Sandbox’s SAND has overcome a multi-year lull due to the protocol’s ecosystem developments and renewed interest from whales.
sandbox (SAND) surged over 40% on Thursday, December 5, reaching a 28-month high of $1.06, pushing its market cap to over $2.27 billion at press time. The recent gains sent the altcoin up 57% over the past week.
When viewed over a longer period of time, the numbers become even clearer: SAND is up 173.6% in the last two weeks and 303% in the last month.
Notably, the rally coincided with an increase in the altcoin’s daily trading volume and open interest in the futures market. SAND’s daily trading volume has increased by 95% over the past day, with over $4.1 billion traded in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile CoinGlass Data revealed that open interest in the SAND futures market increased by 19.87% compared to the previous day, reaching $228.58 million, significantly higher than the $32.39 million recorded in early November.
Why is SAND rising?
The majority of the gains recorded in the last 24 hours came after the project announced two new sandbox improvement proposals that are expected to add more engaging content to the platform.
SIP 16 is seeking €80,000 to develop Episode 2 of the popular survival horror game Deep Sea and introduce new features to improve the gaming experience. SIP 17 focuses on adding a player inventory filter within the game client, allowing users to quickly sort through gear for a smoother gaming experience.
The dynamics are also related to progress Alpha Season 4with the platform’s largest reward pool to date at $2.5 million in SAND. Participants can earn rewards by completing various quests and challenges created in collaboration with major brands and franchises including playboyvoice and Hell boy.
Whales are piling up
Whales have recently shifted their focus to the leading Metaverse token. According to data from IntoTheBlock, SAND whale holders’ net flows shifted from a net outflow of $2.2 billion worth of SAND tokens earlier this month to a net inflow of $8.2 billion worth of SAND tokens on Wednesday, December 4th.
Gathering of whales This often prompts retail investors to follow suit, driven by fear of missing out on potential gains (FOMO), fueled by growing interest in altcoins.
Despite the significant increase in whale investments, the share of total addresses in profits remains around 50%. This eases fears of imminent whale sell-offs as almost half of holders are still stumped and may decide to wait for further gains from the altcoin before initiating a sell-off.
The increase is now not just limited to SAND; It is part of a larger comeback for the entire metaverse crypto sector, which had previously experienced a significant downturn. In the last 24 hours, the sector’s market capitalization has increased by 5.29% and is now over $30.68 billion.
Trading activity also increased, with volume increasing by 64.5% over the same period. Other big names in the Metaverse space, like Render (MAKE) and stack (STX), also recorded double-digit growth.
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