With the increasing popularity of NFTs and Metaverse projects in the crypto ecosystem, The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA) experienced significant value increases in the last months of 2021. However, these altcoins have recently suffered a major blow due to the market downturn, resulting in over 60% loss in value within the past year.
Metaverse Ecosystem Bleeding
As Meta, the parent company of Facebook, made substantial investments and started intensive work in the Metaverse space, Metaverse projects witnessed rapid value increases and strong upward trends in a short period of time towards the end of 2021. Altcoins like The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA), the native cryptocurrencies of these projects, also experienced significant market value surges.
Platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland quickly gained a large number of users. Many global brands started investing in this space and opened their own virtual stores on these platforms.
However, following the rapid surges, most altcoins suffered significant value losses due to the downward trend in the cryptocurrency market. SAND and MANA experienced substantial decreases in their market values.
Over 60% Losses in the Past Year
After the surges recorded towards the end of 2021, the native cryptocurrencies of most Metaverse projects experienced significant value losses. SAND, which rose to levels around $7.5 in late 2021, has since experienced a strong downward trend, with a loss of nearly 70% in the past year, trading at around $0.3. Following its market value reaching $4.8 billion in 2021, SAND’s value has declined to $630 million in recent years due to these losses.
Decentraland’s native cryptocurrency, MANA, also suffered significant value losses similar to SAND. After reaching levels around $5.16 in 2021, MANA experienced a strong downward trend since the beginning of 2022, falling by over 60% in the past year and dropping below $0.3. MANA’s market value reached $9 billion in 2021 but has now declined to $550 million due to these losses.
