The global metaverse market has reached $61.8 billion, which makes it one of the fastest-growing branches in the crypto sphere (and beyond).
The Sandbox and Decentraland are both metaverse projects built on the Ethereum blockchain allowing players to own and manage in-game assets as NFTs. The Sandbox uses SAND, whereas Decentraland uses MANA. SAND and MANA can be swapped on popular decentralized exchanges, just like you would swap BNB to AVAX or any other available crypto pair.
Let’s briefly compare SAND with Decentraland’s MANA and determine which of the two similar crypto projects is the winner.
The Sandbox (SAND)
The Sandbox is a sandbox-type of game where players now have an opportunity to actually own in-game assets, such as plots of virtual land.
Overview
The Sandbox was created in 2012 by Pixowl, and later acquired by Animoca Brands. The game incorporates blockchain technology, and players are allowed to buy in-game land as NFTs. Nowadays, even some celebrities own digital land in The Sandbox, including Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5.
Blockchain Architecture
The Sandbox is built on Ethereum. Since there are several types of fungible and non-fungible assets in the game, it uses the ERC-20 standard for the fungible coins and ERC-1155 and ERC-721 for NFTs.
The game’s architecture includes different components. Its backend runs on the cloud (AWS) and uses an S3 bucket to store artists’ assets before they are minted.
The game can be accessed in a browser and easily connected to Metamask.
Land Supply & Purchase
To purchase virtual land in the game, you need to be present during the announced events. LAND NFTs in The Sandbox are purchased directly on the site or can be bought second-hand on one of the available NFT marketplaces. You can also sell LAND via the official The Sandbox marketplace. The total land supply is 166,464 plots.
Purpose
The Sandbox started as a game, and it’s still used mainly for fun. Those who buy land in the game mostly use it to create interesting experiences and playable games.
Decentraland (MANA)
Decentraland is a 3D virtual world designed to offer users to buy virtual plots of land as non-fungible tokens.
Overview
Decentraland was launched in 2017 and has been growing ever since as a platform offering land as NFTs. It uses MANA as the native cryptocurrency. Many international brands liked the idea of owning a digital land and having a virtual office, including Atari, Adidas, Samsung, and more.
Blockchain Architecture
Like The Sandbox, Decentraland was built on Ethereum, and its architecture currently consists of three layers. The first layer is called the Consensus layer, and it allows tracking of land ownership and content on it. The second is called the Land Content layer, which assists with rendering content through a decentralized distribution system. The Real-Time Layer makes it possible for users to connect and interact with each other.
Land Supply & Purchase
Like The Sandbox, Decentraland features LAND non-fungible tokens, which are sold for MANA, the official token for Decentraland. You can buy LAND directly on the Decentraland marketplace or purchase it on one of the NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea. There are 90,601 available plots of land in the game.
Purpose
Even though Decentraland is also a game, it has a different perspective when it comes to its goals. It aims to give users an incentive to operate in a shared virtual space where they can buy and sell digital real estate. In other words, the focus is more on the business than the gaming part like in The Sandbox.
SAND vs MANA: Similarities and Differences
| Similarities | Differences |
| Both are built on Ethereum. | The Sandbox focuses more on the gaming part, whereas Decentraland concentrates on the trading aspect. |
| Both are selling plots of virtual land. | The Sandbox has a 5% fee on all transactions, while that fee is 2.5% on Decentraland. |
| Both allow artists to express themselves on plots of land. | No need for a crypto wallet to explore and play Decentraland. The Sandbox requires a crypto wallet. |
| Decentraland has 90,601 plots of land, and The Sandbox has 166,464. |
And the Winner Is…
The winner is Decentraland if your goal is actually to start making a profit and trade in the virtual digital estate. If you want to join the whole thing for fun, perhaps The Sandbox is a better option for you. Ideally, you should try both and see which platform meets your needs. If you have already invested in one and want to switch, you can easily trade and compare MANA vs Sandbox.