beincrypto.com
The proprietary token from the metaverse platform, The Sandbox (SAND), took a hit on Monday as they performed a planned unlock of 332 million tokens.
The planned August 14 unlock represents around 16% of the current total circulating supply. At the time of writing, 2.83 billion tokens, or 79% of all SAND tokens are unlocked.
The Next SAND Token Unlock Is Scheduled for February 2024
The Sandbox allows users to create, share, and monetize their own 3D voxel-based gaming experiences and assets. It uses utilizing blockchain technology to establish ownership and scarcity of in-game assets through its SAND utility token.
According to Token Unlocks, The Sandbox unlocked 71 million for its team, 96.8 million for its company reserve, 37.5 million for its adviser, and 24 million for its strategic sale buyers. The firm unlocked 103 million tokens for its seed sale participants.
Now the tokens have been unlocked, they are free to be transferred and traded. The next scheduled token unlocks for SAND tokens is expected to take place on February 14, 2024.
On Monday, the token was down approximately 2% from its daily peak at the time of writing. The price is down approximately 2.2% over the past seven days.
Large-scale token unlocks like this one usually exerts downward pressure on the market due to the sudden increase in supply.
The digital asset doesn’t need any more downward pressure, it has enough of that on its own. The SAND token has been on a long-term decline since it peaked in November 2021 at $8.44. It is currently trading over 95% lower than that at $0.3887, according to CoinMarketCap.
Interest in the Metaverse Down 92% Globally
However, the metaverse platform’s token isn’t the only one in a long-term rut. Its competitor, Decentraland, and its MANA token have been performing equally poorly. Its all-time high was on the same day, November 25, 2021, when it reached $5.90. It is currently trading at over 93% less than that at $0.3641.
Interest in the metaverse has crumbled in recent years. After Facebook’s parent company rebranded to Meta in late 2021, awareness of the metaverse skyrocketed overnight. But the surge was not to last.
According to Google Trends, interest is down 92% since its peak in January 2022. Many observers are skeptical about whether the term and concept will ever regain substantial ground.