WHAT IS DECENTRALAND (MANA)?
Decentraland (MANA) calls itself a virtual reality platform that is powered by the Ethereum network allowing users to not just create an experience but also monetize the applications and contents.
It is a virtual world where users can purchase land and can later navigate to monetize it or build upon the same. It was launched back in 2017 with a $24 million initial coin offering (ICO). The beta of the platform was launched in 2019 and was made public in 2020. Over time users have created a wide variety of experiences on the parcels of LAND available. The experiences range from interactive games, virtual interactions, and sprawling 3D scenes. The network has two tokens LAND and MANA. While MANA is an ERC-20 token that must be burnt to acquire another ERC-721 LAND token. MANA coin is also used to pay for various avatars, names, wearables, and other products available on the Decentraland (MANA) marketplace.
The unique features of Decentraland MANA are:
- Decentraland MANA is built for businesses, creators, and individuals looking for new business opportunities or artistic mediums and sources of entertainment.
- Decentraland is one of those growing projects that utilize an autonomous organization (DAO) structure for governance.
- MANA coin holders are in control of the governance of the Decentraland world.
Decentraland has been making strides too recently with the introduction of the very first metaverse ATM. Led by Transac, it is slated to become the world’s first fiat-to-crypto on-ramp designed to work in the Decentraland metaverse. Users can avail of this facility in the metaverse to buy MANA token and store them directly to their wallets, check it out!
Additional Read: Decentraland Whitepaper Summary
World's First Metaverse🏧 is Now Live!
The Transak ATM is the world’s first, fiat-to-crypto on-ramp designed to work in @Decentraland with which users can buy $MANA directly into their wallets!
Try Today👉https://t.co/EQlYWUbt3o#Metaverse #MetaverseATM pic.twitter.com/83OcmyGSjl
— Transak (@Transak) August 2, 2022
WHAT IS THE SANDBOX (SAND)?
The Sandbox (SAND) was launched by Pixowl in 2011 which is a blockchain-based virtual world letting users build, create, sell and buy digital assets via a game. It has combined the superpowers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) to create a thriving community of gaming enthusiasts.
The primary purpose of sandbox crypto is to make blockchain gaming mainstream. The platform follows a very creative play-to-earn model that allows users to become both gamers and creators. SAND is the utility token of the platform that helps in conducting transactions on the platform.
One of the driving forces behind the platform is Arthur Madrid, CEO, and co-founder of Pixowl. Sebastien Borget is the other co-founder and COO of the company who has been leading the Sandbox project from the front row. Both these guys founded Pixowl in 2011 and have been working on many projects together since then.
The unique features of The Sandbox(SAND) crypto are:
- The blockchain-based virtual world lets users build, create, sell and buy digital assets.
- Introduces blockchain technology to the gaming industry.
- Focuses on user-generated content and creates a Metaverse of involved players that contribute to the development.
The Sandbox developer team has also partnered with a security firm called BrandShield amid the rising cases of NFT thefts across the emerging sector. This shows effort from their side to help with those affected by thefts and try to secure their holdings.
We are proud to announce our partnership with @TheSandboxGame, a decentralized #gaming world and subsidiary of @animocabrands. With over 3M users trading with 500,000 #crypto wallets, player safety is no small feat.
Check out this @CoinDesk article: https://t.co/ebiwXF1gRD#BRSD— BrandShield (@BrandShieldltd) July 20, 2022
Additional Read: Sandbox Whitepaper Summary
Decentraland ( MANA) Vs The Sandbox (SAND): Top Metaverse Coins (by Market Cap)
| Comparison Basis | Decentraland (MANA) 123 | The Sandbox (SAND) |
| Launch date | 2019 | 2011 |
| Founders | Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano | Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borgat |
| Blockchain Protocol | Ethereum Blockchain(ERC-20 Token) | Ethereum blockchain(ERC-20Token) |
| Token Type | Native | Utility |
| Use Case | Decentraland is an online community combining blockchain technology with virtual reality. NFTs represent in-game collectibles and users store these NFTs in their crypto wallet and sell them on the Decentraland marketplace. | SAND crypto is used for governance as well as to buy, sell, and trade in-game items in the Sandbox Ecosystem |
| Market Cap* | $1,821,147,338 | $1,653,300,626 |
| Circulating Supply** | 1.85 billion MANA | 1.28 billion SAND |
| Consensus Method | Proof-of-stake (PoS) | Proof-of-stake (PoS) |
MarketCap* and Circulation Supply** as of August 2022
Source: CoinMarketCap
Important note: MANA and SAND are one of the Top Metaverse Coins by Market Cap as on 4th August, 2022
MANA VS SAND – TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
So if we were to put both MANA and SAND head to head against each other, both of these crypto prices have moved more or less in a similar fashion ever since the beginning of 2022. However, SAND price have taken a bigger hit in percentage terms, totalling out almost 78% percent while MANA stands near 70% in the same timeframe. Now, it must be noted that both these cryptos as of writing this have almost the same market capitalisation.
However, from a technical standpoint, both these cryptos have participated in the recovery in the past month or so. That is a good sign and as and when the market actually breaks out of this humdrum zone, these two coins would be the biggest beneficiaries of the expansion in the NFT & metaverse space.
Additional Read: Sandbox Technical Analysis
DECENTRALAND MANA PRICE PREDICTION
MANA prices have managed to break out of a descending triangle and have sustained above its crucial support trendline. This bodes well for the immediate future of the crypto. Currently trading around $0.98, MANA will have to face a stiff resistance zone around $1.8 which may take 4-5 months to break out of, if all things go well. That level also coincides with the 200-day moving average thus a breakout over that would result in the flipping of the long term trend into a bullish one and hence be able to sustain a further run up from there.
The Relative Strength Index for MANA price chart also is at a healthy level of 53 which would support any positive action going forward in the token. If it doesn’t happen, then we may see some profit booking before getting another leg upwards. Then within a year from now, we may see MANA touch $3.5 levels sustainably.
Additional Read: MANA Price Prediction
THE SANDBOX (SAND) PRICE PREDICTION
SAND is definitely one of the weaker tokens out of the two. However, a slightly long term view on the daily chart for SAND price shows that despite the slight rise in price, the token is still stuck within a range of $0.9-$1.4. This range has been held for over two and a half months and hence would be difficult to break out of.
If it is able to convincingly break out of this accumulation zone over the next month or two – then the next zone of resistance would be between $3-$4 for the SAND crypto. This zone could again take up a few more months and could even last till a year from now.
PROS AND CONS OF SAND & MANA
PROS
| THE SANDBOX PROS | DECENTRALAND PROS |
| It’s an original idea – with the creation of an entire gaming universe based on Ethereum | Decentraland’s community governance is backed by the Security Advisory Board |
| It is more game-oriented than Decentraland, offering multiple unique closed worlds with custom made experiences | Decentraland provides the option for auctioning of NFTs and selling of LAND for MANA |
| SAND token can be used to participate in community governance & staking | MANA has multiple use cases including governance and as an in-game currency |
| – | Constant developer support by means of upgrades and newer protocols |
CONS
| THE SANDBOX CONS | DECENTRALAND CONS |
| It has major economic restrictions because despite being listed, it’s not a full fledged crypto | There is a dearth of engaging content in the metaverse world in Decentraland |
| Very limited target audience – only those who are hardcore gaming enthusiasts and like the worlds created here | There is lack in variation of terrain over all of Decentraland – unlike SAND which has multiple different worlds |
| Some lack of decentralisation since developers opted for pre-mining on the platform | Risk of exploitation as result of cyberattacks on the platform |
Additional Read: Is Decentraland MANA a good investment?
Should you buy MANA Coin or SAND Crypto
Both MANA coin and the SAND crypto are Metaverse tokens developed and built on the Ethereum blockchain. Although both these cryptocurrencies are based on ERC-20 their ecosystem and experiences are completely different. Both the sandbox crypto and MANA coin are promising contenders of the Metaverse and have a lot to offer to both investors as well as players.
There are currently 3.2 billion gamers across the globe and the average money spent on these games yearly is $100-200. It is quite natural that there is a significant rift between the Metaverse coins for their piece of the pie.
The Sandbox consists of 166,000 plots of land that are further grouped into estates (owned by an individual) or districts (owned by more than one person). These lands can be both customized as well as monetized along with items being traded on the Sandbox marketplace. According to reports, this Sandbox crypto marketplace ranks among the top 10 NFT projects in terms of sales volume.
Decetraland on the other hand has 90601 parcels of land that can be bought on the Decentraland marketplace with the native token MANA. These parcels are further grouped into individual parcels, estates ( more than one parcel), districts ( parcels having similar themes), and plazas (community-owned untradable parcels).
The team at Sandbox has been in the gaming industry for a long time now. They have launched various mobile and PC games and have teams across the globe. Decentraland founders, on the other hand, have stepped down from major positions and only act as advisors for the company. The Sandbox crypto has partnered with Skybound Entertainment, Big Fan, Ubisoft, and even Snoop Dogg. Decentraland on the other hand is backed by 20 investors such as Digital Currency, Animoca Brands and has also partnered with Samsung, Polygon, and the South Korean government. Grayscale has even locked over 20 million MANA tokens.
Both Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND) have their unique features. It’s always up to the investors’ discretion which appeals to them better. The investor must study the use cases of any crypto project before investing in it.
How to invest in both Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND)
Investing in crypto is super simple, safe, and secured with CoinDCX. It doesn’t matter whether you want to invest in the mana coin or the sandbox crypto, we have got you covered.
Here are the 3 simple steps to invest in your first metaverse coin with CoinDCX app.
- Sign up on CoinDCX
- Link your bank details
- Buy Decentraland MANA and Buy Sandbox SAND
Important note: MANA and SAND are one of the Top Metaverse Coins by Market Cap as on 4th August, 2022
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