Bitcoin (BTC) and Sandbox (SAND) are two very different cryptocurrency tokens. Bitcoin (BTC) serves primarily as a peer-to-peer lending token that was introduced for the main purpose of e-commerce. SAND tokens, on the other hand, are used primarily to buy tokenized assets within the Sandbox game.
Within the Sandbox marketplace, investors can buy NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) that can be used within the Sandbox metaverse. This includes purchasing land and equipment, as well as initiating games and making trades with other gamers.
The Sandbox game itself is a creative game where users can own and trade land with other users. It’s not so much plot-driven, but rather a fun, ongoing virtual project.
Bitcoin, of course, offers no equivalent to the Sandbox metaverse. In this article, we’ll take a look at the two coins side by side and see if there are any parallels we can draw between them.
History
Bitcoin, being the first-ever coin on the crypto market, definitely helped pave the way for games such as Sandbox to exist.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin kick-started the cryptocurrency revolution back in 2009 when it made online purchasing through a decentralized online currency possible. This coin set the bar for what was possible in terms of cryptocurrency, especially in 2010, when the first physical purchase was made using Bitcoin.
In the years since, Bitcoin has remained at the top of the market, although it has had its fair share of ups and downs.
Despite its power and influence, the inventor of the coin remains a mystery. In the white paper, which was issued in 2008, a mysterious figure named Satoshi Nakamoto claims to be the creator of the coin. However, who this name is attributed to remains unclear. It may refer to a single creator or several developers.
Sandbox (SAND)
Sandbox actually dates back to 2012, when the first version of the platform emerged as a mobile app. Back then, it wasn’t powered by crypto but garnered a significant amount of following – it has 40 million global users of the mobile phone game!
Developers wanted to create a Minecraft-inspired game for mobile devices, where users could build their own area inside a virtual world.
As cryptocurrency developed throughout the 2010s, the Sandbox team began to fully realize their end goal; an NFT and crypto-based virtual world. Starting in 2018, Sandbox worked to try and bring this idea to fruition. This led to the official launch of the Sandbox marketplace, powered by the SAND token, in spring 2021.
What Are They, And Why Were They Created?
Sandbox and Bitcoin, although both cryptocurrencies, were created for very different reasons.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer lending coin that was created to make online transactions easy. During the years leading up to its release, e-commerce had been on the rise but had been facing certain limitations when it was based solely on fiat currency. Bitcoin was introduced to alleviate a lot of the issues relating to traditional money in the online world.
Plus, the global financial crash of the years preceding the launch of Bitcoin had caused a major loss of faith in traditional banking methods. The time was ripe for alternative modes of buying, selling, and investing money.
Sandbox
Sandbox is an online world that is fueled by the SAND native token. Users of this site have to invest in SAND to buy and sell their assets. Users can create and upload their own NFTs, or buy and sell the NFTs of others.
Sandbox also required its own native coin to reward gamers for completing certain aspects of its play to earn features.
The Sandbox token was created around the time when companies first started to get creative with cryptocurrency. Up to a point, coins were only created to support e-commerce online. Suddenly, around the late 2010s, new coins were being issued to support online metaverses and fuel the play of online games.
Price History
The current price and price history of Bitcoin and Sandbox are obviously going to be very different. Bitcoin has monetary value outside of itself, while SAND only really holds value within the Sandbox metaverse. However, both are digital assets, so it’s worthwhile knowing the price history of each.
Bitcoin
As of November 1st, 2022, a single Bitcoin is worth $20,541. Bitcoin has been steadily in-decline since late 2021 when it reached its all-time high of $68,789. Despite this significant decline, Bitcoin remains the top-performing cryptocurrency on the market.
Sandbox
The current price of Sandbox today is $0.8715. Although low, SAND has never been worth much. The highest point in the coin’s price history was $8.44, which it reached in November of 2021. And the coin is still up significantly from its lowest point, which was $0.02894. This all-time low took place on Nov 4th, 2020.
Over the last 12 years, it has remained predominantly high-valued. Around 2010 was when the coin was valued at its lowest when it rarely got above $0.40.
Market Cap
Market capitalization reflects the value of the total supply of coins currently in circulation. It can be calculated by taking the current value of the coin and multiplying it by the total number of coins in circulation.
Bitcoin
The market cap of Bitcoin is set at $391,187,244,255 as of November 1st, 2022. Market cap can fluctuate massively, so it would be worth checking out the token’s price and other useful crypto statistics on CoinMarketCap.
Sandbox
The market cap of Sandbox is currently at $1,308,535,219. This is based on a total circulating supply of 1.50 billion.
Daily Transactions
If you’re wondering how popular either the BTC or the SAND coin is on a particular day, you can check the daily transactions. This number reflects how many people are trading the crypto within 24 hours.
Bitcoin
The daily transaction level of Bitcoin on November 1st, 2022 was 284,125. This figure was based on crypto research conducted by YCharts.
Sandbox
The exact number of transactions that have taken place involving SAND is difficult to determine. However, there has been a 24-hour trading volume that is equal to $350,203,591, according to CoinMarketCap.
Block Size
Block size simply refers to how big a single block on the blockchain is. This matters because it determines how many transactions can take place at once, and also the extent of scalability that can be done with a specific cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin
The total block size of Bitcoin is 1MB, which is enough to cover 2,000 transactions.
Sandbox
Sandbox is built on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning that a block will be roughly 1MB in size – the same as Bitcoin.
Similarities
Although Sandbox and Bitcoin are very different coins, some similarities can be made between the coins, including the following:
- Both are decentralized – Sandbox is a decentralized autonomous organization, while Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. Both companies are not owned by one individual body.
- Both are available on crypto exchange sites – Although SAND only holds value when completing in-game purchases or buying user-generated content, you can still exchange SAND for BTC on exchange sites.
Differences
- Different functions – SAND is the governance token for the Sandbox DAO and only really serves a function within the Sandbox game – for instance, it can be used to purchase land, NFTs, etc. Bitcoin, on the other hand, serves as a peer-to-peer lending coin. One helps you play games, the other helps you make a real cryptocurrency investment.
- Big price difference – The Sandbox price is a lot lower than that of Bitcoin.
Risks
The risks involved with BTC investments are very different from those of investing in SAND.
Bitcoin
- Volatile – Compared to Sandbox, BTC is very volatile and could change at any time. Investing in BTC is, of course, a lot riskier than investing in SAND.
- Bigger investment – To make it worth your while, you’ll need to dedicate a big investment to Bitcoin. SAND, on the other hand, doesn’t require as big an investment.
Sandbox
- Economically restrict – Can’t buy anything outside of the Sandbox metaverse using SAND. Although you can exchange SAND for other cryptocurrencies, that’s about all you can do with it outside the game.
- Difficult to get rid of – Not everyone wants to play Sandbox, so you may find getting rid of your SAND investment difficult.
Where to Buy
You can buy BTC and SAND on the following crypto change sites:
Bitcoin
Sandbox
Exchanging Bitcoin for Sandbox
You can exchange Bitcoin directly for Sandbox on such sites as Binance and eToro.
Future Plans
The plans of Sandbox and Bitcoin are as follows:
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is yet to announce any major plans for the future. However, the cryptocurrency will likely strive to keep improving its blockchain while expanding its ecosystem.
Sandbox
The two biggest future plans for Sandbox are the launch of the Game Maker and the Foundation. The Game Maker will allow any user to create their own 3D game, while the Foundation pays users to create their own NFTs.
https://www.benzinga.com/money/the-sandbox-cryptocurrency
https://blog.bitmex.com/ethereums-new-1mb-blocksize-limit/
https://www.sandbox.game/en/about/sand/
https://walletinvestor.com/compare/bitcoin-vs-the-sandbox
https://letsexchange.io/custom/compare/sand/btc/info/
https://messari.io/asset/thesandbox/profile
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/the-sandbox/
https://messari.io/asset/thesandbox/profile/roadmap