The crypto-grapevine today is all abuzz with news about The Sandbox [SAND] as both mainstream news channels and crypto-companies reported on the Metaverse project’s latest update. The air is thick with rumours, but in crypto, rumours are often more than enough to force dramatic price movements or user activity.
At press time, SAND was slipping between hands at $2.97 after rising by 12.92% in a day. So, what exactly caused the excitement?
Secrets in the Sandbox
Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported that The Sandbox is looking to raise funds of around $400 million, with a valuation of over $4 billion. At press time, The Sandbox was the 40th biggest crypto, with a market cap of $3,175,641,189. The project previously raised $93 million in late 2021.
While it’s still very possible for the information to change – or for The Sandbox to deny all claims – here are the metrics you should be watching.
First and foremost, it’s key to note that SAND supply on exchanges has been going down since about 9 February. This trend was continuing before press time, with the supply of SAND on exchanges finally falling below the levels seen in early February. At the time, there was a near vertical spike in SAND hitting the exchanges.
Source: Santiment
Still, don’t assume that investors have their heads buried in the sand as velocity for the asset was up before press time. This shows that user activity associated with SAND is rising, and is a strong indicator of interest in the asset.
Investors will need to see if this metric spikes or tapers off in coming days.
Source: Santiment
It’s not me, it’s you
The crypto-research platform Messari recently released its 2022 Q1 report for The Sandbox. While there were a number of encouraging growth signs, Messari’s report warned that LAND experiences couldn’t be easily shared between users. Why does this matter?
Well, investors who aren’t able to launch large-scale projects with their LAND might instead decide to cut and run with their profits. For that reason, there’s a strong selling risk associated with the asset.
On that note, let’s take a look at whale transactions.
On 18 April, only 28 SAND whale transactions worth over $100,000 took place. While this was a spike, it was a long way off from the 1,000+ whale transactions seen in late November 2021 – around the time SAND raised $93 million.
Source: Santiment
So, will SAND convince investors to give it $400 million, or will generous investments boost the asset’s price instead? In truth, it’s impossible to predict until the official statement is out, but now you know which metrics to track.