Metaverse tokens like Decentraland, Sandbox and Axie Infinity have risen nearly 400% in a year despite the sell-off in crypto market

• Metaverse tokens are cryptocurrencies attached to metaverse games.
• Games like Decentraland, Sandbox and more have been doing well in terms of user growth over the past year.
• However, metaverse tokens registered significant drops in the month of May.

The crypto market’s bear turn seems to have affected all tokens except those tied to the metaverse arena. According to a report by Kraken Intelligence, the research arm of crypto exchange Kraken, prices of Metaverse tokens have risen by a whopping 400% year-on-year even as the rest of the market turned for the worse.

The report noted that tokens linked to metaverse platforms like Decentraland, Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and STEPN, were up by 41%, 470%, 511%, and 746%, respectively, last month. Exchange tokens saw gains of 6% year-on-year too, and became the second category that saw gains despite the market’s downturn.

“The #NFT boom of 2021 has not only drawn mainstream attention to digital art investments, it has also popularized the crypto metaverse,” the platform said in a tweet.


In comparison, the prices of Bitcoin were down 13%, while the DeFi category saw a massive drop of 72%, according to the report. BTC fell to a 10-month low in May, while Ethereum dropped by 29% year-on-year, according to the report.

That said, the report also pointed out that despite the overall upturn for metaverse games, the segment still posted a drop in May. It said that all sectors posted drops “exceeding 17%”, and metaverse and meme coins led this drop with less than -40% returns from both segments.

Why are metaverse tokens performing better?

Even so, the report is a reminder that crypto tokens that have an utility attached to them have a better chance of weathering the storm and may make for better investments. Tokens like MANA, SAND and others, which are linked to games like Decentraland and Sandbox, are used to buy items within those platforms, and hence have actual utilities attached to them.

But that’s not the only reason. Unlike many crypto tokens, which are known to traders only, the metaverse games market is actually popular too. For instance, on April 20, a report by blockchain tracking firm DappRadar noted that blockchain gaming activity has increased by 2000% in the past year.

“Game dapps continue their ongoing developments, and the metaverse keeps flashing one of the most exciting opportunities in the blockchain industry. VCs and other investors keep pouring capital into blockchain games and metaverse projects, surpassing $2.5 billion in investments,” the company said in a blog post.

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