Note : This is not financial advice. This is for educational purposes only. Please note that cryptocurrency is a highly volatile asset class; only invest what you can afford to lose.
Metaverse cryptocurrencies are all the rage right now — and have the potential to disrupt our world — as tech giants like Facebook and Microsoft work to launch sprawling alternative universes that transcend our physical world.
Interest in metaverse-focused cryptocurrencies soared after Facebook announced its new name: Meta. The social media giant retired its former name, Facebook, because it believes that it only represents a singular product. “Meta,” the prefix of the word “metaverse,” involves the concept of shared virtual worlds and communities, which is the branding Facebook hopes to encapsulate.
1. Axie Infinity (AXS)
AXS stands for Axie Infinity Shard. It is an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum Blockchain, and has a maximum supply of 270,000,000 AXS coins. In fact, AXS was created to be used on the Axie Infinity’s platform. Inspired by Pokémon, this Axie Infinity is a fighting game where players can breed and train their Axies to fight against others. Regarding breeding their Axies, players must consider the characters’ race and ranking to stand the best chance at producing powerful offspring. Also, players can sell their Axies on the NFT marketplace and exchange their islands or any items in this game.
In Axie Infinity, there are two game modes : Adventure Mode in which players need to fight and successfully complete each level, and Arena Mode which features fighting matches and requires at least 3 Axies in the battle.
AXS token holders will have a voting right to have a say in the game’s development. Also, they can stake their tokens to receive regular rewards and use AXS coins to pay for any items on the platform ; for example, purchasing Axies on the Marketplace. Thus, the sharp increase in AXS tokens depends on the growth of Axie Infinity’s platform.
The bullish move in SAND, the native cryptocurrency of the blockchain-based virtual world The Sandbox, gathered steam after a tweet by German sporting goods manufacturing giant Adidas seemed to confirm a relationship between the two companies.
2. Sandbox (SAND)
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The token has rallied 25% in the past 24 hours, hitting record highs above $7 and taking the weekly gain to 70%, according to CoinDesk data.
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Adidas, which recently ventured into the metaverse with the launch of POAP, or proof of attendance protocol, on its adidas Confirmed app, tweeted Tuesday about developing a so-called “adiVerse” in partnership with The Sandbox.
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The sporting goods company appears to have purchased a chunk of land in The Sandbox’s metaverse, as noted by Crypto Twitter and seen in the image below.
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SAND has surged more than 600% since social media giant Facebook announced changing its corporate name to Meta on Oct. 29.
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The token has also benefited from the highly anticipated play-to-earn metaverse event, The Sandbox Alpha, scheduled for three weeks from Nov. 29 to Dec. 30.
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Other gaming and metaverse tokens like ENJ, ILU, YGG and DVI have risen over 40% to 90% this month, outperforming bitcoin by a big margin.
And can we talk about how Decentraland has hosted a virtual music festival with Deadmau5 and Paris Hilton? Oh yeah, Decentraland’s got potential!
4. Enjin Coin (ENJ)
Enjin is a cryptocurrency launched in 2017 by the company Enjin.1 Enjin Coin is an ERC-20 compatible token, which means you can send and receive it using an Ethereum wallet. But the technology behind Enjin does more than just handle that single currency.
The company behind Enjin is based in Singapore and works with companies to implement their own solutions on the Enjin platform.
5. Illuvium (ILV)
Illuvium is an upcoming blockchain game that takes place in an open-world, RPG setting. Players collect creatures called Illuvials, each with a class and affinity. There are five classes and five affinities that have their strengths and weaknesses. As you win battles against other players and complete quests, your Illuvials become more powerful.
Illuvium has two ERC-20 project altcoins on Ethereum: ILV (Illuvium) and sILV. Token holders can use ILV to liquidity mine, take part in governance, and earn rewards. There is a lock-up period for ILV rewards, but sILV can be used in-game immediately.
Illuvium also uses NFTs to represent each Illuvial and in-game item that can also be traded on external NFT marketplaces. To start earning ILV and sILV, you can purchase the token on Binance and begin staking on Illuvium’s staking platform. You can also stake partner tokens in their Flash Pools for ILV.
6. UFO Gaming (UFO)
UFO Gaming is an independent gaming company, developing blockchain games within an ever expanding ecosystem. Players come together to create their own clans, own and trade virtual land, and earn NFTs and cryptocurrency, all within the Dark Metaverse.
UFO Gaming seeks to bridge the gap between blockchain and traditional mobile and PC games, offering unprecedented player opportunities within the P2E realm. The Dark Metaverse is a closed loop ecosystem that will consist of P2E games with breedable, in-game NFTs that allow users to receive revenue. By utilizing the decentralized mechanics of blockchain, UFO Gaming enables any player to earn while playing, creating a new paradigm in the gaming industry.
7. RMRK (RMRK)
RMRK an association registered in Zug, Switzerland, spearheading the development of the RMRK protocol for creating highly composeable “art legos” using NFTs on Kusama natively using the system.remark extrinsic.
Among others, RMRK brings the following features to the NFT table:
- emoting to NFTs on chain
- custom burn messages
- NFTs owning NFTs
- NFTs that have conditional rendering (if this, show that)
- NFTs that have slots for upgrades
- NFTs that have multi-resources (i.e. contain both code for a game and high-res cover art)
- NFTs that can be governed as DAOs
It thereby far exceeds what the current ERC721 standard and matching ERC1155 and their derivatives can do.
For this reason, RMRK launched its own set of standards and is rapidly expanding across the Kusama chain sisterhood into dapps, platforms, and chains launching in this ecosystem.
8. Render Token (RNDR)
Another aspect of the metaverse are the companies that enable the creation of those 3D and augmented reality visuals. Here’s where Render comes in. Its decentralized infrastructure utilizes otherwise unused computer processing power to render digital content.
It means digital creators don’t need to spend as much money on expensive computing equipment, and the network participants can earn rewards. It’s scalable, environmentally friendly, and enables people to create cost-effective 3D content.
9.Vulcan Forged (PYR)
Vulcan Forged is a blockchain game studio, NFT marketplace, and NFT minting engine. Vulcan Forged is the creator of VulcanVerse and Berserk, and many other games. The ecosystem is expanding rapidly, and many games are being enabled within the play to earn economy.
The native token used within the ecosystem is $PYR. The secondary token $LAVA acts as a play to earn tokens. This dual token economy structure is ideal for play to earn. Scholars will earn $LAVA while playing the Vulcan Forged games and will be able to forage special NFTs while in-game. These can be sold on the Vulcan Marketplace for $PYR. This is why the games are exciting for companies like AAG Ventures.
10. Yield Guild Games (YGG)
Yield Guild Games is a decentralized gaming guild that pools investor funds to purchase yield-generating NFTs and leverages players’ time and effort to optimize its community-owned assets for maximum utility and return. By merging NFTs and decentralized finance (DeFi), YGG’s mission is to create value for its members by developing the content and economy of virtual worlds and blockchain-based games.
A short documentary released in May 2021, Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, reveals the story of a rural community that earned an income through play-to-earn gaming amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The documentary, which was produced as a collaboration between Yield Guild Games, Delphi Digital and Emfarsis Consulting, demonstrates how NFTs and cryptocurrencies are providing transformative economic opportunities for people young and old in developing nations where jobs are lacking and crisis relief has been limited.
