Please note that I am not a financial advisor. The following article is for the sole purpose of providing educational information on the topic discussed.

In a previous post dedicated to the videogame The Sandbox, I explained that this is a game/platform based on the Ethereum blockchain in which players can create their own virtual worlds, games, characters, and objects to later monetize and share them with other users.

Play-to-Earn videogames based on blockchain technology and the Metaverse have important differences and advantages over other similar games such as Minecraft or Roblox since they are decentralized games in which all your digital assets really belong to you, besides that, you can also financially benefit from them.

In this continuation post about The Sandbox, I’ll show you what you need to know to start making money with this great game, and what are the options available for this insha’Allah (God willing).

How to make money with The Sandbox

The first thing you need to start making money on The Sandbox platform is to own some of its native cryptocurrency, $SAND.

In the previous post, I mentioned that this is an ERC-20 utility token that is used for all important in-game transactions. These activities can include everything from buying digital objects, participating in challenges to win more $SAND tokens, to creating new objects that you can then sell on the platform’s marketplace.

In addition, $SAND is also essential for you as a player, since if you want new equipment and items for your avatar, you’ll have to pay with $SAND for these. It’s also necessary if you want to play the games created by other users.

Basically, The Sandbox has its own virtual economy developed in its own metaverse and based on its own native cryptocurrency. The best thing is that you can earn money both actively and passively while having fun. A gamer’s dream come true.

Although there are different ways to acquire $SAND within The Sandbox, if you are a new user, it is best to buy some $SAND to start. You can buy this at any reputable exchange, Binance being one of the best options available. Let’s now see the most popular methods to earn money with The Sandbox.

Create and publish games

You have to assume that modern everyday life is not very exciting at times: wake up in the morning, go to work, return home, maybe get some rest on the weekend and repeat the process all over again. Every – day – of – your – life…

But how about becoming a secret spy, a soldier in World War II, or an adventurer in the Amazon jungle?

Well, thanks to the technology developed by the videogame industry and if you are a creative individual with some design skills, you can create adventures that other users can enjoy within The Sandbox.

Thanks to the Sandbox Game Maker design tool, you can create these experiences and publish them in portions of LAND for other users to enjoy by paying a small fee in $SAND tokens, generating passive income for you that will increase as more and more users are part of The Sandbox.

Buy and sell land for a profit

Today, and thanks to the growing interest of investors in the Metaverse, virtual lands can be worth as much as lands in the real world. In fact, parcels of virtual land have been sold for millions of dollars. In The Sandbox, LAND works as an NFT token that can be shaped to offer different virtual experiences to other users, as we saw above.

Based on this, buying portions of LAND and then selling them when they have increased in value, can be a very lucrative business. These operations can be carried out directly through The Sandbox Marketplace or through a third-party NFT exchange. Keep in mind that the price of a portion of LAND may vary depending on a number of factors, such as its size or other additional features.

Rent your LAND

Another good way to earn money if you own one or more portions of LAND, is to rent these virtual spaces to other users who want to create, publish, and monetize games and other similar experiences. Keep in mind, however, that any gaming experience built on your portion of LAND will remain the property of its designer.

Regarding the price you can charge for the rental of your LAND, as I mentioned above, this will depend on several factors, including the size of the virtual land portion, as well as its proximity to other popular communities and gaming experiences within The Sandbox metaverse.

Play to Earn

The Play-to-Earn model is here to stay. Gone is investing time and money in videogames that won’t pay you anything for your hard work and dedication. The Sandbox joins games like Axie Infinity and Decentraland in the Play-to-Earn model to allow its users to earn money in the form of cryptocurrency just by playing and participating in the playful creations of other users.

The best part is that, since these transactions are made through the Ethereum network, people can exchange their earnings for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies with relative ease.

Buy and sell ASSETS in The Marketplace

While you can create ASSETS – the objects used within the game, such as weapons, vehicles, etc. – with the VoxEdit tool and then sell them, an easier way to earn money with them is to buy ASSETS created by other users and then resell them to obtain profits.

Take into account that a single article can belong to several categories, so the possibilities are almost limitless:

• Creative art
• Collectible rarities
• Investment objects
• Commemorative items
• Certifications of participation
• Badges supporting a cause
• Skins

These are all reasons for people to purchase virtual items with gaming utility.

Uniswap liquidity pools

You can also participate as a liquidity provider in the Uniswap $SAND-ETH pool to generate passive income in the form of $SAND. Additionally, if you own LAND and use yield multipliers, you can increase the amount of $SAND you earn, as well as get rare and exclusive NFTs.

However, when it comes to liquidity pools, you should make sure that the way you are earning money is permissible (halal).

Other alternative ways to earn $SAND and NFT tokens

Here are some alternate ways you can try to give yourself more chances to earn rewards in the form of cryptocurrency tokens.

The Sandbox giveaways

From time to time, the team behind The Sandbox organizes events and giveaways that any member of the community can participate in to win lots of $SAND tokens. These events are usually carried out through official livestreams on networks or on the official website.

Community-hosted events

You can also earn $SAND tokens and NFTs by participating in contests and competitions run by LAND owners. These owners hold such events as a way to promote their games and activities hosted within their portions of LAND. Keep an eye on social media.

When it comes to earning money through competitions, please be aware that the ulema has guidelines on what types of income are permissible through competition.

I discuss this in the following blog post, Axie Infinity Overview and is Axie Infinity Halal?

Ambassador Program

If you have a website, YouTube channel, or blog, you can participate in the Ambassador Program to earn rewards by helping to promote the game. The more active you are answering questions, writing great articles, and creating videos, the more likely you are to earn cool rewards.

The Sandbox Marketplace

The Sandbox Marketplace is the portal where users of this great gaming metaverse can buy or sell game objects created by the users themselves, as well as virtual lands in the form of NFTs. This marketplace is a key element that has contributed to further expanding the interest of users and investors in The Sandbox, and it’s a very dynamic and continuously growing component that you’ll have to go through sooner or later, either as a buyer or seller.

In the marketplace, it is possible to buy and sell all kinds of ASSETS in the form of buildings, weapons, characters, vehicles, and other items, as well as GEM tokens. However, it’s also possible to buy or rent portions of LAND directly from the portal.

Bear in mind that this is a free market that works based on supply and demand, so asset prices will change constantly, and all operations are carried out in the native currency $SAND. It is also necessary to have some Ether to pay the Ethereum gas fees in addition to the fee that the marketplace takes, which is 5%, for the amount of each transaction. The fee applies to sellers.

One of the most attractive aspects of this marketplace, especially if you are a 3D artist, is that the 5% fee that is applied to each sale goes directly to a fund that is used to finance the projects of the most talented artists that bring value to the platform.

In general terms, The Sandbox Marketplace is a fairly intuitive and easy-to-use platform, and more and more users are taking their place on it, so the quantity, variety, and quality of assets are guaranteed.

Final words

The Sandbox metaverse has its own very well developed digital economy, and it’s just one small example of the direction in which the Metaverse and the digital economy, in general, are heading. It’s no longer simply about playing and exploring, but with the entire ecosystem developed based on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, we are seeing a whole new world of opportunities before us.

And the best thing is that anyone who wants to participate can do so without being limited by their geographical location or economic position.

And the best thing is that anyone who wants to participate can do so by complying with the corresponding requirements, without being limited by their geographical location or economic position.

As I said at the beginning, a gamer’s dream come true…

PLEASE KINDLY SHARE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU’VE FOUND BENEFIT IN IT

Please note that I am not a financial advisor. The following article is for the sole purpose of providing information on the topic discussed.

In recent months, videogames based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and that are also somehow related to the metaverse and the Play-to-Earn model, such as Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and today’s topic, The Sandbox, have quickly become trends in the crypto industry.

So, what is The Sandbox metaverse?

In an innovative, fun, and attractive presentation, The Sandbox is a gaming blockchain platform that allows users to own, create, play, and monetize their gaming experiences as well as earn SAND – the platform’s native cryptocurrency – by owning, selling, or renting plots of land or by simply selling their ideas in the platform’s marketplace.

In this article, we’ll cover The Sandbox ecosystem and the variety of components that are making it so popular; the possibilities within this new metaverse, the utilities of its tokens, the variety of resources available for its users, and if it is halal. Let’s get started.

What is The Sandbox?

As I already mentioned, The Sandbox is a gaming platform that allows users to create their own virtual worlds, similar to the popular Minecraft and Roblox games.

This videogame has been available on iOS and Android mobile devices since 2012 – the original version was in 2D – gaining a lot of popularity among the public, reaching 40 million downloads in 2018.

However, in the same year 2018, Animoca Brands bought the rights to the game from the original company, Pixowl, to develop The Sandbox platform with Voxel-style graphics quite similar to the aforementioned games. However, Animoca made one major change to the original game:

They placed The Sandbox game on the Ethereum blockchain.

As with games like Decentraland, this feature now allows users to build their own virtual worlds and develop a digital economy within the game that can also be extended outside of the game, taking The Sandbox to a whole new level. Thanks to blockchain technology, The Sandbox players have total freedom to monetize their digital worlds through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with all the possibilities that this entails.

The Sandbox was implemented on the Ethereum network to give it the security and strength of the world’s second-largest blockchain, which in turn creates the opportunity for its users to create games independently on its platform around the world and without a central regulatory authority.

Currently, The Sandbox has a hybrid structure that hosts the virtual world partly on centralized servers, while the processes related to tokens and other collectibles, run on a decentralized blockchain. This ensures broad freedom for developers while ensuring that players have ownership of their collectibles, characters, and other digital items at all times.

How does The Sandbox work?

The Sandbox is possible thanks to the implementation of smart contracts on the Ethereum network. This also facilitates the creation of tokens and NFTs through a series of processes and interactions very similar to what is seen in other Play-to-Earn games based on this blockchain. After that, we have three elements that are key for The Sandbox ecosystem to function properly:

1. The powerful VoxEdit 3D editor

Animoca has resorted to the use of the VoxEdit design tool; a powerful software that allows the generation of all kinds of graphics and 3D environments, as well as animations and even NFTs. These elements can then be associated with all types of polygonal content – of the Voxel type – that use blockchain technology.

The advantage of the VoxEdit editor is that users can create absolutely anything they can think of, be it people, tools for the game, monsters, or architectural structures. These objects can then be animated and converted into NFTs to be exported to The Sandbox Marketplace, allowing users to easily sell their creations.

As you can see, it is a powerful tool that is being used even by large and renowned companies in the industry, such as Atari or Square Enix.

2. The Sandbox Marketplace

In this marketplace, users can buy, sell, and exchange their designs created with VoxEdit. The Sandbox Marketplace is a decentralized marketplace that supports Ethereum’s ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens. In this open market, players can sell unwanted assets or those created specifically for profit, so it is possible to find thousands of different assets with all kinds of designs, which users can filter by rarity, categories, and themes.

In addition to the above, the marketplace is also available for those users who wish to explore, discover, and acquire new assets to add to their LAND tokens in the metaverse of the game – more on this shortly.

3. The Sandbox metaverse

This is without a doubt, the most active component of the gaming ecosystem. In The Sandbox metaverse, players can design, buy, and own digital assets within their virtual properties.

In addition, in “Play” mode, players can explore LAND elements – the virtual plots owned by other users – and enjoy the game experiences created by other players and interact with other people in these activities.

This is very similar to what we can see in games like Decentraland, but The Sandbox ecosystem has the added benefit of the great flexibility provided by the simple but powerful VoxEdit editor to unleash creativity without limits.

What is Sandbox crypto used for?

Although there are several tokens within the universe of The Sandbox, there are two that are essential for the operation of the platform. These would be the SAND and LAND tokens.

SAND

This is the native token within The Sandbox platform. It is an ERC-20 token that has a maximum supply of 3 billion SAND. I’m speaking about a utility token that is used to perform different types of activities and transactions within the game ecosystem, such as:

• Play
• Modify avatars
• Buy LAND tokens
• Exchange assets on the marketplace

And it even grants its holders a governance power that allows users to propose and vote on different aspects related to the future of the platform through a system based on DAO.

SAND will also offer its holders the possibility of earning additional rewards by staking their token within the platform in addition to a percentage of the profits from in-game transactions made through SAND.

Staking SAND also increases the chances of finding GEMs and CATALYSTs tokens necessary to create ASSETS tokens with a high level of rarity.

Staking on the platform will be a feature offered in the future and there is no set date on when this will happen at this time. However, staking SAND is currently possible through liquidity pools on Uniswap.

Before staking in liquidity pools, first read my blog post, 4 Types of Yield Farming and is Yield Farming Halal?

Finally, the best part is that it’s possible to get SAND simply by participating in different types of activities within the game. Although it’s also possible to buy SAND on different reputable exchanges on the Web.

LAND

LAND is the other essential part of The Sandbox. I’m talking here about parcels of virtual terrain that are what form the playing field as such. Without LAND, users wouldn’t have a place to put their VoxEdit creations and not even a place to play.

LAND is an ERC-721 type NFT token that users can purchase to build their own games or virtual environments and combine them to create ESTATES and DISTRICTS, which are nothing more than combinations of two or more portions of LAND.

The LAND token allows users to monetize their creations, either by charging other players to visit them or to participate in their games. They can also earn SAND tokens by charging for the rental of their land to host virtual events and even earn money from renting advertising space.

There is currently a total of 166,464 portions of LAND in the game’s metaverse, and some can be purchased through public offerings from time to time. However, it is also possible to buy LAND from other players using the Marketplace or specialized NFTs sites, such as OpenSea.

I already mentioned that in addition to these tokens, the game has additional tokens required for certain activities within its metaverse. They are the following:

ASSETS

These are NFTs that users can create using the VoxEdit tool and then upload to the Marketplace for sale. These assets can be any type of object that users wish to create, including buildings, weapons, animals, or people, each generating a unique game experience for each user and situation.

GEM and CATALYST

GEM tokens are ERC-20 tokens that serve to define and improve the attributes of ASSETS tokens and that burn as they are used.

On the other hand, CATALYST are tokens of the ERC-20 type that are also used to generate spaces in which to place GEMS. That is, they serve to create spaces to improve our ASSETS by applying various GEMS that enhance specific properties of certain ASSETS.

Learn more about GEM and CATALYST tokens here.

Is The Sandbox halal?

Is The Sandbox halal? Yes, The Sandbox game would be considered halal. The Sandbox is a platform that allows the user to build or play games as well as buy, sell, and rent assets in what is called the metaverse, and this is not seen as haram. It is how the user utilizes the platform that will be seen as either halal, haram, or makruh.

However, when it comes to playing videogames, there is still a general consensus among scholars that even though it is permissible to play and/or earn money from videogames, it is not highly encouraged as there is a concern that by someone occupying their time in regular gameplay, this may lead them to neglect the rights of Allah, others, or even their self.

In addition to this, there are certain fatwas that discuss what income is permissible or not permissible to earn from playing sports or games.

See my previous article on Axie Infinity as I discuss this in more depth in that article – Axie Infinity Overview and is Axie Infinity halal?

As for SAND crypto, scholars who generally rule that cryptocurrency is halal would also consider SAND as halal and see it as a utility token. Scholars would normally classify SAND as an asset and not a currency.

Is The Sandbox a good investment?

As has happened with many similar games, recent announcements made by Facebook – now Meta – around the metaverse, have marked a turning point in the history and price of SAND, the cryptocurrency of The Sandbox.

Before the announcement, SAND hit an all-time high of $1.15 in August 2021, after trading at $0.05 for months until the end of January 2021, when it joined the bullish trend that most cryptocurrencies were following.

Although the rise to $1.15 was impressive, it was still in its infancy compared to the price reached in November, when it soared to $3 in a matter of days. After this event, the price of the cryptocurrency has continued to rise, rising above the $8 mark, and accumulating a market capitalization of around $5B.

Right now, this all makes perfect sense as more and more people are learning about cryptocurrencies and the metaverse, which is driving a huge adoption of existing platforms. However, Meta will undoubtedly be a huge competition for The Sandbox and other similar platforms.

Until the announcement of Meta’s metaverse, Decentraland was probably The Sandbox’s biggest rival. Both are games based on the metaverse, built around a cryptocurrency, and have an economy based on NFTs. However, The Sandbox allows its users to create almost anything with its innovative 3D editing software.

Although Decentraland has many more active users at the moment and has the attention of brands like Coca-Cola, The Sandbox also has the collaboration of some notable partners like Atari and Adidas, among others.

The opening of The Sandbox is approaching

Recently, the company behind the project, Animoca Brands, published a very important announcement on the Twitter profile of The Sandbox, where they reported on the opening date of the metaverse of this promising NFT game – November 29, 2021. After this, the price of the SAND token skyrocketed, as this announcement was a motivation for investors.

This is also due to the fact that the debut of the game will bring a series of rewards to the first 5,000 users who sign up to participate in the corresponding missions.

First place will get a reward of 1,000 SAND tokens, which at the time of publishing this blog post, would be valued at around $6k, plus three more prizes in the form of unique rarity NFTs.

In addition to all of this, many people also know about the collaboration between The Sandbox and SoftBank Group – a Japanese company that works with telecommunications and the internet – with the aim of financing the game’s metaverse, a fact that has also helped drive up the price of SAND tokens.

From all the above, it is easy to deduce that The Sandbox and its SAND token will continue to rise, at least as long as the hype for the metaverse lasts. But if this is as Mark Zuckerberg says, “the future,” then this is probably a good time to invest, considering that prices are still low.

As always, never invest what you cannot afford to lose, and always do your research before investing.

Conclusion

The Sandbox has joined the hype of the “Play-to-Earn” games and the metaverse ecosystem. The platform offers its users the possibility to earn money while they play and interact with the great variety of possibilities offered by their metaverse.

In addition, users can also create other games and experiences without the need for constant maintenance on the platform, which would allow them to earn additional passive income.

If we take into account the large number of users who play games like Minecraft or Roblox, it is very likely that The Sandbox, with its interesting incentives, will be able to further popularize all the ideas and technologies behind blockchain, cryptos, and the like.

It looks like on the horizon of Play-to-Earn games, a bright future can be glimpsed… What do you think?

PLEASE KINDLY SHARE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU’VE FOUND BENEFIT IN IT