SAND, the coin of blockchain-based play-to-earn metaverse Sandbox, is back on the slide losing 6% of its value today (10 March) down to $2.8.

In February it set off on a modest bull run after gaining the support of global fashion brand Gucci, which has bought a plot of land in its world. But the turrmoil caused by the outbreak of war in eastern Europe piushed it backed downwards.

What is the outlook for the coin? What is a realistic future price target? What factors could shape any Sandbox coin price prediction for 2022, 2025 and 2030?

In this article we look at the latest analyst Sandbox crypto price predictions, news and analysis to help you decide if you shoud make SAND part of your portfolio.

Sandbox is a play-to-earn game that combines blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a three-dimensional (3D) metaverse. It focuses on user-generated content which helps further develop the platform.

The game was initially known as two separate mobile hits: The Sandbox, which was launched in 2011, and The Sandbox Evolution, which was launched in 2016. Together, the two games generated around 40 million downloads across the Android and iOS platforms.

In 2018, the games’ developer, Pixowl, was acquired by Hong Kong-based game software company Animoca Brands which integrated the popular games into the blockchain ecosystem.

Sandbox is hosted on the Ethereum network and is powered by SAND, an ERC-20-based token.

Inspired by major game-creation systems such as Minecraft and Roblox, Sandbox allows players not just to create their own worlds and games, but also to have true ownership of their creations as NFTs. In exchange for participating and playing, players earn SAND tokens.

According to the metaverse’s whitepaper, the current game market limits creator rights and ownership, an issue which Sandbox aims to overcome “while accelerating blockchain adoption to grow the blockchain gaming market”.

The game itself is split into three parts:

• VoxEdit, where players can create and animate 3D objects such as people, animals, tools and foliage. These are then exported into The Sandbox marketplace, where they become game ASSETS and are sold as NFTs.
• The Sandbox marketplace where users can upload, publish and sell their ASSETS as ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens. The Marketplace launched on 30 March 2021.
• GAMEMAKER, where players who own ASSETS can use them to play the game itself. Players can place their ASSETS within a piece of LAND (an ERC-721 token) that they own within the Sandbox metaverse. This LAND can be decorated with a number of ASSETS which can be given predefined behaviours through visual scripting nodes. Thus, players are able to turn their LAND into a potential full game experience. Several LANDS can be combined by players to form an ESTATE.

The SAND token fuels the platform and can be earned by selling ASSETS, by owning LAND which can be rented or populated with content to increase its value, and/or by building and monetising games through the GAME MAKER function on the LANDS that are owned by players.

The token also:

• Gives players access to the platform. Players use SAND tokens to play games, make in-game purchases and customise their avatars. SAND is also charged to upload ASSETS on the marketplace and purchase Gems that define an ASSET’s rarity and scarcity.
• SAND holders are granted governance and can exercise voting rights on key features within the project’s roadmap.
• Players can stake their SAND tokens in order to earn more. This is also the only way that players can earn the Gems and Catalysts that are needed for ASSET creation.

Players get to keep 95% of their SAND revenue.

The total supply of SAND coins stands at three billion, with 1.12 billion in circulation. The token reached over $3.15bn in market capitalisation and is ranked the 37th largest cryptocurrency by CoinMarketCap as of 10 March 2022.

SAND price driven by partnership & investor news

The Sandbox token’s outlook started to look much more positive at the start of February 2021, following Sandbox’s partnership with cryptocurrency price-tracking website CoinMarketCap for the latter to release an NFT collection on the metaverse.

In the following months, the token’s price kept moving sideways before it reached $3.22 on 3 November 2021, after the metaverse announced on 2 November that it had gained $93m from Softbank Vision Fund 2 investors, which would help the platform scale up its growth strategy, operations and player acquisition.

By then, Sandbox already had over 165 partners, including popular US rapper Snoop Dogg, and famous TV series The Walking Dead and the Smurfs. The project had also partnered up with Liberty City Ventures, Galaxy Interactive and Adidas Originals.

On 25 November 2021, the token had reached its all-time high of $8.4022 – a 16,387.83% surge since its launch at $0.05096 on 15 August 2020.

On 1 December 2021 Sandbox announced that players could purchase plots next to the one where Snoop Dogg was building his mansion, Snoopverse. This led the SAND token to grow by just 2.02% from $6.5781 on 1 December to $6.7114 the following day.

Following an overall drop in bitcoin and ether prices at the start of December, SAND also fell by 28.8% to $4.7785 by mid-month, despite having secured partnerships with 10 exchanges, as well as a MAUER NFT collection memorialising the Berlin wall.

On 21 December 2021, the metaverse’s partner, Canadian electronic music producer deadmau5, announced the launch of his NFT collection on the Sandbox marketplace which pushed the SAND token’s price up to $6.73 on 26 December, an increase of by 40.81% from its 14 December low.

Bank of America strategist Haim Israel said on 1 December that the metaverse will make cryptocurrencies even more popular than they already were, thus boosting price targets for many metaverse-based crypto tokens including SAND. On 18 January 2022, investment firm JP Morgan Chase agreed with BoA’s bullish predicament by publishing a report saying that the metaverse industry could possibly reach over $1t in yearly revenues. The firm’s report mentioned Sandbox as one of the “main metaverse platforms”.

However, the token’s value line on the chart started to decline once again, amid a general dip in the crypto market at the start of 2022 due to the possibility of tightening monetary policy and geopolitical tensions.

At time of writing, 10 March, the token is trading at $2.8.

What’s next for the metaverse?

One silver lining for the SAND token price was Snoop Dogg’s announcement on 27 January 2022 that he would be launching a series of Snoop Dogg metaverse avatars on the platform. The news pushed the token’s price by 61.28% from $2.99 on 22 January to $4.81 on 8 February 2022. The NFTs were minted on 22 February and have the potential to hike the token’s price once again.

In more recent SAND coin news, partnerships with Gucci and Ubisoft  were unable to offset the overall bearish forecast in the markets, with the token reaching $3.11 on 22 February – a 35.4% drop since 8 February.

The platform also partnered with Warner Music Group which will create a music-themed world in the metaverse as the platform plans to launch its first virtual concerts in the third quarter of 2022.

A mobile version of the metaverse is anticipated for some time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

BigOne Exchange chair Anndy Lian told Capita.com that Sandbox heavily relies on Ethereum’s performance, making the token quite volatile.

“Personally, I do like the developments of the project. But I do want to point out some angles for improvement. Firstly, the project relies heavily on Ethereum’s performance. I do think that, given the right situation, they should look at building on another blockchain or even their own chain.

“Secondly, their game needs to be attractive enough to draw in more users while retaining the old ones. I hope to see more game enhancement and token utility that comes along with it.”

Sandbox coin price prediction 2022-2030:

Algorithm-based forecasting service WalletInvestor gave a bullish SAND crypto price prediction at the time of writing (10 March), calling it an “awesome long-term investment”.

Based on its analysis of the cryptocurrency’s past performance, the forecasting service’s SAND price prediction was it could trade at $8.04 by March 2023 and reach $28.75 in five years.

DigitalCoinPrice supported the bullish SAND crypto price prediction but at a much slower pace, seeing the coin reach $3.61 by the end of 2022 and $5.49 by 2025.

The site’s SAND prediction was that the token was expected to surpass its all-time high in 2027 at $8.36. In 2030, the token’s price could reach $14.55.

Please note that price predictions can be wrong. Forecasts shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research. Always conduct your own due diligence before investing. And never invest or trade money you cannot afford to lose.

Analyst views on SAND

Bitbank crypto market analyst Yuya Hasegawa told Capital.com that upbeat comments on the Sandbox metaverse from financial institutions like Bank of America and JP Morgan, as well as sales of collaborative items with celebrities and popular brands, are attracting investors to the platform.

Hasegawa was interviewed before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

“However, although SAND and some other metaverse-related tokens have outperformed bitcoin in the last quarter, the current market environment – not limiting to the crypto market – is heavily affected by the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border and investors are being quite defensive,” she noted.

“So, even though SAND has a lot of growth potential in the long run, as the industry itself is still in a sort of ‘experimental’ or ‘developmental’ phase, the financial market as a whole has to wait and see how the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border rolls out.”

Invezz data analyst Dan Ashmore added that the token managed to piggyback off the wider boom in the metaverse caused by Facebook rebranding to Meta in October.

“Further fuel was provided via high-profile partnerships, including Gucci, Warner Music Group and Snoop Dogg (offering shopping experiences, virtual concerts and playable avatars respectively). Particularly exciting going forward is the focus on user-generated content.

“Objects and interactive games can be created and sold on the marketplace. With the internet increasingly focused on content creation (YouTube, TikTok etc), ATH above $8 could be achievable in the next year or two, although that will depend on the wider crypto market,” he concluded.