Metaverse Meltdown: Decentraland and Sandbox are virtual ghost towns now

In the world of the metaverse, two big names are having a rough ride. Decentraland and Sandbox, once shining stars in the digital universe, are now facing some serious turbulence. Decentraland, with a capitalization of around $550mil, used to be the cool kid on the block (with marketcap of $9.5billion). People could trade virtual land there and make a tidy sum, but not anymore. For example on November 22nd 2021, piece of land called Fashion Street Estate was sold for 618K MANA, which was at that time $2.4M!

Their native token, MANA, has also lost its mojo, with a price of just 30 cents. Land parcels that used to fetch a pretty penny now go for an average of $750 (2 500 MANA), causing many to question if it's still worth the investment. Daily active users have shrunk to a measly 250, showing that the excitement has faded.

SAND, The Sandbox's native token, has also taken a hit, now trading at 30 cents (-96,5% from ATH). This dip in token value is concerning for those who thought they were making a savvy metaverse investment. Probably the biggest loss was suffered by the folks who bought a 24x24 Estate Land on November 30th 2021 for $4.3mil, which was the largest purchase ever made in the metaverse history! Once, tech giants like Meta were all in on the metaverse hype, pouring loads of money into virtual reality and augmented reality tech. But now, the question is whether the metaverse can live up to the early buzz. In a nutshell, the metaverse's big players, Decentraland and The Sandbox, are on shaky ground for a long time now. With fewer users, cheaper tokens, and a lukewarm virtual property market, the metaverse's future hangs in the balance.