The Sandbox reports record land sales as metaverse virtual worlds gain popularity

• ETH whales favor The Sandbox amid favorable YOY NFT revenue growth.
• SAND experiences extended demand despite being overbought.

The Sandbox just earned its way into the list of most used smart contracts among the top 100 ETH whales in the last 24 hours. But is this an indicator that the metaverse network is experiencing more demand?

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WhaleStats has confirmed that The Sandbox received extra attention from ETH whales in the last 24 hours. Why is this important? This outcome suggests that the network is experiencing a flow of value and perhaps even an influx in demand for its offerings.

JUST IN: $SAND @TheSandboxGame once again a MOST USED smart contract among top 100 #ETH whales in 24hrs 🐳

Check the top 100 whales here: https://t.co/N5qqsCAH8j

(and hodl $BBW to see data for the top 5000!)#SAND #whalestats #babywhale #BBW pic.twitter.com/FABH9f6nbQ

— WhaleStats (tracking crypto whales) (@WhaleStats) January 21, 2023

On a related note, The Sandbox also released its real estate NFT sales data revealing an impressive 180% year-over-year growth. It also reported roughly $1.4 billion in sales during the same period. The Sandbox’s land market cap came in at $167 million, making it the third largest after Decentraland and Otherside.

Virtual Real Estate #NFTs soared with $1.4B in sales & 180% YoY growth. @TheSandboxGame boasts $167M+ LAND Market Cap across all #metaverse platforms, proving the value and potential of virtual worlds in the NFT space.

Read on for some more stats 🧵 courtesy of @ParcelNFT pic.twitter.com/jepOvfS58I

— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) January 20, 2023

This has all taken place mostly during the bear market. Expectations are higher especially now that the crypto market has shifted gears in favor of the bulls.

Perhaps the renewed interest from ETH whales is an indicator that it is already happening. An overview of The Sandbox’s NFT trades volumes confirms a healthy performance in the last six months.

Source: Santiment

While SAND enjoyed healthy demand as far as land and other NFTs on its platform are concerned, it was not all rosy in other areas. For example, its market cap dropped off sharply in the past six months. This performance is more representative of the overall bearish market conditions.

Source: Santiment

Realistic or not, here’s The Sandbox’s market cap in BTC’s terms

Bulls are strong in SAND but what lies ahead?

The Sandbox’s market cap has, however, enjoyed a healthy recovery in the last three weeks. This reflects on SAND’s price action which has been recovering since the start of this month. SAND is currently up by almost 118% from its current 12-month low. It is now approaching the 200-day MA but is already overbought.

Source: TradingView

There are signs suggesting that we may start witnessing potential bull trend weakness. For example, the supply held by top addresses saw a bit of a surge at the start of this month, but it dropped off sharply since 19 January. This suggests that the top addresses or whales are cashing out after the recent rally.

Source: Santiment

Prior to that, the mean coin age pivoted since mid-month, indicating that SAND was changing hands. In other words, more investors were tempted to take profits, but this was not enough to trigger a sizable pullback.

Perhaps SAND can sustain the rally for a while longer especially if healthy developments and organic demand can replenish favorable sentiment. However, the rally may not last long especially now that it is hovering above the overbought range.