What is The Sandbox (SAND)? A Beginner’s Guide
When the Metaverse narrative emerged thanks to Meta, crypto developers of virtual worlds enjoyed the attention but also were pressured into making their own metaverses ready for adoption. What is The Sandbox crypto Metaverse project? Find all you need to know in our guide!
Key Takeaways
- The Sandbox is a 3D virtual world divided into experiences, or game world instances with various content. It is built on Ethereum, and its in-game assets are represented by non-fungible tokens;
- The Sandbox has a marketplace for in-game assets and user-generated content, which can be created with VoxEditor and Game Maker;
- The native cryptocurrency of The Sandbox, SAND, is needed to buy in-game assets. It is rewarded from in-game activities and staking of LAND NFTs.
What is The Sandbox?
First and foremost, The Sandbox is a 3D virtual reality platform, recognizable by its voxel art style. Its unique spin is in being built on the Ethereum blockchain and having capabilities it enables.
For instance, The Sandbox has monetization capabilities possible only in the blockchain ecosystem: particularly, the tokenization of assets and user-generated content (UGC).
Another appeal of The Sandbox is in ownership of parcels of digital land. Owners of these lots are free to transform them into experiences by setting up activities and environments, which can also be monetized with the native tokens.
It’s nigh impossible to maintain a consistent art style in a game that relies heavily on UGC, but courtesy of the developer Pixowl, The Sandbox has tools that are there to help devs and users create voxel assets and code gaming experiences.
VoxEdit is a voxel editor that helps create and animate 3D models that look organic in the game’s art style. To build games for experiences, The Sandbox offers the Sandbox Game Maker tool, and everything created with VoxEdit or Game Maker can be traded on the native NFT marketplace.
The Sandbox metaverse client is currently in the public beta stage. Updates are rolled out in seasons, and the current season, S2, has a total of 35 developer- and contributor-created experiences.
Hong Kong Star Ferry recreated in the Metaverse? Snoop Dogg’s NFT collection and his own corner of the Metaverse? These are only a couple of experiences you can find in The Sandbox.
So, what is The Sandbox’s price of admission, if any? While the native cryptocurrency SAND is necessary for in-game purchases, users do not need to pay to explore The Sandbox.
The LANDs are represented by ERC721 non-fungible tokens, each lot is assigned a coordinate in the The Sandbox’s metaverse. ASSET tokens represent UGC and are used as certificates of copyright on the Marketplace.
History and Team behind The Sandbox
The Sandbox is actually a rebranded version of the mobile games from the franchise of the same name. The blockchain-based game builds on seven years of the mobile The Sandbox franchise’s run.
The Sandbox was being designed 2018 through 2020, when multiple funding rounds took place: a seed round, strategic sale and Initial Exchange Offer on Binance. In total, over $6.8 million was raised in token presales alone.
The developer, Pixowl was founded in 2011 by Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget, currently CEO and COO of the company respectively. The studio was acquired by Animoca Brands in 2018, making it the sister company of another popular blockchain game, Axie Infinity, among others.
The Sandbox’s HQ is based in Hong Kong but the team responsible for making the game operates from all around the world.
What is SAND?
As briefly mentioned before, The Sandbox uses a native fungible cryptocurrency usable on the platform: the SAND crypto token. While each LAND token is unique, SAND tokens are used as a form of currency on The Sandbox marketplace.
Since The Sandbox is powered by Ethereum, SAND and LAND use the Ethereum token standards: ERC20 for SAND, ERC721 NFT for LANDs. SAND can buy you avatar customization and access to content should the experience owner charge for it.
What is The Sandbox Crypto SAND Used For?
There are quite a few use cases for SAND within the The Sandbox metaverse, as per the whitepaper:
- It is The Sandbox’s currency. Players can customize their experience, creators can monetize their content using SAND tokens;
- Staking is the way to receive passive income from LANDs, as well as the only way of receiving in-game resources for ASSET minting;
- Governance. Owners of a stake in The Sandbox’s DAO will get to decide its future;
- Fee re-capture: 5% of the total volume of SAND transactions is distributed between the staking and foundation pool.
Comparison with Similar Projects
Perhaps the most prominent competitor to The Sandbox at the moment is Decentraland. After all, the premises of the projects are the same, and the differences between them are in the specifics.
The Sandbox Metaverse is divided into more plots of land (166,464 vs. 90,601), and it allows joint ownership. In Decentraland, parcels of land are generally individually owned with the exception of community-owned plazas.
The Sandbox is not run by a DAO (at least, yet) but by a Hong Kong-based company Bacasable. However, their users get to enjoy a better idea of where the project is headed, since there are always updates in the official channel.
Decentraland was the first to make a proof of concept and launch a public version of their virtual world. The Sandbox at the moment is in its public beta, and accessible on a PC with an official client.
What is The Sandbox Criticized For?
The Sandbox is still in very early stages of development, so performance issues should not come as a surprise. What should be concerning is scammers already making fake LAND trades.
The development team chose to proceed with the launch as carefully as they could, by ceding decentralization at first. Aside from the Foundation governing the development, there are also significant limitations imposed on who can add assets to the game.
As a metaverse, The Sandbox also comes with a slew of both familiar and undiscovered challenges. The leader of the trend, Meta came against a hurdle as US regulators ordered a shareholder vote that must take into consideration potential psychological and human rights damages that could occur on the platform.
Partnerships and Future Plans
The Sandbox prides itself on the amount of partners they have in all capacities: from backers and sister companies to virtual land owners.
Among the companies that build experiences in The Sandbox are Ledger, Standard Chartered, and Regal Hotels Group. The Dubai Emirate’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority also announced establishing a virtual HQ in the metaverse.
What is The Sandbox crypto’s future holding in store? According to the roadmap, players can look forward to multi-platform support and the formation of the DAO by 2023.
The Sandbox in Social Media
Snoop Dogg is one of the large names in crypto, and he seems to have a particular fondness for The Sandbox. He has released several exclusive tracks as NFTs, and there is a plot of LAND he owns in this metaverse.
With Season 2 officially over, the players are already looking forward to The Sandbox crypto news about Season 3. Imagine the new games, events and experiences it will bring!
Crypto market is going down but some are viewing this as an opportunity. Same goes for virtual real estate, and Motley Fool metaverse reporter Kristi Waterworth suggests taking a look at The Sandbox.
How to store SAND?
As an ERC20 token, SAND can be stored in most wallets that have support for Ethereum tokens. The guidelines for The Sandbox recommend Metamask for its useful integrations.
The ChangeHero team can recommend the Exodus wallet if you want a software wallet with as many features as Metamask. Instant swaps are one of them, and the best rates for it are provided by ChangeHero.
How to Exchange SAND?
Getting SAND with crypto without sign-ups is possible on ChangeHero, and it’s very easy:
- Choose the currencies on the home page, amounts and the type of exchange. Provide your SAND wallet address in the next step and check the amounts;
- Double-check the provided information, read and accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy;
- Send in a single transaction the sum of cryptocurrency you will be exchanging. Fixed Rate transactions have a 15-minute limit;
- All done? Now we are doing all the work: checking the incoming transaction and doing the exchange as soon as it arrives. The Best Rate transactions will use the rate current to the time when your funds arrive. The Fixed Rate will use the rate at the time of step 1;
- As soon as the exchange has been processed, your SAND are on the way to your wallet.
ChangeHero’s customer support is available 24/7 in the chat on our website or through the email: support@changehero.io.
Conclusion
The pandemic normalized many things that previously were thought to be unfeasible, from remote work to moving every facet of our interactions to the Metaverse. The Sandbox arrived on the scene just in time to compete for the forefront of this nascent sphere.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Sandbox?
The Sandbox is a three-dimensional traversable virtual world divided into instances called experiences. The Sandbox is powered by the Ethereum blockchain, so it utilizes SAND tokens as a currency and NFTs for in-game assets and plots of land.
What is SAND?
SAND is a native cryptocurrency of The Sandbox. In addition to buying in-game assets, it can be earned by staking virtual lands.
How does The Sandbox work?
The Sandbox functions are supported by the Ethereum network. The front-end of The Sandbox, as well as UGC tools are developed in Unity.
How much is land in The Sandbox?
At the time of writing, the floor price for The Sandbox virtual land NFTs is 1.32 ETH ($2,760.43).
