Table of contents

1. What is the Metaverse

2. Metaverse Statistics

3. Metaverse project

3.1 The Sandbox

3.2 Decentraland

3.3 Axie infinity

4. Metaverse token

4.1 Market Cap

4.2 Price

5. Summary

1. What is the Metaverse

Metaverse originated from the science fiction Avalanche in 1992, which depicts a huge virtual reality world in which all people in the real world can work, play and live in this virtual three-dimensional world space through the image of digital avatars. Metaverse refers to the virtual world that people build with digital technology and can interact with the real world. Similar to the Internet-based and permanently online digital space depicted in the movie “Ready Player One”, the virtual and real worlds are linked together, and users can complete various activities in it. Metaverse is actually the process of virtualizing and digitizing the real world. It has the following core technologies: the first is extended reality technology, namely VR and AR, which provides immersive user experience; the second is digital twin, which mirrors the real world into the virtual world; the last is to use blockchain to build an economic system , users can use this system to spend or earn money in the metaverse.

2. Metaverse Statistics

At present, the market size of Metaverse exceeds $47 billion, and the spending on virtual estate exceeds $501M, and has reached an all-time high of 400 million monthly active users, the number of applications on SteamVR exceeds 5k, ranking first, far surpass its competitors. According to statistics, Oculus ranks second in the VR space with about 1,400 applications.

It can be seen from the above data that the current users of Metaverse are generally younger, with users aged 13 and below accounting for 51%, and users aged 18 and below accounting for 83.5% of the total users. Due to the relatively low age of Metaverse users, it can also be seen that Metaverse still has a wide range of user groups to be expanded. With the development and maturity of related technologies, a steady increase in the number of users of Metaverse is achievable.

3. Metaverse project

3.1 The Sandbox

• Overall

One of the leading projects in Metaverse, The Sandbox, released in August 2020, is a community-driven gaming ecosystem. The Sandbox is a platform for creating and managing assets in a virtual world. Any user can create 3D assets such as buildings, game items and so on, and use these assets for diverse experiences, including games, music, fashion Events, social events, art exhibitions and competitions and other content. 

• Statistics

Currently, The Sandbox has 22.13k landowners, the number of transactions in 1D and 7D are 258 and 3.46k, respectively, and the volume in 1D and 7D is $910.97k and $5.49M, respectively. On March 16 this year, the volume reached the highest single-day volume, which was $94.8M.

• Token

The token issued by The Sandbox is SAND, with a market cap of $1.18B, ranking 45th.

The current price of SAND token is $0.77, it reached an all-time high price of $8.4 in November 2021, and it has since been volatile. Compared to the highest price, the current price has dropped by more than 90%. The current market cap of SAND token is $1.18B, the highest market cap in history is $6.8B, and the market cap has decreased by about 80%.

3.2 Decentraland

• Overall

Decentraland is a VR virtual reality platform built on the Ethereum blockchain. On this platform, users can browse and discover content, interact with others, have ownership of virtual land, and even earn money by developing platform content and programs.  

Statistics

At present, Decentraland has 7.65k landowners, the number of transactions in 1D and 7D are 2.79k and 27.1k respectively, and the volume in 1D and 7D is $9.66k and $37.39k respectively. On February 3 this year, the volume reached the highest single-day volume, which was $19.82M.

• Token

The token issued by Decentraland is MANA, with a market cap of $1.14B, ranking 48th.

The current price of the MANA token is $0.63, it reached an all-time high price of $5.85 in November 2021, and has since been volatile. Compared to the highest price, the current price has dropped by nearly 90%. The current market cap of MANA tokens is $1.14B, and the all-time high market cap is $6.8B. The market cap has decreased by more than 80%.

3.3 Axie infinity

• Overall

Axie infinity is a decentralized game in the form of a digital pet world. Players buy three Axies through virtual currency (Axies exist as NFTs), use them to breed new Axies to fight with other players, or sell Axies for profit.

Lunacia is a land in Axie Infinity. Players can use various resources and crafting materials to upgrade their land, explore their land to have the opportunity to get AXS tokens, or use their Axies NFT to occupy the land in the public area and it is also possible to obtain AXS tokens. The land value dimension includes two parts: the distance from the central area and the distance from the resource point.

• Statistics

Currently Axie Infinity has 45.28k landowners, the number of transactions in 1D and 7D are 56.7k and 414.01k respectively, and the volume in 1D and 7D is $3.74M and $22.18M respectively, On September 30, 2021, the volume reached the highest single-day volume of $574.4M.

• Token

The tokens issued by Axie Infinity are AXS and SLP. The uses of the two tokens are as follows:

SLP: Pays for breeding between two Axies. Axies can spawn up to 7 times, each time consuming more SLP; anyone can earn tokens by participating in the game and contributing; players can earn SLP through PvE Adventure Mode as well as PvP Arena.

AXS: First, it has a governance function, that is, AXS token holders can participate in governance voting; second, it can be pledged, that is, players can pledge their AXS tokens to get weekly rewards, and the pledge rewards in early 2021 will be locked for one year freed.

The AXS token is currently priced at $9.22, reaching an all-time high price of $164.90 in November 2021, and has since been volatile. Compared to the highest price, the current price has dropped by more than 90%. The current market cap of AXS token is $1.01B, ranking 54th, and the highest market cap in history is $10.49B, and the market cap has decreased by more than 90%.

4. Metaverse token

This article selects representative tokens in Metaverse for analysis, including MANA, SAND, and APE for comparative analysis.

4.1 Market Cap

As shown in the above two figures, before the issuance of APE tokens, both MANA and SAND have reached the highest market cap in history. After the APE token was issued and briefly broke out, the market cap of the three gradually became similar. The current market cap of APE tokens is $1.20B, which is slightly higher than that of MANA and SAND.

The market cap of MANA, SAND, and APE dropped sharply in the Q2 quarter of this year, and then rose slowly in the following two months, and the increase of APE token was larger. In November this year, the market cap of MANA and SAND were both has seen an increase.

4.2 Price

As can be seen from the above two figures, the current price of APE token is $3.79, which is higher than the price of MANA and SAND tokens, and the price changes of the three tokens are in a downward trend as a whole.

5. Summary

 Metaverse is a virtual world parallel to the real world, and the presentation form of the next-generation digital world. Professor Shenyang of Tsinghua University defines Metaverse: "Metaverse is a new Internet application and social form that integrates a variety of new technologies. It provides an immersive experience based on extended reality technology, and digital twin technology generates a mirror of the real world. To build an economic system through blockchain technology, the virtual world and the real world are closely integrated in the economic system, social system, and identity system, and each user is allowed to produce and edit content." 

This article introduces the decentralized Metaverse projects of The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Axie Infinity, and compares the tokens of the heads in Metaverse. But in fact, centralized projects have been exploring and showing diversified characteristics in Metaverse. For example, in the social field, there is the "Horizon Workroom" VR conference platform that Facebook has launched before changing its name to Meta, etc. In the game field, there is Roblox and other platforms, in film and television , there is "Ready Player One", etc.

At present, Metaverse is in the initial stage of industry development. Whether it is the underlying technology or application scenarios, there is still a big gap compared with the mature form in the future. Therefore, both the decentralized projects just introduced and the centralized projects are in the initial stage of practice. However, with the continuous maturity and improvement of related technical systems, the formulation of norms such as social governance guidelines, and the empowerment of Metaverse in various fields, it is a trend for people to enter a virtual world parallel to the real world, and it is a journey that requires a long trek to achieve.