Native tokens of metaverse ecosystems outperformed their cryptocurrency counterparts in the first two weeks of 2023.
While a fortnight is a drop in the data ocean, it’s interesting all the same: metaverse proponents have long been bullish on the industry because of its potential to decouple from crypto altogether.
A Bright Start to 2023
Although metaverse tokens are also widely used for speculation, they have many viable use cases in gaming ecosystems – unlike the majority of crypto-assets.
And with the entrance of major players like Apple, who are set to debut their own VR/AR headset at its spring conference, the metaverse could wind up having a banner year.
The news that metaverse tokens were outstripping digital assets was highlighted by CoinDesk, who reported that its Culture and Entertainment sector index – which includes metaverse tokens like MANA, AXS and ENJ – has gained 37% since of the start of the year. This compares favorably to the market which tracks the broader crypto market (CoinDesk Market Index), which gained 18% over the same timeframe.
The upward trajectory of both markets is likely related to an optimistic CPI report indicating that the worst of inflation may be over for the U.S. economy. At press time, MANA is trading inside the top 40 cryptocurrencies by market cap, with a price of $0.7 – up almost 25% in the last 24 hours.
SAND, the native token of The Sandbox metaverse, is up 11% in the same period and trading at more or less the same price, $0.7.
Although metaverse tokens have a long way to go to reach their previous all-time highs, their recent performance has at least introduced some positive mood music to start off the year. Whether they can maintain that momentum is anyone’s guess.
