4 Blockchain and Crypto Projects in the Metaverse

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. Binance has no connection with these projects, and there is no endorsement of these projects. The information provided by Binance is not investment or trading advice or recommendation. Binance does not take responsibility for any of your investment decisions. Please seek professional advice before taking any financial risks.

TL; DR

The metaverse is growing at a rapid rate. Projects continue to evolve and connect to help bring together more aspects of our digital lives. Blockchain is already playing a critical role in this development.

BNB Smart Chain (BSC) is home to a large number of metaverse projects. These include RPG games like Cyber ​​Dragon and Alien worlds, the metaverse universe SecondLive, and even a player-owned casino called decentral.games. Trading card games like TopGoal also have a place in the metaverse.

On the Ethereum blockchain, Decentraland and the Sandbox offer similar metaverse experiences where users can create a digital identity, buy land, and trade NFTs on NFT marketplaces. Their combination of work, life and play even allows players to participate in play-to-earn DeFi economies. By interacting with and playing the game, users have the potential to generate an income. Bloktopia offers a similar experience on 21 floors of a digital skyscraper. Users can trade and rent real estate space on each floor to generate an income.

While the Engine project does not yet offer a 3D virtual reality universe to explore, it does provide the tools for creating in-game NFT assets. NFTs are another important part of the metaverse as they can create digital collectability. Through Enjin, users create liquid NFTs that can be broken into ENJ tokens at any point.

Introduction

2021 was a massive year for blockchain and crypto. From meme coins to bull runs and NFTs, the industry has constantly made headlines. The last half of the year brought us another trend: the metaverse. Aiming to combine our real social lives, work and immersive technology, the metaverse has captured the public’s imagination. Although the metaverse is still in its early days, crypto is already playing a central role. Let’s dive into some of the blockchain projects that are helping to bring about this new digital future.

To understand how important crypto and blockchain is for the metaverse, let us briefly summarize what the metaverse is. The metaverse is a connected, online universe that can be explored via 3D avatars. Users can work, socialize, create and learn all in one place. Think of it as the next evolution of the Internet experience.

While the web has PayPal and card payments, the metaverse has crypto to help create a digital economy. Blockchain has proven to be a useful technology for six key metaverse areas: digital proof of ownership, digital collectability, transfer of value, management, accessibility and interoperability. Blockchain technology offers a transparent and cost-effective solution, making it ideal for the metaverse. You can explore these six areas in more detail by visiting us What is the Metaverse?. Let’s look at how this is applied to metaverse projects across different blockchains.

A huge amount of development has taken place on BNB Smart Chain when it comes to the metaverse. Projects range from collectible card games with real players like Top Goal to RPG-style universes in Cyber ​​Dragon and Alien Worlds. There’s even a player-owned casino, decentral.games, and a classic metaverse VR project that hosts events called SecondLive. You can read our selection 5 BSC Metaverse Projects You Should Know to find out more about what BSC has to offer.

What is The Sandbox (SAND)?

The Sandbox is a blockchain game where users explore a virtual world that contains NFTs (non-slingable tokens), user-created environments and other content. Founded as a mobile game in 2011, The Sandbox has evolved into a complex game on Ethereum uses Ether (ETH), and the token SAND to power its in-game economy.

Players create their own avatar and digital identity, a key concept to the metaverse. An avatar can be associated with a crypto wallet to manage a player’s NFTs, SAND tokens and other blockchain assets. A player can even create games and virtual items using the VoxEdit and Game Maker tools. These powerful programs can create complex and professional video game assets, which you can then convert into NFTs. Since users can trade these items, it has developed a play to earn model where users can make extra income by playing The Sandbox.

What is Decentraland (MANA)?

Decentralized is a 3D universe where players develop their plots, host events, create content and engage in other social activities. The core economy of Decentraland is based on blockchain to establish digital identities, ownership and rarity for unique items. It is one of the most famous and famous projects that preceded the big metaverse craze in late 2021.

Founded in 2016, Estaban Ordano and Ari Meilich took a basic 2D game and grew it into a huge world with NFTs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The project also has its own ERC-20 utility token MANA.

So how does Decentraland fit into the metaverse? Well, it ticks a lot of the metaverse boxes: a 3D interface, a digital economy, social elements and in-game events. With more projects connecting to Decentraland, it also has the aspect of a metaverse hub. Decentraland is also best known for its virtual real estate NFT called LAND. Along with providing voting power in Decentraland’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), LAND has seen a huge increase in its price, making it popular among traders and investors.

What is Engine (ENJ)?

Enjin is a blockchain platform focused on the creation of NFTs used as in-game items. The project has released software development kits (SDKs) to make generating Ethereum-based NFTs simple for the average user. Since NFTs have already become an important part of the metaverse, Enjin sought to create a safer way for people to create them.

A common complaint about NFTs is that they can be something. You need to find a buyer for your NFT, which can take time. However, an engine NFT can always be melted in exchange for ENJ coins. This means that NFTs will always have some value as long as the price of ENJ does not reach zero. Since there is no need to wait for a buyer, converting NFTs to ENJ can provide immediate liquidity. By helping to support digital collectability and scarcity, Enjin seems to be a useful part of the metaverse.

What is Bloktopia (BLOK)?

Bloktopia is another VR metaverse game set in a 21-story skyscraper. Similar to Decentraland and The Sandbox, Bloktopia aims to be a hub for events, socializing, work and more. The 21 floors represent Bitcoin’s maximum supply of 21 million BTC. The project uses the polygon blockchain to support its four main aspects: learn, earn, play, create.

1. Learning – Bloktopia will act as a gateway for users to learn about blockchain and how it powers the metaverse. It provides a more accessible and interactive way to learn about crypto.

2. Earn – Bloktopia embraces the play-to-earn model with its native token BLOK, virtual property known as Reblok, and advertising opportunities with Adblok.

3. Play – Users should be able to socialize with friends online and enjoy a wide variety of user-build games and content.

4. Create – Bloktopia provides the tools for its gamers to create environments and even digital advertising spaces.

Play-to-earn has become a hot topic in the gaming metaverse. The idea of ​​earning income by playing and interacting with games is extremely attractive. While Decentraland and The Sandbox offer a simple method of selling real estate, Bloktopia takes it further. Each Reblok floor can be rented to tenants or rented for a single event. Users can also generate advertising revenue as other players spend time on their level.

Concluding thoughts

There is still a long way to go in the development of the metaverse. If you play the projects for yourself, you can see that the mechanics, look and feel are pretty basic. Many are still in the planning stages and not even available to test.

One thing is certain, however, that the number of new projects continues to increase. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big game company or a small metaverse crypto project, development happens fast. The projects mentioned above are only a starting place, so check back often for updates and news to stay on top of the evolving metaverse.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. Binance has no connection with these projects, and there is no endorsement of these projects. The information provided by Binance is not investment or trading advice or recommendation. Binance does not take responsibility for any of your investment decisions. Please seek professional advice before taking any financial risks.