One of the top metaverse platforms, Decentraland, currently finds itself in a purple patch. Its native cryptocurrency, MANA, is going through the roof. The token jumped from $0.38 on January 11 to $0.69 at the time of writing. That equates to an 80 percent increase in just seven days.
The New Year has started on an extremely bright note for the cryptoverse. Most coins are in the green YTD, with many projects recording double- and triple-digit gains over the last couple of weeks.
However, one category of coins that is off to an especially good start in 2023 is the metaverse token. After registering massive losses in 2022, metaverse projects such as Decentraland, The Sandbox and Axie Infinity are on the rise in 2023. Tag along as we track the recent performance of these metaverse tokens and look at some possible reasons for their sudden increase this year.
Metaverse tokens rally
One of the top metaverse platforms, Decentraland, currently finds itself in a purple patch. Its native cryptocurrency, MANA, is going through the roof. The token jumped from $0.38 on January 11 to $0.69 at the time of writing. That equates to an 80 percent increase in just seven days. Overall, the coin has rallied 130 percent YTD and ranks 3rd in terms of biggest gainers this year.
It’s a similar story with Decentraland’s closest competitor, The Sandbox. Its native token has seen a rapid increase in 2023, jumping from $0.48 on Jan 11 to $0.72 at the time of writing. That’s a 44 percent increase over the week. In all, SAND has gained more than 86 percent since 2023 began.
Not one to lag behind, Axie Infinity, the Pokémon-inspired metaverse platform, also joined the metaverse token march. The platform’s native cryptocurrency is up 21 percent over the last seven days. The token is currently trading at $8.87 after a 40 percent jump since the start of the year.
What is the reason for these gains?
With such performances over the last few days, metaverse tokens have even overshadowed crypto giants such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. But what’s causing these astronomical gains? Let’s find out.
One thing that has lifted the entire crypto market is the latest CPI data which showed reduced inflation in December. This could indicate that the US Federal Reserve may lower interest rates in the coming months. Spurred on by these positive developments, most tokens began flashing green since the start of the year.
The rally of metaverse tokens, in specific, could also have something to do with Apple announcing its entry into the VR space. On January 9, a Bloomberg report stated that consumer electronics giant, Apple, will launch its much-awaited mixed reality headset in the first half of 2023. The move could mark Apple’s future foray into the metaverse with immersive versions of Maps, FaceTime and other apps. This could help the mainstream adoption of metaverse technology and related platforms.
As for Decentraland, the project could also be buoyed by recent platform updates and some new user offerings. For instance, on January 12, Decentraland introduced a host of new features on the platform. These include highlighted avatars, a new user profile, the ability to add links to a profile, differentiated nametags, etc. A few days later, the platform also hosted a new kind of poker tournament called Sit-N-Go, which was quite a success.
Similarly, The Sandbox could also see an increase in network activity in the coming days. The platform is hosting a festival to commemorate the Lunar New Year. The event is slated to run between January 18 and February 28. It will allow users to compete in a series of games and win exciting prizes, including NFTs, associated memorabilia and 200,000 SAND tokens (worth nearly $144,140 at the time of writing).
All these factors, in combination with the general market uptrend, could be causing metaverse tokens to rise.
Conclusion
Metaverse tokens have registered handsome gains in recent times. However, they are still far from their peak valuations. In fact, MANA, SAND and AXS are down 85 percent, 90 percent and 94 percent, respectively, from their all-time highs. Therefore, while the current rally is encouraging, metaverse projects still have a long way to go before they can reclaim their glory days.
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