What Is the Metaverse? Here Are the Top Projects to Follow in 2022

When we talk about the metaverse, we’re talking about a digital environment that encompasses everything. Users can communicate with one another through their avatars, go about their daily lives, and meaningful experiences. Metaverse projects have over $14B market cap at the time of writing this article. The crash in the crypto market has also swept up metaverse platforms, with leading projects down in market capitalization in the last six months.

Here’s a rundown of the leading platforms in the metaverse:

Decentraland

Decentraland is a well-established metaverse project with a large number of users who purchase virtual land for millions of dollars. The idea with Decentraland is to be a virtual locale where you can shop for favorite brands, attend events, play games, meet new people, start new businesses, and even gamble.

Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Decentraland is completely user-owned, giving users room to customize their settings, avatars, marketplaces, digital infrastructures, and applications.

The cryptocurrency that underpins this thriving virtual world is called MANA and it can be purchased with relative ease on a number of popular cryptocurrency exchanges. Due to increased integration of e-commerce technologies in recent years, the platform has emerged as a vital destination for advertising and marketing.

Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based, play-to-earn game. It’s known for its animal-inspired characters and for providing users with the opportunity to earn income.

In fact, many people have turned their Axie game-play into a full-time profession. The Axie native coins AXS and SLP, which are built on the Ethereum blockchain, are at the center of this metaverse project. Each serves a separate function within the camel’s interior.

AXS, also known as Axie Infinity Shards, is used as a governance token on the Axie blockchain. Those who own AXS have the ability to cast votes on the game’s future development plans which include updates and the use of treasury balance. AXS has constantly been placed among the top metaverse cryptocurrencies.

Smooth Love Potion tokens often known as SLP tokens can be earned as rewards in either the battle or adventure modes. They can also be used to breed Axies are being distributed as well. This is a pattern that has continued until 2022 and these creatures have become increasingly valuable.

Because gamers can simply pay out their in-game currency in the real world this is a business model that is unlikely to be phased out very soon. Axie Infinity is and will continue to be one of the most important metaverse projects to keep an eye on in 2022. But as same as the other projects Axie’s market cap has decreased massively in 2022’s bear market so far.

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is a decentralized environment where an NFT (non-fungible token) asset such as a virtual plot of land can be purchased, sold, and claimed. The sandbox’s NFT marketplace and user-generated game technology drive this platform.

Land and property can be purchased by gamers in order to enhance their online gaming experiences. Sand can be purchased or sold on cryptocurrency exchanges. This ERC-20 utility token is used throughout the entire Sandbox ecosystem, supporting all transactions and interactions.

To date, users have created over 70 million unique worlds and environments, leading to a vibrant market of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Besides hosting incredible content-building experiences, the Sandbox also allows its community to build games, assets, and applications on top of their land parcels. Each LAND is a unique non-fungible token lying on the public Ethereum blockchain (ERC-721). Somnium Space (Cube)

Somnium Space is an NFT and gaming phenomenon that is capable of providing users with 3D avatar experiences. The Webex or technology developed by Somnium, allows anyone to watch the metaverse online. Transferring products in order to increase their worth Somnium Space chose polygon to ensure that their products are accessible on a global scale.

Star Atlas

Star Atlas is a yet another virtual reality game for the future generation of gamers. Star Atlas is built on top of the Solana blockchain. It can be used to purchase digital assets such as ships, crew members, land, and equipment among other things.

Star Atlas has two tokens: ATLAS and POLIS. ATLAS is an in-game coin, which lets users enter battles and explore different worlds.

This is important because assets within the game are NFTs, with only a very few items being the exception. POLIS, on the other hand, lets players engage in something the developers say is the game’s “political intrigue”. Players are in charge of making decisions about the game — and may even outvote the creators.

Otherside

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most successful NFT collections we have ever seen. It launched back in April of 2021 and includes 10,000 algorithmically generated NFTs. The Bored Ape Club boasts some of the most expensive NFTs. In May, Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, unveiled a metaverse called the Otherside.

Yuga Labs raiseed $450M to build out its metaverse. Yuga plans to use ApeCoin as its main currency in Otherside. The Otherside is also being created in partnership with animoca brands. which is behind , The Sandbox. This suggests there may be an integration between the two metaverses. Any owners of Board Ape, Mutant Ape, Kennel Club, and CryptoPunk NFTs will be able to use their NFT as a playable character in the game at launch. Meebits will also be coming in the future but it seems that they won’t be available immediately at launch.

Another very important aspect of the Otherside is the plots of land that are for sale. Selling virtual land is a staple among metaverse games and the Otherside has been no different. There are 200,000 plots of land in this metaverse, each with its own unique place on the map. On April 30th, they sold the first Otherdeeds for the Otherside. These Otherdeeds are just the name given to the nfts that represent plots of land and the Otherside this launch included 55,000 Otherdeeds that would be minted.

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This series article is intended for general guidance and information purposes only for beginners participating in cryptocurrencies and DeFi. The contents of this article are not to be construed as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult with your advisors for all legal, business, investment, and tax implications and advice. The Defiant is not responsible for any lost funds. Please use your best judgment and practice due diligence before interacting with smart contracts.