Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
The Sandbox (SAND): Token of a Metaverse Where Users Build Games
An Ethereum-based virtual world run on LAND and SAND
SAND is the token of The Sandbox, a metaverse game where users buy virtual land (LAND) and build and sell their own games and 3D items. It is a standard Ethereum token used for payments, rewards and votes inside that world.
1. From a mobile game to a blockchain metaverse
The Sandbox began as a sandbox-style mobile game from Pixowl, a studio founded in 2011 by Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget. After Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong investor in blockchain games led by Yat Siu, acquired it in 2018, it turned toward a blockchain-based metaverse (a virtual world).
SAND is an ERC-20 token (Ethereum’s standard token format) issued on Ethereum in 2020, with a fixed total supply of 3 billion. On the Crypto Nation map, SAND stands in Ethereum City (the capital), because it was first issued on Ethereum.
2. LAND, VoxEdit and Game Maker
Land in this world is an NFT (a unique, non-fungible digital asset) called LAND, fixed at 166,464 parcels on a 408-by-408 grid. Parcels change hands through seasonal sales and marketplace trading. Owners can build games, galleries or shops on their parcels to attract visitors.
Two tools support creators. VoxEdit (a 3D tool that builds characters and objects from voxels, cube-shaped pixels) makes items for sale in the marketplace, and Game Maker designs experiences without coding. SAND pays for land and items, fees, rewards and governance votes, and can also be moved to Polygon to save on fees. Items are issued as ERC-1155 tokens (an NFT format allowing many copies of one item), and a staking rewards program for SAND has also run.
3. Brand tie-ups and key dates
The Sandbox drew attention through virtual spaces for famous brands and artists. In 2021 names such as Snoop Dogg’s ‘Snoopverse’, adidas, Atari and HSBC were reported to have bought land or opened spaces. In November that year a large funding round led by a SoftBank fund was announced.
The world has been released as time-limited ‘Alpha Seasons’ rather than a final launch: the first in late 2021, Season 5 announced in March 2025, and Season 6, fronted by Cirque du Soleil, launched on 24 September 2025. Users join through avatars (virtual alter egos) and earn rewards by completing quests.
4. Things to know
The virtual-land boom peaked in 2021–22, and cooled usage has been a challenge since. The service is still in a seasonal ‘alpha’ stage, so the date of a full launch and the real number of users are uncertain. A metaverse loses the point of its land and items if people stop visiting.
The value of SAND and LAND depends on how many people the world attracts, and unlocks of tokens held by the team, investors and foundation can weigh on the market. Development sits under one investment group, Animoca Brands, so decisions are centralized, and rules for crypto assets and NFTs are a further variable. Scams and fake NFTs are a risk when trading in-game assets.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.