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The world of metaverse has been growing since mid-2021 and with this growth comes many questions and complications. Gamers and investors are looking for a better place in this metaverse not only to spend their time but also to make more money through investing in the in-game assets and tokens.

Decentraland ($MANA) and Sandbox ($SAND) are two of the biggest names in the metaverse. But which one is better? MANA or SANDBOX? If you are asking the same question, then keep on reading this short post. I have analyzed the main differences and potentials of the two metaverses, hoping that it will give you a clear guide to come to a conclusion about the mentioned question.

Table of contents:

• Mana or Sandbox: what is the difference?
• Why bother compare Mana and Sandbox?
• Unique features of Mana or Sandbox
• The Scalability issue with either Mana or Sandbox
• Conclusion

Must read: Is it a good time to buy SAND?

Mana or Sandbox: what is the difference?

If you are searching for the two most succeful metaverse platforms, then you have to familiarize yourself with Decentraland and The Sandbox. But the play-to-earn platform is more than just gaming; it is also an investment opportunity.

Which one is a better investment? Mana or Sandbox?

First, let’s get to know what each of them are. Decentraland was coined in the year 2017 as a platform for creating and monetizing assets and content. Decentraland is based on three main assets called MANA, LAND, and WEAR. Decentraland is the very first metaverse that is run by a DAO.

On the other hand, The Sandbox metaverse was released to the public in November 2021 under Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borgat. It has four tokens- SAND, LAND, ASSET, and GAMES. It is backed by one of the largest investment companies, SoftBank. It aims to make blockchain gaming popular.

Another difference between Mana or Sandbox is that Decentraland has exactly 90,601 plots of land, while The Sandbox has over 160,000 land parcels.

SANDBOX ($SAND) is selling for $4.47 right now with a market cap of $3.7 billion, while MANA costs $3.19 now with a market cap of $3.86 billion. At the first glance, this may imply that people are investing in MANA over SAND. However, Decentraland is less of a gaming platform than The Sandbox and SAND has a better potential for growth in the future.

This might push people to The Sandbox in the long run.

In November 2021, both tokens peaked at $8.40 (after the Sandbox Alpha season 1 event) and $5.85, respectively; and then settled at their present prices. Mana or Sandbox are both similar in almost every respect, SAND, however, is a better investment in the long run. Especially, due to the Sandbox upcoming event Alpha Season 2, it has a better chance of growth in the near future.

If you are attracted to metaverses, then I would suggest, get yourself some SAND. However, as I always mention, you need to do your own research before investing in any stock or cryptocurrency.

Why bother compare Mana and Sandbox?

The two games are similar to each other in some aspects. They both offer LAND, an in-game token (Mana or Sandbox) and there are various in-game assets in thee form of NFTs that people could buy and sell and make money doing so.

Below, you can see the two tokens’ price charts. Both of them are settled in an stable position on the chart.

You can see how similar the two charts are. Therefore, comparing the charts related to Mana or Sandbox lets us know how close the two games are and how their tokens are bought and sold in the market. Although, the two tokens will probably behave differently in the future and the chart might most likely change drastically – especially after the sandbox event is held.

Unique features of Mana or Sandbox

The main features of Decentraland ($MANA) comprise of: 

• Decentraland ($MANA) is made for creators, and individuals who look for new business opportunities or new medium for doing artistic activities.
• It is one of the growing projects that use an autonomous organization structure for governing.
• The holders of $MANA are in control of the governance of the Decentraland metaverse.

The main features of The Sandbox ($SAND) comprise of:

• This metaverse lets players and users make, create, sell and buy their own digital assets (this feature is currently available to some creators but it will be available for all players in the near future).
• SANDBOX Introduces blockchain technology to the gaming world.
• Focuses on user-generated content and creates a Metaverse of players that contribute to its development.

What is Sand – ($SANDBOX)

The Sandbox ($SAND) was launched in 2011 which is a metaverse letting users make, sell and buy digital assets through a game. It has combined the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) to create a growing community of gaming enthusiasts.

Its recent collaborations with celebrities such as Snoopdog, or other big companies such as Atari or the Walking Dead, has made this project really reliable. The project is prone to big growth in the year 2022.

The main goal of the sandbox project is to make blockchain gaming mainstream and available to everyone.

SAND is the only utility token of the platform that is used for doing transactions on the platform. 

What is Mana – ($Decentraland)

Decentraland ($MANA) is a “virtual reality platform”. it is running on the ETH network which allows players to not only make an experience, but also make money through the contents they have made.

It is a virtual metaerse where players may buy LAND and can later navigate to monetize it or build upon their land to create unique experience where people can do various different activities.

The beta version of the platform was launched in the year 2019 and was made available to the public in the year 2020. Over time players and fans have made a variety of experiences on the parcels of LAND available.

The experiences created by the users range from interactive games, virtual interactions, and 3D scenes. The network has two main tokens LAND and MANA. 

The Scalability issue with either Mana or Sandbox

Scalability is a problem you can find with both Sandbox and Decentraland as they are based on the Ethereum blockchain.

The capacity for scalability is tight and narrow for both SANDBOX and DECENTRALAND platforms because of the high gas fees. Therefore, the large-scale adoption of both metaverse platforms can come across some setbacks due to a lack of scalability. However, the future of metaverse is a vague one and anything can happen.

Future technologies and platforms may change the way we look at these two platforms and hopefully reduce the gas fees and eventually enhance the scalability of the these two gaming platforms.

Future plans of both metaverses

The future plans for development also play a major role in defining the future of Sandbox and Decentraland.

Sandbox knows what it’s going to do in the future and its development is focused on introducing the platform on mobile devices.

Also, the Sandbox platform plans on bringing the platform to consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. In addition, this metaverse plans on featuring more than five thousand games by the end of the year 2023. 

On the other hand, Decentraland does not follow a specific roadmap.

The Decentraland team are planning to introduce celebrities, creators, and brands to the platform alongside NFT advertisements and drops soon. But they don’t have a clear plan in front of them. In other words, their roadmap is not as clear as Sandbox’s.

So… which one are you going to invest in? Mana or Sandbox?

Drop your answers below.

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