Did the metaverse crash impact cryptocurrency?
That’s one thing analysts are looking at today as Shaurya Malwa at Coindesk reveals various metaverse tokens that did poorly following the announcement of disappointing numbers for Facebook earlier this week.
One of these is Axie, an ERC-20 token with gaming utility launched on the Ethereum blockchain.
Then there’s Sandbox, a crypto token that has been nominated by some as a potential “Ethereum killer.”
“On The Sandbox platform, users can create their own virtual worlds, interact with others, and create digital assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs),” wrote Chris MacDonald at Motley Fool in November. “These can either be integrated into this online game or added to the platform’s marketplace. Thus, like other popular metaverse-related crypto options, SAND is a cryptocurrency that’s absolutely taking off.”
SAND looks like it may have lost around 3% this week.
Another token mentioned by Malwa is Gala, a token with its own rep in gaming.
“The GALA coin is the native token of the Gala Games blockchain network,” wrote Souhaib at Trendswide last November. “If you have not heard of Gala Games, it is a platform where gamers can play blockchain games and buy or sell in-game NFT assets. Gamers also influence which game should be developed or should get funding by voting. The GALA token is used as a utility token within the network to buy NFTs and facilitate transactions…. The Gala coin is one of the few coins that have weathered the current storm within the crypto market.”
Part of the reason that these tokens are prone to flop on bad metaverse news, some say, is that the play-to-earn model of online gaming operators is negatively impacted.
“As SLP prices dip, players suffer as they cannot earn as much when compared to a few months back,” Malwa reports, citing input from Delphi analysts. “At its peak, a player could have earned $35 per day on July 21 vs $1 today at current prices (assuming 100 SLP/day). This has led many players to stop playing as the income has been reduced massively.”
Market scrutinizers are looking for a correlation between metaverse equities and metaverse tokens. They may yet find one.
