news.bitcoin.com
During the first month of 2023, the top two leading cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ethereum, experienced double-digit gains against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, several alternative cryptocurrencies saw even greater increases in value, with metaverse tokens like Decentraland’s $MANA and The Sandbox’s $SAND rising 92-150% against the greenback.
Metaverse Crypto Assets Outshine Bitcoin and Ethereum
Metaverse crypto assets have outperformed both bitcoin ($BTC) and ethereum ($ETH), the leading crypto asset and top smart contract token, respectively. In the past month, Decentraland’s $MANA token has been the top performer, rising 150% against the U.S. dollar. Over the last two weeks, $MANA climbed 7.3%, and in the past seven days, it rose 2.9%. On January 31, 2023, a single $MANA was trading for $0.716 to $0.755 per unit.
The Sandbox’s $SAND metaverse token has increased 92% in the past 30 days and has risen 5% in the last two weeks. However, despite the 30-day increase, seven-day metrics show a 7.5% decrease in $SAND. On Tuesday, $SAND was trading at a 24-hour spot price of $0.710 to $0.741 per unit. Another top-performing metaverse token this past month was Axie Infinity’s $AXS, which has risen 80% higher than the previous month. In the last two weeks, $AXS has climbed 21.5%, but it has fallen 11.4% in the last week. On Tuesday, $AXS was trading at a price of $10.55 to $11.23 per coin.
Following Axie Infinity’s $AXS increase in value over the past month, the Apecoin project’s $APE token has risen 63.3% in the same period. $APE has increased 19.4% over the last two weeks, with 5.5% of those gains occurring in the past week. As of writing, a single $APE is trading for prices ranging from $5.71 to $5.96 per coin. The token associated with the Internet Computer project $ICP has also risen 48.9% over the last 30 days. $ICP has gained 16.5% over the past two weeks. On January 31, 2023, $ICP was trading at prices between $5.65 and $5.88 over the last 24 hours.
A significant number of other metaverse tokens have risen in value this month as well, following a similar pattern to artificial intelligence (AI)-related cryptocurrencies. AI-based cryptocurrencies have seen even greater gains compared to metaverse-related coins. However, metaverse-focused crypto assets have still performed better than the top two cryptocurrencies; bitcoin ($BTC) rose 40% this month, and ethereum ($ETH) increased 33.5%.