untapped market when it comes to the adoption of blockchain tech, and Pixowl saw that in 2011. By creating a universe where gamers can create and collect blockchain-based assets, the Sandbox aims to revolutionize the market. It makes a niche for itself in the global market of gaming even though there are many competitors nowadays.

By focusing on user-generated content, the Sandbox creates a metaverse of involved players who contribute to the platform’s further development. Not only that, by introducing the SAND token, the Sandbox promotes decentralized governance and allows users to share their views and ideas about the development of the project. Thanks to the evolving technology, decentralized governance is becoming a must-have in blockchain-based projects.

The company started out with a bang and attracted support and investments from numerous big names in the gaming industry. These include brands like Atari, Helix, and CryptoKitties. The latest one is SoftBank and we’ll take a closer look at their investment right after we check out their parabolic chart.

SAND chart

SAND has been on a meteoric surge in 2021, gaining over 9,000% over the past 12 months. And while the chart before October 28th does show that incredible climb, we decided to focus on that specific date. 

There are several things that happened around that day, so it’s perhaps a combination that triggered the rally. Some credit the hype after Facebook’s renaming to Meta and their decision to go all-in on metaverse projects. Others claim it’s more about the multiple investments from Ubisoft and the approaching Alpha event when players will be allowed in their metaverse. 

Whatever the reasons, the price went parabolic and gained over 500% in less than a month. After a slight reversal, it’s trying to break even higher at the time of recording. A sort of formal debut is expected for November 29, so we think you should definitely mark it in your calendars and watch the SAND token chart!

SoftBank investment

Focusing a bit more on those first days after the rally, we came across a very important investment, from a very prominent fund. The Sandbox raised $93 million from investors led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

This latest fundraise came a little over a year after the last round, as the company saw fast growth in monthly active users and crossed $144 million in transaction volume on the platform. It also marks Vision Fund 2’s first investment in a company that issues its own cryptocurrency.

This investment will help fuel the growth of the Sandbox creators’ economy as it expands from gaming into fashion, architecture and virtual concerts, Sebastien Borget, chief operating officer, said in an interview.

“We are creating this open metaverse. We are positioning the Sandbox against those giant tech companies who are claiming the metaverse to be theirs, offering an alternative where users are first,” said Borget.

Sandbox Alpha event

The Sandbox is opening up part of its Metaverse to players for the first time via a multi-week play-to-earn Alpha event. Only a handful of lucky players will get to enjoy the full experience, but it will allow them to monetize their time spent in the Metaverse. They’ll be able to purchase land and create NFTs within the game and can earn SAND by completing various quests and staking the token.

According to a Nov 17 announcement from the firm, the event will start on Nov 29 at 1 pm UTC and will run until Dec 20. A select group of just 5,000 users will have the chance to earn up to 1,000 SAND and three exclusive NFTs via time spent across 18 experiences developed by The Sandbox teams.

The three exclusive NFTs will only be available during the event. They will depict a medieval-style gate, a blue and black dragon, and a longsword that are all usable in the Sandbox Metaverse.

The Alpha Pass is an NFT ticket that grants full access to the event to 5,000 individuals. Some 1,000 are up for grabs in a raffle for Sandbox Landowners, and 2,250 more will be given out to Sandbox account holders via daily social contests over a three-week period. These golden tickets will also be on sale on OpenSea’s secondary market between Nov 29 and Dec 19.

Players without the pass will be able to access three experiences and the Alpha Hub, a multiplayer gaming mode that features a range of locations and quests, but they will not be eligible for P2E rewards. According to data from OpenSea, the floor price for Sandbox NFTs sits at around 1 ETH, worth around $4,200 at the time of recording.

Recap

Let’s wrap things up with some key figures: Sandbox’s creation tools in beta mode have more than 30,000 active users each month. Its virtual real estate lands have more than 12,000 unique owners in the community. The total value of the virtual world exceeds $2 billion at the time of recording and there are more than 165 partners, including Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, the Smurfs, Deadmau5, and Care Bears own LAND.

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