A glimpse into The Sandbox metaverse. (Animoca Brands)
Animoca-owned metaverse The Sandbox is heralding the arrival of the suits: in this instance, consulting firm PwC Hong Kong.
The Sandbox team said Thursday that the business consultancy bought some LAND, virtual real estate represented as a non-fungible token (NFT). A PwC Hong Kong representative wouldn’t specify which plot it bought or for how much. Recent sales have seen LAND go for about $10,000 a pop, according to blockchain data.
It’s part experiment, part forward-thinking business play for PwC as brands from Nike to Facebook hitch their wagons to what some see as the inevitable next step of being Very Online.
“We will leverage our expertise to advise clients who wish to embrace the metaverse on the full range of challenges presented by this emerging global digital phenomenon,” PwC Hong Kong Partner William Gee said in a statement.
For all the excitement, metaverses remain exceedingly niche in terms of user numbers. According to data site DappRadar, The Sandbox welcomed just 4,500 users (or unique wallet addresses interacting with the decentralized application, or dapp) in the past 30 days.
That hasn’t stopped digital prospectors from setting up shop should the hordes start arriving en masse soon.
“The metaverse is open for business,” The Sandbox COO Sebastien Borget said in a statement. “We welcome PwC Hong Kong to experience how The Sandbox fosters new immersive experiences and ways for brands to connect with customers.”
Read more: Under Armour Steps Into the Metaverse With ‘Wearable’ Steph Curry Sneakers
LAND sales have seen a steady uptick since late October, or roughly when Facebook rebranded to Meta.
The native token of The Sandbox, SAND, has also ridden the wave of consumer curiosity – spiking from about 80 cents prior to the Facebook announcement to an all-time high of $8.40 on Nov. 25.
SAND was trading at $6.01 at press time, up 14% in the past 24 hours, according to the data site CoinGecko, with the PwC news appearing to contribute to the spike in price.
SAND's 24-hour chart. (Messari)
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Zack Seward
Zack Seward is CoinDesk's deputy global news editor. He holds BTC, ETH, UNI, ATOM and a couple NFTs above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.
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The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
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