At the end of Week 44 the total valuation of all cryptocurrencies in circulation stood at an astounding $2.87 trillion. While BTC was trading a few percent below its ATH price, several other major cryptocurrencies reached their new ATH prices in Week 44. The cryptocurrencies that surged higher than ever before include but are not limited to ETH (Ethereum), SOL (Solana), DOT (Polkadot), AVAX (Avalanche), LUNA (Terra), AXS (Axie Infinity), CRO (Crypto.com Coin) and HNT (Helium). The hype around metaverse-focused blockchain projects triggered by Facebook’s rebrand to Meta continued throughout Week 44. If such rapid growth continues, the cryptocurrency market could hit a $3 trillion valuation very soon. Do you think that this major milestone will be crossed already this week?
3. Enjin Coin (ENJ)
Enjin Coin (ENJ) is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency (ERC1155 token) used to directly back the value of next-generation blockchain assets. It is designed for social gaming as it allows virtual goods to be traded on the blockchain using smart contracts, non-fungible tokens and ENJ as a payment method. The project aims to change the fundamental nature of virtual worlds by providing infinite high-speed transactions between players and game providers at zero cost. More than a million people are already using Enjin’s products to manage, create, and trade these blockchain assets. Earlier this year, Enjin raised nearly $19 million in a funding round led by major crypto exchange Crypto.com to debut Efinity, its Polkadot-based NFT-focused blockchain. EFI, the native cryptocurrency of Efinity, went live in August 2021 after another $20-million had been raised through EFI token sale in July.
Enjin establishes a $100M fund to decentralize its metaverse
Like Decentraland (MANA) and several other blockchain projects developing virtual reality worlds, Enjin benefited from the Facebook’s recent rebrand. The project, which focuses on providing infrastructure for in-game transactions and NFTs, has almost infinite use cases in the metaverses of the future. On the tailwind of Facebook’s Meta rebrand, ENJ price grew by 33% last week. At the time of writing, ENJ is trading at $3.33. Nevertheless, the popular social network’s parent company changing its name into Meta is not the only reason for ENJ rally. The upward trend was additionally boosted by Enjin’s own announcement of a $100M fund being set up to facilitate Enjin metaverse decentralization. As per the announcement, the Efinity Metaverse Fund will support Enjin and Efinity adopters, and other organizations working on Enjin Ecosystem Integration, Metaverse, Collaborative NFT and gaming projects. The fund will also reward developers working on decentralization, such as building cross-chain and multi-chain infrastructure, as well as pioneering projects that dare to venture “where no one has gone before”. The fund will work by providing equity investments in seed or Series A funding rounds as well as by purchasing native tokens issued by eligible projects.
2. The Sandbox (SAND)
The Sandbox is a user-generated blockchain-based virtual world where players can build, create as well as buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game. The Sandbox was initially an ordinary sandbox game for mobile phones and PCs, but transformed into a blockchain-based voxel universe after it was acquired by Animoca Brands in August 2018. As well as other projects within the blockchain gaming ecosystem, The Sandbox too experienced explosive growth over the course of 2021 as nonfungible tokens (NFT) and the play-to-earn gaming model gained momentum. The Sandbox ecosystem utilized SAND as its utility token and as the basis of transactions and interactions. SAND is an ERC-20 token and there is a finite supply of 3,000,000,000 SAND. SAND can also be used for staking and governing the Sandbox metaverse.
Brands and creators pile into The Sandbox metaverse following a successful completion of a $93-million funding round
Market analysts have identified three main reasons for the recent sudden spike in the price of SAND in addition to the general uptrend seen in all metaverse-associated projects. The first reason is the successful competition of a Series B funding round disclosed to the public on November 2. The Sandbox representatives revealed that they have raised over $93 million, with the main investor being SoftBank, a Japanese multinational conglomerate. The second reason is The Sandbox’s expanding ecosystem that continues to onboard new partners. Game developers recently revealed a collaboration with famous rapper Snoop Dogg, who wishes to build digital replica of his mansion in the Sandbox’s metaverse. The third key reason for The Sandbox’s success is its growing adoption, which is facilitated by the project’s supportive environment, that allows creators to engage with their communities while also receiving a lion’s share of revenue generated by their efforts. The success of the project has largely translated into SAND appreciation. The metaverse’s native token grew its value by 71% last week and is up by more than 230% in the last month. Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder at The Sandbox, stated that they now want to expand their operations from gaming into fashion, architecture, and virtual concerts. In addition, the company wants to offer a decentralized and user-governed alternative to large corporate-owned metaverses that are emerging.
Borget stated: “We are creating this open metaverse. We are positioning the Sandbox against those giant tech companies who are claiming the metaverse to be theirs, offering an alternative where users are first.”
1. Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot is a blockchain solution that allows multiple specialized blockchains called parachains to run at the same time and interoperate. Polkadot can connect diverse blockchains into a single, decentralized and highly scalable ecosystem. The network operates using a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm and utilizes a native currency DOT. The project was originally designed by Dr. Gavin Wood, one of the co-founders of Ethereum and the inventor the smart contract programming language named Solidity. Along with Cardano, Solana, and several other networks Polkadot is considered one of the potential “Ethereum killers”.
DOT climbs to a new ATH in expectation of the first Polkadot Parachain Auction
Fuelled by the excitement surrounding the announced first Polkadot parachain auction, DOT has climbed to a new ATH of almost $55 on November 4. At the time of writing, DOT is trading just about $2 under the ATH price and is looking ready to surpass the current highest valuation, especially considering that the first parachain slot auction is set to begin this week – the date to mark on your calendars is November 11. The first batch of five parachains will be auctioned on a weekly basis, with parachain deployment scheduled for December 15 for all five winning bidders together. The Polkadot council has also already approved the schedule for auctioning the second batch of parachains, which will begin on December 23 and will take on the same format as the first batch, except that a new slot auction will begin on a bi-weekly basis. In addition, the Polkadot Council has recently voted out a future logo design and a fresh new brand identity. Nevertheless, it is not only the positive market sentiment that fuels the rally – technical indicators for DOT are also looking good. Experienced traders and technical analysts identified an inverse head and shoulders (IH&S) pattern in the daily DOT/USDT chart. While DOT is currently trading slightly above the IH&S neckline, the latest price jump accompanied by increased trading volumes, indicates that traders are supportive of the move higher, above the IH&S neckline. Judging by the depth of the IH&S setup, DOT’s target price lies near $90, with possibilities of the rally being extended towards the psychological resistance level of $100.
