USD 1.3B Metaverse Ecosystem has Less Than 1K Active Daily Users
Metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox are valued at
USD 1.3 billion, but both have less than 1,000 daily active users. There is too
much hype around these platforms, but who is using them right now?
38 Active Users at Decentraland and 522 at The Sandbox
Data from DappRadar reveals that the Ethereum-based virtual world Decentraland had 38
active users in the past 24 hours, while competitor The
Sandbox boasted 522 active users in the same time frame.
According to DappRadar, an active user is defined as a unique
address that is interacting with the platform’s smart contract. For example,
logging onto The Sandbox or Decentraland to purchase with SAND or MANA, the
platform’s respective native utility token is counted as an "active
use."
Therefore, DappRadar’s compilation of daily active users does not
account for people who log in and wander around a metaverse platform or drop in
briefly for an event, such as a virtual fashion week. It also indicates
that these spaces are not where people are making transactions such as buying
non-fungible tokens (NFT).
A developer may defend the bleak daily user data with the
well-worn phrase, "Don't hate the player and hate the game." But it
seems there’s been more than one quiet day for the two metaverse platforms. The
largest number of daily users ever on Decentraland was 675, and that number was
even larger at about 4,503 for The Sandbox, as per data shared by DappRadar.
Sam Hamilton, Creative Director at Decentraland, told CoinDesk
that while they report 8,000 users on average per day, this accounts for any
individual who passively interacts with the metaverse. He noted that while they
saw peak attendees in March, the number of "tourists and spectators"
has since cooled down.
Despite low user metrics, Decentraland and The Sandbox have high
valuations. According to data from Messari, Decentraland and The Sandbox both
have market caps of around USD 1.3 billion each. While the play-to-earn game
Axie Infinity has a USD 1.16 billion market cap, the nearly 22,000 daily users
reported on DappRadar suggest that open-ended metaverses that do not provide
incentives to stay, such as gaming or trading, may not see regular returning
users at this point.
Although the metaverse may be enough of a buzzword for companies
to rebrand their names around its concept, mass adoption will likely still
take a while. Sasha Fleyshman, Portfolio Manager at digital asset investment
firm Arca, explains that metaverse platforms will be much more valuable to
users when they operate as intended.
Beverage company Snapple’s pop-up bodega in
Decentraland last August sparked questions about mainstream use cases for
promotional content in the metaverse. In July, skater Tony Hawk announced
his virtual skate park paired with an avatar collection in The
Sandbox, which aims to bring fans from his USD 1.4 billion "Tony Hawk Pro
Skater" video game to a new, more interactive platform. Set to run from
October 19 to 23, the turnout of virtual skaters may be larger than the users
purchasing Hawk’s NFTs in SAND.
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