Metaverse Cryptocurrencies Flourish In Investing Frenzy

Crypto currencies that are related to the metaverse have skyrocketed in value following the announcement of Facebook’s name change (and rebranding) to Meta Platforms.

According to data from Macro Hive, altcoins aimed at the metaverse have surged in value far past the gains of bitcoin this year for a jaw-dropping 37,000 per cent increase.

Macro Hive’s data centered on the five most popular altcoins in this category: Axie Infinity, Decentraland, Sandbox, Enjin Coin, and GALA. All those coins are in some way connected to the metaverse, a term used to describe a version of the internet that creates opportunities for deeper engagement, allowing users to bring more of their “real” lives — work and play — onto virtual platforms.

While the full extent of the metaverse is still in development, there are many examples of it already. The crypto currency Axie Infinity empowers users to earn crypto currency while playing video games. Decentraland even lets players purchase digital land and other “assets.”

Those kinds of virtual real estate sales have also boomed following the Facebook metaverse announcement. DappRadar published a new report that concluded that sales of virtual land on Decentraland and The Sandbox have reached more than $100 million.

The vast majority of that was on SAND, a blockchain-based gaming world where users can buy, sell, and trade digital assets, saw a staggering $86.5 million in NFT land sales, while decentralized virtual gaming world Decentraland, which uses the MANA token, saw $15.5 million in land sales, Business Insider reported.

While Decentraland came in second place with $15 million traded for land plot NFTs, it actually took the current record for highest-priced plot of land. Decentraland’s Fashion Street Estate sold for $2.4 million on its own.

Many of the altcoin listed above are now the subject of widespread debate about which ones will stand the test of time and become viable long-term assets for both investors and the metaverse platforms where they can actually be used.

Other examples of newly popular altcoins include:

LUNA: LUNA tokens’ value surged about 17 percent in early December after news that the decentralized financial institution Terra had passed its first proposition under the nascent voting period parameters. LUNA has actually grown by 900 percent since July 2021.

GALA: Mentioned above as one of the big 5 altcoins by Macro Hive, GALA is getting a lot of second looks from investors for its long term potential. GALA wants to forge a new path in the gaming industry by empowering gamers. The mission of Gala Games is to create “blockchain games you’ll actually want to play.” With Gala, players can own NFTs and even influence how the games are governed within the Gala Games world, including what games are developed and get funding.

The rise of metaverse-related altcoins is interesting because it coincided with a 20 percent tumble for the crypto granddaddy, Bitcoin. That was caused by a confluence of factors, including new tax reporting laws, various new regulatory announcements around the globe, and the anxiety over the new omicron variant of Covid-19.

It’s possible that the rise of the metaverse will result in new ways to use all kinds of altcoins — even the ones that don’t currently have a connection to an existing virtual world. It’s also clear that the rise of new — and often bizarre – altcoins hasn’t slowed down.

The metaverse will only speed up the degree to which finance is digital-first, making digital forms of currency more valuable and usable in the process.

It’s easy to make fun of crypto currencies seemingly invented only as a joke. Examples of these include the politically motivated TrumpCoin and PutinCoin, industry-specific altcoins like POTCOIN (self-explanatory) or MoonCoin, which is designed for micropayments with the added gimmick that its total supply is limited by the average distance of the Earth from the Moon.

Or take a look at the newly announced Bengal Coin, which the creator said he released as part of “a vision” that crypto can be a form of “freedom of expression and individuality.”

This is why I believe tokens such as Shibu Inu and Dogecoin have become so successful. They are an expression of oneself and what they love,” the creator wrote on Medium.

As long as people continue to love crypto currency, we can expect the popularity and value to continue — especially with the rise of the metaverse.