What is cryptocurrency Sandbox and how does it work?

What Is The Sandbox?

Any discussion of SAND should start with The Sandbox: a world-building game for mobile devices and Windows-based PCs. Players acquire land in a virtual world and build creative structures on it that other users can visit and collaborate on. Creators design their own avatars and create custom objects that they can share with other members of the community. The game is similar to Minecraft and Roblox.

Game developer Animoca Brands is creating a blockchain-based version of The Sandbox that adds a virtual economy to what it refers to as The Sandbox metaverse. The new version will allow users to create and trade objects as NFTs through a proprietary game store. You can even create your own games within The Sandbox’s blockchain ecosystem.

That’s where SAND comes in. The Sandbox aims to let players build, own, and monetize their gaming experience using SAND, an ERC-20 utility token built on the Ethereum blockchain. Within The Sandbox metaverse, SAND allows users to play games, purchase equipment and building materials, and customize their appearance. That’s a benefit you don’t get with every cryptocurrency.

How Does The Sandbox Work?

SAND works much like any other ERC-20 token, with transactions recorded on the main Ethereum blockchain. Policies governing the use of tokens are controlled by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) made up of SAND holders. Members of the DAO can vote to award SAND grants to game creators, set priorities for the implementation of features, or alter the platform roadmap laid out in the whitepaper issued when the token was launched.

Who Are the Founders of SAND? A Brief History of The Sandbox

The iOS version of The Sandbox was launched in May 2012, with an Android version following the next year. A Windows version was released via the Steam game store in June 2015. The Sandbox was developed by San Francisco gaming industry veterans at a company called Pixowl, which is behind other games like Goosebumps Horror Town, Addams Family Mystery Mansion, Garfield: Survival of the Fattest, and Wonderpark.

Pixowl was acquired by Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands in 2018 – not because of its place in mainstream gaming, but because of its plans to create a blockchain-based version of The Sandbox. At that point, earlier versions of the game had been downloaded more than 40 million times.

Animoca raised $3.4 million in seed capital to fund the development of the blockchain version of The Sandbox. In 2019, it presold 5% of the supply of LANDs, or virtual game spaces, raising 1,400 ETH, then worth about $300,000.

In the third quarter of 2020, SAND tokens were first made available for public sale via an initial exchange offering (IEO) on Binance, followed by listings on other public exchange sites.

Throughout this period, SAND-based features of The Sandbox have been gradually released in alpha, closed beta, and open beta form. Animoca’s timeline calls for a feature-complete version of the game to be formally released by the end of 2021.

What Makes The Sandbox Unique?

It is the integration of SAND with The Sandbox game platform that gives the cryptocurrency its unique benefits and value.

For example, SAND can be used to purchase LANDs, which are ERC-721 NFTs that represent game spaces in the virtual world. The supply of LANDs in The Sandbox’s metaverse is limited to 166,464.

Once you have acquired LANDs, creators who wish to publish games on them may pay you SAND to lease them from you. Buying LANDs is therefore a good strategy for earning passive revenue in The Sandbox metaverse.

Players can also earn income by creating 3D objects using The Sandbox’s VoxEdit voxel editor. These objects are implemented as ERC-1155 tokens called ASSETs. The voxels can be shared with other players or sold for SAND tokens in The Sandbox’s marketplace. ASSETs can be used in all games created within The Sandbox’s metaverse.

The Sandbox’s Game Maker application allows creators to build games on LAND they have purchased or leased from stakeholders. The application allows creators to implement SAND-based Sandbox games without writing a single line of code. Creators can charge SAND to users who wish to play the games they create within The Sandbox.

Creators can also implement “play to earn” games in which members of the community earn SAND tokens by achieving milestones in game play.

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Animoca believes that in the long run, most of the value in The Sandbox will come from creative user-generated content in the form of games and digital ASSETs. The SAND token will help creators earn rewards for their work.

What Gives SAND Value?

SAND delivers value in two ways.

First, the SAND token is listed on public exchange sites. SAND can be traded for crypto or fiat currencies quite readily. Economic forces of supply and demand determine their value.

SAND gets additional value because of its usefulness within The Sandbox virtual economy. The quality of games and ASSETs, the scarcity of LANDs, and other game-related factors are likely to have more impact on the value of the tokens than market factors at trading platforms.

How Many Sandbox (SAND) Coins Are in Circulation?

The supply of SAND coins is limited to 3 billion. SAND are currently in circulation. About a quarter of the total SAND supply is set aside in company reserves, while a further 31% is held for company founders and team members.

Other Technical Data

After surveying the blockchain technology options, SAND’s developers chose Ethereum as the basis for The Sandbox’s virtual currency. The Ethereum blockchain supports smart contracts, has good support for developers, is robust and secure, and is widely used, so it supports many useful tools and utilities that interact with each other smoothly.

SAND transactions incur small gas charges, so to play games at The Sandbox, you must have not only SAND, but Ether in your wallet.

Animoca acknowledges that Ethereum currently suffers from scalability issues for transactions posted to the main blockchain. This issue is well known among blockchain technology experts. The company says that, like many companies, it is looking at two-layer solutions that post net transactions to the main blockchain only periodically.

How to Use The Sandbox

SAND is an essential part of The Sandbox platform and can be used for staking and participating in governance decisions through the DAO structure. Perhaps the most fun way to use SAND though is within The Sandbox metaverse. Creators can use SAND to acquire LANDs and ASSETs. They can also buy Gems to modify their ASSETs and upload them to the marketplace. Meanwhile, players can spend SAND on customizing their avatars, buying equipment, and playing games.

How to Choose a SAND Wallet

The Sandbox works with all wallets capable of holding Ethereum-based coins and tokens. Current data suggests that a list of the most popular includes Bitski, Arkane, MetaMask, and Brave. The Sandbox does not provide its own wallet at this time.

The company warns that members of The Sandbox community cannot change the wallets associated with their accounts. If you decide to switch wallets, you must create a new account at The Sandbox. You can transfer your SAND, LAND, ASSETs, and other game resources to the new account.

The type of SAND wallet you choose will likely depend on what you want to use it for and how much you need to store.

Hardware wallets or cold wallets like Ledger or Trezor provide the most secure option for storing cryptocurrencies with offline storage and backup. However, they can involve a bigger learning curve and are a more expensive option. As such, they may be better suited to storing larger amounts of SAND for more experienced users.

Software wallets provide another option and are free and easy to use. They are available to download as smartphone or desktop apps and can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. While convenient, they are seen as less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to smaller amounts of SAND or more novice users.

Online wallets or web wallets are also free and easy to use, and accessible from multiple devices using a web browser. They are, however, considered hot wallets and can be less secure than hardware or software alternatives. As you are likely trusting the platform to manage your SAND, you should select a reputable service with a track record in security and custody. As such, they are most suited for holding smaller amounts of cryptocurrencies or for those making more frequent trades.

Kriptomat offers a secure storage solution, allowing you to both store and trade your SAND tokens without hassle. Storing your SAND with Kriptomat provides you with enterprise-grade security and user-friendly functionality.

Buying and selling SAND, or trading it for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.

The Sandbox: Proof of Stake

The SAND token is built on the Ethereum blockchain and is secured by a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism that doesn’t require huge amounts of electrical power or specialized computer gear to validate transactions. Proof of Stake transactions are theoretically more secure than the Proof of Work validations created by miners because validation is potentially secured by a larger group of users, not just those who are engaged in mining.

The Bottom Line

SAND is an appealing cryptocurrency for two distinct audiences.

First, of course, SAND tokens will be of appeal to the community of gamers at The Sandbox. The ecosystem allows entrepreneurs to create games, ASSETs, and other non-fungible token commodities for sale within the virtual marketplace. The SAND world could support a bustling marketplace that allows game developers and creators to make transactions easily and seamlessly.

Investors may also find SAND of interest, particularly if they are bullish on the benefits of integrating games with blockchain technology. The gaming marketplace is huge and growing, and many companies have speculated that it is ripe for blockchain-based evolution. An investment in SAND is a wager that Animoca’s approach will prove effective and appealing to players and game creators.

The SAND FAQ

How To Buy SAND

Buying SAND is as easy as visiting Kriptomat’s how to buy SAND page and choosing your preferred method of payment.

How To Sell SAND

If you already own SAND and hold it in a Kriptomat exchange wallet, you can easily sell it by navigating the interface and choosing your desired payment option.

What Is SAND’s Price

SAND price is influenced by a lot of the traditional factors such as project news and development details, market sentiment, the flow of cryptocurrency on exchanges, and the economy in general. The price of SAND is also affected by the success and adoption of The Sandbox game, as more players mean more demand for the token.

The current SAND price is EUR.

The 24-hour trading volume of SAND is EUR. SAND is currently ranked of all cryptocurrencies by total market cap, with a market cap of EUR. It has a circulating supply of SAND and a max supply of SAND.

Register now to begin your gaming journey into the heart of The Sandbox with Kriptomat.

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