The metaverse is shaping up to be one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of this decade. Global Data forecasts that the metaverse market will grow at an annual rate of 39.8% between 2022 and 2030. This means that getting in early could be the best investment decision you’ll make for years to come.
Metaverse crypto projects are one of the easiest ways to get involved and this article will explore how to do that today. It will break down ten of the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023 and give our opinion on which one has the most potential. Let’s dive in.
1. Metacade (MCADE) - The Best Metaverse Token
Metacade is a community hub that’s aiming to be one of the critical drivers of play-to-earn and metaverse gaming. It's a platform where like-minded gamers, crypto investors, and developers connect in real time, play the latest metaverse games, and have direct involvement in the games of the future.
One of the core tenets of Metacade’s philosophy is putting the power back into the hands of the players. The gaming industry has become increasingly centralised over the past decade, with a handful of gaming goliaths controlling what games are produced and how they’re monetised. For gamers, this has led to a decline in game quality and a heavy focus on microtransactions and pay-to-win, which is great for the game studios generating billions in profit each year, but not so much for the gamers actually playing the games.
Metacade intends to upend this model by allowing users to realise the value they generate in a whole range of ways. To start, Metacade rewards its users for making the community a better place. Every time users post a review, some tips, or other content that the community finds valuable, they’re rewarded for their contribution with the MCADE token. Not only can you discover the leading alpha on Metacade to boost your in-game income, but you can get paid just by sharing your thoughts, even if you’re a newbie.
If you love to play the latest games, then you can earn for your role in testing and giving feedback on metaverse and play-to-earn games to Metacade’s developer community. There are also regular tournaments where you can go head-to-head with other Metacade players to win a big cash prize! Down the line, Metacade even plans to launch its own job board, where you’ll be able to find permanent testing gigs, internships, and positions with the companies at the cutting edge of metaverse game development.
One of the most hotly anticipated features, however, is the launch of Metagrants. Metagrants offer developers equal access to funding for their metaverse and play-to-earn games by allowing the community to vote on the games they want to see developed, with only one winner per Metagrant competition. By removing venture-capital-backed game studios from the equation, Metacade offers a direct way for the players to determine what games should be produced, even if they come from small indie developers. One day, Metacade plans for its virtual arcade to be packed with some of the best metaverse and play-to-earn titles the market has ever seen.
With its ideas around maximising user value and restoring the power the gaming community once held, Metacade has fantastic potential to grow as the metaverse revolution gains traction. Considering the MCADE token is still in presale, meaning it’s effectively at its floor price right now, Metacade takes the lead as the best metaverse token to invest in for 2023.
>>> You can participate in the Metacade pre-sale here <<<
2. The Sandbox (SAND)
The Sandbox is one of the most widely-known metaverse projects on the market today. It’s a 3D virtual world where virtually every aspect of your experience is user-generated, built by other players using VoxEdit and the Game Maker. These two tools let anyone build immersive games and experiences without knowing a line of code.
Each item in The Sandbox is stored on the blockchain as an NFT, giving its owner provable rights to buy, sell, and even trademark their creations. These items are traded on The Sandbox Marketplace with the SAND, where you’ll find cars, AI characters, avatar wearables, and even art that can be used to build highly-detailed environments for others to enjoy.
Already, there are fully-fledged games, virtual casinos, social hubs, and even amusement parks that have been built and monetised in The Sandbox. With an approximate $1.2 billion valuation (CoinGecko), even during the bear market of 2022, The Sandbox and the SAND token is our second-best metaverse token to invest in for 2023.
3. ApeCoin (APE)
ApeCoin is the native governance token of the Ape Ecosystem. It was created by Yuga Labs, the company behind the incredibly successful Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT project. It’s also the native token for Otherside, Yuga Labs’ metaverse project. Yuga Labs envisions a metaverse not dissimilar to Roblox or Meta’s Horizon Worlds, but with a significant focus on interoperability with other metaverses and building a bustling community.
According to Gordon Goner, one of BAYC’s co-founders, they’re trying to build “the best metaverse possible,” equating it to Grand Theft Auto “but in real-time with real players”. Otherside is set in a sci-fi-based environment, and its plots of land, known as Otherdeeds, have already been auctioned off. This auction raised over $500 million within 24 hours, causing significant congestion on the Ethereum network.
With Yuga Labs’ reputation for creating successful projects and a partnership with Animoca Brands, the company behind The Sandbox, it’s likely that Otherside, and therefore the APE token, will do very well in the coming years. That’s why it's our third choice for the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023.
4. Ethereum (ETH)
While Ethereum isn’t building a metaverse project itself, it provides the fundamental building blocks for creating metaverse projects. In fact, seven of the projects on this list use Ethereum in one way or another to power their ecosystems. Because of its smart contract capability and unparalleled dominance in the utility token space, Ethereum is the most popular choice for metaverse token developers by far.
With the recent merge promising to boost transaction speeds and lower fees, it’s very likely that Ethereum will keep providing the critical infrastructure needed to power the metaverse. Each project that’s built atop Ethereum will require transaction fees to be paid in ETH, increasing demand as metaverse adoption grows. For that reason, it’s our fourth-best metaverse token to invest in for 2023.
5. Axie Infinity (AXS)
Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn gaming metaverse project that is among the most popular on the market. The core premise is that players collect and battle a team of three Axies, cute monsters that are stored as NFTs on the blockchain, to win Smooth Love Potion (SLP) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). These tokens can then be traded for real cash, allowing players to earn just by playing the game.
It’s also possible to earn just by completing quests, setting up farms on your land, and battling AI opponents in Adventure mode. Even after the hype has died down from its 2021 surge in popularity, Axies are still selling for thousands of dollars at a time, with millions of monthly transactions still taking place, according to DappRadar. Axie Infinity has proven its longevity, and, as such, its AXS token comes at number five as one of the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023.
6. WAX (WAXP)
WAX, or the Worldwide Asset eXchange, is a blockchain built to facilitate trading in play-to-earn and metaverse gaming. It takes the form of a carbon-neutral decentralised marketplace and dApp platform that is used exclusively for virtual item trading, with the goal of making integration with games and NFT projects as simple as possible.
Instead of holding your assets with a centralised provider, WAX allows you to truly own your in-game assets and trade them easily on the WAX platform. The world’s most-played blockchain-based game, Alien Worlds, is built exclusively on WAX. Part of the chain’s popularity comes from the backing of its parent company OPSkins, one of the world’s leading brands for trading digital goods.
WAX will likely play a vital role in the future of metaverse item trading, and its potential to lead this space makes WAXP our sixth choice as one of the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023.
7. Enjin (ENJ)
Enjin is similar to WAX, but whereas WAX is aimed at gaming and NFT development, Enjin is much more focused on gaming. Enjin is a digital asset management solution that helps developers easily store their items on the blockchain with a simple-to-use platform and multiple software development kits (SDKs) that allow it to integrate with almost any game.
Enjin works in a unique way. Developers create their in-game items and mint a corresponding NFT on Enjin, locking up ENJ tokens to assign them value in the process. With a value set, these NFTs can be traded between players to give them ownership over their digital assets and destroyed if the player wants to redeem the ENJ tokens locked inside the item’s smart contract.
As a simple, interoperable solution, Enjin is likely to be part of the foundation for many future metaverse projects. As such, the ENJ token is our seventh best metaverse token to invest in for 2023.
8. Bloktopia (BLOK)
Bloktopia is a metaverse project set in a 21-floor skyscraper and uses Unreal Engine 5 to provide some of the most stunning graphics in the metaverse. Bloktopia’s vision is to create an experience almost like a shopping mall where you can access a whole host of fun things to do. This includes things like playing games, developing land, and socialising with other Bloktopians.
In Bloktopia, you’ll find blockchain and NFT projects to immerse yourself in while learning about the latest technology transforming the metaverse landscape. You can even rent out your land to advertisers to generate another revenue stream inside the metaverse! As one of the most promising metaverse projects out there, Bloktopia and the BLOK token takes eighth place for the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023.
9. Star Atlas (POLIS)
Star Atlas is another project that uses Unreal Engine 5 to create mind-blowing visuals. It’s a space-themed project set in the year 2620 where the goal is to link up with others to dominate the intergalactic cosmos. Each player travels in their own spaceship, using tools to mine and forging weapons to battle against other rival factions. Each in-game item is represented by an NFT, meaning they can be bought and sold on Star Atlas’ Marketplace using the ATLAS token.
What makes Star Atlas special is its immersive gameplay. Each region and faction has its own DAO. That means that each POLIS holder can have a say in what their legion should focus on next, such as conquering rival factions, exploring new planets, or opening up mining operations in a friendly region. While Star Atlas is still in development, the project has exceptional potential, making the game’s governance token, POLIS, our ninth choice as one of the best metaverse projects to invest in for 2023.
10. Somnium Space (CUBE)
Somnium Space is a VR-based metaverse that is similar to The Sandbox in that it allows users to buy land, develop whatever they like on their land, and let others explore their creations. It offers multiple creator tools and SDKs to help users unlock their creativity and build entire cities that are completely customisable.
Each in-game asset is stored as an NFT, meaning that user creations can be traded using the CUBE token for a tidy profit. Somnium Space focuses on being accessible to all, which is why you’ll find it on almost every virtual reality headset out there.
They already have some impressive partnerships with companies like Sony, Gemini, and FTX, meaning it could easily be one of the most successful metaverses of the future. For this reason, we’re placing CUBE tenth in this list of the best metaverse tokens to invest in for 2023.
Metacade is the Best Metaverse Token to Invest in
The metaverse is one of the most exciting markets to be an investor in. There are so many outstanding projects making waves in this space, but for us, Metacade is the clear winner. With its vision to become the ultimate destination for everything metaverse and play-to-earn gaming, Metacade is in an excellent position to be a leader in these rapidly-growing industries.
Combined with the fact the MCADE token is still in presale, it’s one of the best metaverse investment opportunities on the market today. In the beginning, the presale is offering 125 tokens for just $1. In the final phase, this number shrinks to just 50 tokens for $1. If you believe in Metacade’s vision, then getting in early could effectively double your long-term returns just by being one of the early adopters of this fantastic project.
You can participate in the Metacade pre-sale here.
Disclaimer: Insights provided by crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of BanklessTimes.
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