In recent weeks as Facebook announced it was rebranding to the name “Meta” it has sparked a renewed interest in metaverse cryptocurrency projects. Meta will be creating a VR (Virtual Reality) metaverse where people can socialise together on a more interactive scale than they previously could.
There are other metaverse projects around and they are quite different from Meta. Here, the key difference is the use of blockchain. The Meta’s metaverse is expected to be controlled and maintained by themselves, which is unlike what is seen in the blockchain metaverse where the control of the project is distributed across thousands of users. This is a powerful thing to distribute control as it takes power away from the single entity by putting power in the hands of the many rather than the few.
Metaverses have become increasingly popular among millions around the world due to there being an endless amount of possibilities to who a person can be and what they can do in them. The lure of escapism is one of the main drivers that attracts so many to want to be a completely different person from what they are like in the real world. As we move into a new metaverse world, many big companies are recognizing this opportunity and with Facebook showing its intent to drive this sector forward, it will only add to the funding this sector receives as new dawn arrives on what online social interaction can become.
Compared to that of Meta, decentralized metaverse projects put the power into the users and have a much higher level of transparency between them and the developers themselves. We have selected 3 blockchain-based metaverse projects you should look at taking advantage of as the metaverse movement booms.
#1 The Sandbox (SAND)
The Sandbox (SAND) metaverse is a relatively new project. It is a virtual world that allows users around the world to socialize with one another in a decentralized ecosystem. There is also the opportunity to earn incomes from buying and selling land, in-game products and even real estate. They use their own in-game currency SAND that is traded within their ecosystem and can be used for many transactions within the metaverse.
Their impressive partner list includes that of notable companies and individuals that help increase their reach for investors. Notable partners include that of gaming company Atari, music artists Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5 as well as popular TV show The Walking Dead.
Currently, their market cap is under $2.5 billion which still means there is a large amount of potential growth that can be achieved in their future as the project develops.
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/the-sandbox/
#2 Decentraland (MANA)
Decentraland (MANA) is one of the more popular metaverse projects as it has been successful for a long period of time. This has brought a lot of continued interest in its developments due to the belief many investors have had in the development team. They also use a VR social aspect, much the same that Meta (Facebook) will be using, and is combined with blockchain technology to create a truly decentralized and transparent metaverse. Decentraland also uses its own in-game currency, MANA, which can be used for various purposes such as land, in-game items and even names for users. These can be bought and sold which can then be directly linked to fiat money where users can earn actual income from playing the game.
Within the metaverse, users can create their own avatar that allows for endless possibilities that a person can achieve. This is one of the aspects that attracts so many people to metaverse projects which is the ability for a person to be whoever they desire to be, free from their real world limitations.
The current market cap of Decentraland (MANA) sits around $5 billion which is just over double the market cap of The Sandbox so it may not have as much room for future growth, but it is, however, a lot more established in the metaverse sector which means it has a much steadier level of support.
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/decentraland/
#3 JEDSTAR DeFi (JED) and GameFi (KRED)
The third choice for metaverse projects you should consider adding to your portfolio is JEDSTAR. This project is a much newer cryptocurrency project (2021) that is a 3 token DECO for DeFi (JED), GameFi (KRED) and Governance (ZED).
They currently have their DeFi token JED released and their GameFi token KRED will be releasing soon. JEDSTAR will be using KRED for their upcoming Collectible Card Game (CCG), their metaverse Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) and it will be used for the trading of in-game content on their NFT marketplace AGORA that will support the ecosystem of both games.
Not only are JEDSTAR supporting crypto based aspects but they are also reaching non-crypto gaming platforms such as with their most recent partnership announcement with Skill Gaming for STARDOME. This will be a world’s first Currency As A Service (CAAS) where users will be able to directly convert their fiat into KRED and vice versa. This initiative will directly influence the mass adoption of crypto as it takes out the usual hoops that users need to jump through in order to convert one to another.
They have already announced their initial partnerships with Chainlink, Skill Gaming, FRAG Games and Remote Control Productions with more expected to be announced as the project evolves.
Having recognised that gaming is one of the most appropriate avenues to go down to help increase the percentage of crypto adoption, this will help increase the current 4% adoption as around 40% of the world plays video games. This is one of the most suitable choices to help increase mass adoption as a large majority of this 40% are already accustomed to using in-game currencies of some form. The difference that currently persists with a lot of the AAA gaming companies is that it’s only a one-way street in terms of converting fiat into the in-game currency. Fiat is used to buy in-game content but if a user had in-game currency on their account that they wished to convert back into fiat, they would be unable to do so as the current business model does not allow them to do so. JEDSTAR has realized that there is a gap in the market for gaming platforms and has therefore made the steps to simplify the process of in-game currencies that will help rewrite who should actually be in control of their in-game finances through their partnership with Skill Gaming which has around 30,000 users.
KRED will be having a public pre-sale on JEDSTAR’s website in Q4 which allows for users to purchase the token at a discounted price prior to public launch later in the year.
With JEDSTAR being a much younger project, investors have the chance to be involved in a much higher percentage of growth than The Sandbox and Dectraland metaverse projects with them already being established. Not only is JEDSTAR seeking to be a metaverse but a multi-faceted project that aims to increase mass adoption of cryptocurrencies through the implementation of various use cases for KRED within the play-to-earn gaming industry.
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